New wheels huge difference in road noise

paulmc

paulmc

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From day one road noise on my FL S3 was unacceptable for a £40k car. Crazy loud so much so even the in-laws noticed.

I was undecided, buy new tyres or wait until I sources wheels and tyres.

Anyway I stumbled on second-hand wheels and tyres. Tyres are nearly new Goodyear Eagle F1 assy 2 and I can hardly believe the reduction in road noise, and they are more comfy into the bargain. happy days.

Anyone running Conti Sport 5 bin them lol

Not sure if the F1's handle as well not really tried yet but on initial testing I am not disappointed.

Reading all the reviews the F1's are not that quiet a tyre but definitely much better then Conti 5, wonder how it would be with a proven quiet tyre. That might be my next wee test. Car fees much more refined, very pleased with the car now.
 
Few weeks ago I went to change 4 tyres. They were Conti 5 as well with 5 mm left on them, because of that. Now A3 is on 4 new F1 Assy 3. So much better overall tyre
 
Conti's are ****!

I swear by Michelin pilot sports

Will be putting pilot sport cups on my S3 when I have destroyed the conti's in 4k
 
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Not finding Contis on 19s too bad after P Zeros but on 18s I switched to F1 Asy 2 after 6,000 miles.
 
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Hate my cunti's
Loud as foook.

Hope my new rims with the potenza's are atleast quieter
 
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I never found the contis too bad on my S3. Better than the factory fitted hankooks on my S4. Be going Michelin or Goodyear once they are trashed.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
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Which tyres are regarded as making least racket then? Intrested to know as also on contis and the roar is very apparent on certain road services.
 
I went from the stock continental 18inch horrid tires to Sumitomo 20inch and ironically the 20 inches were soooo much quieter considering only about an inch of sidewall. But softer rubber means far faster wear, but well worth it.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
 
Rather than worrying about the tyres maybe it's time to question the sound deadening in the wheel arches?

I had the same problem, I was shouting at motorway speeds to be heard in the cabin. After closer inspection found the arch liners to be much thinner than the 2007 B7 A4 I came from.
 
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Yeah - I too can recommend the Dunlop Sport Maxx RT2's.......... but the rim protection is naf! I didn't buy the AO variant tho
 
The Conti 5Ps are an old tire and have been replaced by the Sport Contact 6. These are getting really good reviews and will probably be my next set.

I've used Michelin Pilot Super Sports on my last 3 cars, however these have been replaced by the Michelin Pilot Sport 4. These are also supposed to be pretty good, but I think the CSC6s pip them just.

I've only got 1500miles on my 19" CSC5Ps... so some way to go, I'm just glad it wasn't the Hankooks.
 
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Gotta agree with the majority Conti's are too noisy, I'll be changing them to Michelin / Good Year / Pirelli at the next renewal.
 
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sjbarneS3 said:
Yeah - I too can recommend the Dunlop Sport Maxx RT2's.......... but the rim protection is naf! I didn't buy the AO variant tho
Click to expand...

THat might be the difference because the I find the rim protection very good. :)
 
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Have Conti 5's on my car .Agree with the road noise.So will probably go with P zero's when due for a change...How do the Zero's compare to Conti 5's regarding rim protection?
 
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pburv said:
Have Conti 5's on my car .Agree with the road noise.So will probably go with P zero's when due for a change...How do the Zero's compare to Conti 5's regarding rim protection?
Click to expand...

Probably an extra £ coins width of rim protection on the P Zeros matey. Not a lot it in to be fair.
 
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Rob2k68 said:
Probably an extra £ coins width of rim protection on the P Zeros matey. Not a lot it in to be fair.
Click to expand...
For an extra £ it's worth it....lol
Cheers Rob..:friends:
 
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I think you will find that whenever you increase the wheel size you also increase the noise level. I have 17" alloys with Dunlop Sport Maxx on my A3 and they are very quiet as were the Hankook Evo S1 tyres I have on a previous A3. I have often test drove A3s and Golfs with 18" wheels and no matter what tyres are fitted they are always noisier. It's at matter of choosing between noise and appearance.
 
Not sure what the OP went to and from but you're right any change in size isn't really comparing apples with apples.

Luckily when I went from 18s to 19s there was no noticeable noise increase.

On my third set of wheels and fourth set of tyres now.
 
I went 19" standard S3 saloon fit to 19" Rota Grid.

I did loads of research and from what I read the new Pirelli are the quietest currently. Not sure how the MPS4 will be. If I were to buy new tyres it would be MPS4. I used to run MPSS and they were fantastic.

my intension is to add sound proofing as well. I did this on my 8P RS3 and it made a huge difference.
 
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I moved from a Megane RS250 a few months ago, which had zero sound deadening as I found out when the speakers were upgraded.
I've got an S3 cab with 19in Pirelli and on certain road surfaces I would say that the road noise is on par or louder than the Megane, which surprised me.
I though maybe it was because of the soft top, but am assuming that most of the noise comes up through the body.
 
the older Pirelli's were reported as being particularly bad for road noise. Not sure what the new ones are called.
 
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