I've actually looked at the volt. I don't even think the rear is all that comfy for two. It's pretty cramped. I think the CT200h is even more cramped btw. Anyway... you've described exactly the problem. The engines on the other cars are very quiet, it's the road noise that's crazy loud.
I'll check out the Acura too.
Whether it's gonna be the Acura or some other premium/luxury brand, here's what easily be the most valuable thing for you will be the door seals.
So on the RLX and it's predecessor, the RL, if you look and the rubber weatherstripping...there's a lot of it. Body opening to door. Door to door frame. Window. Even between the front and rear door. Plus even stuff like between the hood and headlight housings. While for the most part this rubber is there to keep water out, it's also there to close a gap to minimize/isolate wind noise. If you look in the wheelwells, instead of seeing just half assembly painted stamped steel, you see a rubberized coating or even an upholstered liner. All to isolate road noise.
Stuff like that doesn't come on mass market Hyundais or Toyotas. Mid size or bigger Lexus, M-B, and so on. So if you truly want quiet, you're looking at a big luxury car. Not SUV or crossover...but a car. Our new 2014 MDX has some amazing noise isolation, but is still nowhere near as quiet as the RLX sedan because that taller SUV body has to displace more air to move down the road, so there's gonna be more wind noise.
There is one other option. Does nothing about wind noise, but you can dramatically reduce road noise in
any car by adding Dynamat inside all the panels. Audiophiles love the stuff because the less road noise intrusion, that just makes the stereo sound so much better. So maybe you start with a car with a good aero profile and a quiet powertrain, add about 50lbs of that stuff and you'll be able to have conversations at a whisper while going 80mph. A Tesla Model S would be the shining example for this.
Be forewarned though...the quieter your cabin is, the more noises like little squeaks and rattles will stand out and annoy the crap out of you.
Do you get any better than 11mpg in the escalade? That's about what I've gotten when renting big SUVs. And don't give me any internet bullshit like you get 35mpg in it either.
When I worked for Cadillac, pretty much every 2007+ Escalade had the mpg average (most people never reset it ever) sitting in the 11-14 range. My dad had a Trailblazer SS. Just like the Escalade, it's heavy, has a 400hp V8, and a full time AWD system. For the most part, my dad drives super conservative, and this is what his running average sat around...
