agreed. the rear seats were comfortable. but the noise was very annoying and due to the noise, the cabin materials vibrated too during my test drive due to the noise. The noise would get louder when revved and decreased when the gear shifted to a higher speed and it repeated itself. it was very significant

could be. it's very difficult to identify sound, specially from vibration / rattling in a car. anyway, i felt the noise came from both side of the car, maybe from the door and also from the two pillars at both side of the rear rear screen.

its not a hissing sound from CVT. It was a very bad humming / rumbling (no proper word to describe) noise from the rear portion of the car. Hence, it would be very obvious and extremely annoying when a person was sitting in the rear seat. If in driving position, you could still hear it.