You think buying an expensive vehicle , removing the costly factory wheels and replacing them is really going to give you a magic carpet ride. As others have said just test drive something and if you don’t like the way it rides then keep looking.
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It can, but engineers have become skilled at making cars ride well with the larger wheels/low profile tires. You’ll want to identify a good stretch of road to have a test ride.
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Always a good suggestion. I’ve recently learned that I can schedule an extended test drive when I narrow down my search. A lot of times, you start to really feel the road/wind noise after a relatively long drive. In the first five minutes, all cars in the same price range are more or less the same 
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Thanks for the laugh. It was actually the norm 25+ years ago for cars to offer plush seats and a suspension which was designed to soak up the bumps in the road. Nowadays, not so much. If you want that “magic carpet ride”, you might have to look to the past…not to the future.
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That’s a good question. Most of what determines quietness is in the car’s built-in sound deadening: materials in the wheel wells, laminated windows, etc. The bigger impact will be on ride quality but again, that’s usually factored in by the auto engineers when they tune the suspension. If you want to maximize the quietness of the car, you can do that by choosing a tire that’s rated highly for quiet ride. CR and others have tire buying guides that help.
I will say that one of the niggles I had with my Genesis sedan was a tendency to have vibration on cold tires. Once the tires warmed up it went away. I experienced this on three different sets of tires and other Genesis owners mentioned it on the forum, so I think it was something inherent in the way they engineered the suspension.
If you’re really not sure, take a good old-fashioned test drive.
Then, to get the straight skinny, join an owner’s forum and ask questions. See what owners are raving and ranting about. Then weigh that into your decision.
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Go drive one. That used to be the case, but they’ve done a lot of engineering work to make those dumb low-profile tires not rattle you to death. The biggest downside now isn’t the ride, but the cost to replace.
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I have a '04 Camry ( V-6) with 236K miles on it and a '15 Camry ( 4 cyl) with 40K . The '04 has had a delay in acceleration since the day we got it. It’s not the engine however , it’s the brain telling the transmission to do something. It is potentially a problem if we were to mis-judge cross traffic speed and need to get across a road faster than anticipated. Annoying but with 236K miles I can say that has never happened. Both my wife and I prefer the '04 over the '15.
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Ever driven a 7xx bmw with stick up hill? That’s the one.
My friend who used to have a 2016 Camry had similar problems with the delay.
When he saw the difference between our cars, he tried to compensate for some of the lag with premium fuel but he wasn’t completely satisfied with the engine’s response and turned in the car at the end of his lease.
First off, welcome to the community! And your first question is quite well thought out.
I would like to know where abouts do you live that might add some other suggestions like if in a snow belt a vehicle for winter driving would add other options.
I’m going to add something that many in this forum will be somewhat negative about but here goes. All of the things you’d like in a new car and much more can be gotten in Land Rover Range Rover Sport (RRS)! (Here’s the trigger for negatives about to show up: reliability.) You have a 7 year old car and want to get a new one. So reliability for Land Rovers can be removed in such a short time.
Advantages: Huge windows all around! Super quiet. And if you try one with the adjustable heights, Access, Normal Driving, and Off Road you’ll love it! Ride comfort? Not many cars can be so good. For example: I bought a 2008 RRS normal engine, not supercharged, 2 years ago this Thanksgiving for $6,800. Quite a few mechanical problems: front and rear upper control arms required replacing and the front air bag/struts. I added new all terrain tires because I live in Colorado, snow is heavy at times, and wanted to add off road driving in the mountains and plains. So the cost for parts and repairs by INDEPENDENT repair shops has been about $3,000. (quadruple this for Land Rover dealers!! And of course most car dealers are quite the same.)
I now have a super quiet, excellent surround windows, high viability in traffic, smooth ride and excellent driveability.
Previous to this Range Rover Sport I had two Audi station wagons but at 82 and not enjoying getting in and out of low cars the Rover has been a great “upgrade” for me for the past 18 months. I can’t wait for the snows to begin!
Hope this is helpful. Preowned cars can be beneficial without busting your budget!
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The OP indicates they lives in the San Francisco area, no need for 4WD or AWD. ThoughAWD may allow quicker acceleration on wet streets.
As far as the OPs desire for instant acceleration with little pedal pressure, my turbocharged four cylinder (base model, base engine) RWD, 3500 lb, automatic transmission, car from a standing start at a red light achieves 25 MPH with very light pedal pressure, crossing a four lane intersection.
My car would not otherwise fulfill the OPs requirements, only to point out that current engines accelerate very quickly.
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I’m not recommending that anyone buy a used Land Rover…
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I think that this probably varies from one model to another. I recently had a 37k mile rental Camry for a couple of days, and it accelerated like a turtle, as compared to my 12 year old 3.6 liter Outback with 118k miles on the odometer.
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There’s a cult that just loves them. I used to work with one of the faithful. It’s a situation where the things they like about them outweigh the negatives, especially reliability. An automotive journalist said about ten years ago that if he could afford to buy anything, his first choice was a Range Rover Sport (with turbo). He test drove one for review, and loved it above all the other vehicles he’d tested over several decades.
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Quite a few years ago, we had a post from an elderly woman who was disappointed by the lack of reliability of her current car, and who planned to replace it with some sort of Rover because of their “legendary reliability”.
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Thank you very much for your recommendation.
We live in San Francisco but have been back and forth between SoCal and NorCal in the past few years.
To be honest, I would have kept my Accord if it wasn’t for wind/road noise; I typically prefer the buy it for life (BIFL) approach.
Although the tech in cars keeps changing at a rapid pace (compared to say smartphones or PCs) and it’s tempting to upgrade when the tech adds convenience (like adaptive cruise control).
Since we are test-driving a lot of different cars from different manufacturers, I think it wouldn’t hurt to try Range Rover as well.
Will share an update after the test drive.
So far, the GLC 300 with the base engine has been the most responsive compared to X3, Q5, SQ5, and XT5. It only comes second to the XT5 with the 3.6L V6 engine.
Well, relative to its overall size, I have big windws in my 2013 Honda Fit.
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I liked the Fit, too bad it’s gone. The Forester also has great visibility.
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OP – test drive the current (10th gen) Honda Accord Hybrid in the EX-L trim. 17" tires for a more smoother, quieter ride; instant response from the EV engine (sport mode is lovely), and if you equip with quieter tires (I have the Pirelli P7 AS Plus 3 which is highly rated for quietness) this Accord Hybrid becomes a bit luxurious.
I love driving my 2020 HAH EX-L and the 47MPH is a huge benefit, especially lately.
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47MPH ! If that is all the faster it will go that may not be a benifit. 
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