Glos Guy, re road noise – it’s all down to the road surface of course. Driving at speed on stretches of concrete road like parts of the M3 it’s annoyingly intrusive to me although MrsW isn’t bothered by it. The rest of the time I don’t really give it much thought. There’s no engine or wind noise to contend with so you just hear the road noise coming up through the floor. There are certainly quieter cars but there’s always some compromise and for me the handling and engine/gearbox more than make up for it. Just make sure to test on different road surfaces. We have stretch of new road nearby which is eerily quiet.
As an aside I remember when the Honiton by-pass was opened with a concrete surface you could hear for miles around. John Prescott who was transport minister responded to vigourous campaigning that it would be resurfaced withing 12 months. Never happened of course…