Quiet Tyre Recommendations

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steverobertsbbc

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I don't do very many miles in my 2014 A3 1.8 TFSi quattro, just done about 21K miles in five and a half years. As such, I'm still on my original tyres, which were manufactured in November 2013. They're Continental ContiSport Contact 5s in 225/45R17.

Although they have about 4mm tread left on them, I'm wondering if I should be thinking about changing them for age, but also for noise. They've always been very noisy tyres and I'm hoping there are quieter alternatives. Wear is not as issue as you can see - they're likely to be the only new set of tyres I'll be putting on the car.

Does anyone have any recommendations?
 
I have always liked Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric tyres but can’t compare them to what you have at the moment.


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On my old golf(similar car) I went through loads of tyres including conti premium contact, eagle f1 asymmetric 1, Dunlop sport maxx and dunlop blue response and whole load of cheaper tyres.
Dunlop blue response was the quietest of them all. Gave better mpg as well. It wasn’t an all out performance tyre like the sport maxx but still very capable tyre and wore really well.
 
I found Goodyear Eagle Asym 3's to be much quieter than the Continental ContiSport Contact 5's I had on previously. I'm on 18 inch alloys though.
 
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Thanks for all the comments. Lots of people seem to rate the Eagle Asymmetrics. My local tyre place is doing Asymmetric 5s for £75 each fitted, so a full new set for £300 seems pretty good. I think that's what I'll end up going for.
 
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steverobertsbbc said:
Thanks for all the comments. Lots of people seem to rate the Eagle Asymmetrics. My local tyre place is doing Asymmetric 5s for £75 each fitted, so a full new set for £300 seems pretty good. I think that's what I'll end up going for.
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That's a very good deal, i'd take that.
 
£300 for a set of premium tyres I would take that any day.
 
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I replaced factory fitted 225/40 R18 Dunlop Sport Maxx RT with 235/35 R19 Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5 a week ago. The ride got much quieter and smoother despite larger alloys and wider tyres.
 
Go on to blackcircles and search for tyres that fit your car in there. One thing that they do is that they show you the Euro labelling for each tyre. This includes the Db noise level of all the tyres.
 
roydonaldson said:
Go on to blackcircles and search for tyres that fit your car in there. One thing that they do is that they show you the Euro labelling for each tyre. This includes the Db noise level of all the tyres.
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+1 for this, the only real way to find a quieter tyre is to look at the decibel rating of your present tyre and go from there
 
traindweller said:
+1 for this, the only real way to find a quieter tyre is to look at the decibel rating of your present tyre and go from there
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Been said elsewhere, but this is only a guide as the db ratings for tyres are for the external noise they make (to a pedestrian) as you drive past. What gets transmitted into the cabin will depend on things like the suspension, sound proofing, etc., and if those components in your model of car transmit the frequencies of noise that the tyre you're looking at is producing. I noticed the Assy 5's are now claiming they have some specific tech to minimise cabin noise, but who knows how well it works...
 
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Wibbly said:
Been said elsewhere, but this is only a guide as the db ratings for tyres are for the external noise they make (to a pedestrian) as you drive past. What gets transmitted into the cabin will depend on things like the suspension, sound proofing, etc., and if those components in your model of car transmit the frequencies of noise that the tyre you're looking at is producing. I noticed the Assy 5's are now claiming they have some specific tech to minimise cabin noise, but who knows how well it works...
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@ Wibbly, I agree that the noise level for the label is measured externally. I think this is the only consistent measurement on the noise of that tyre on the road and surely must be worth considering along with any subjective reviews and opinions regarding tyre types.

Quick search of tyre sellers and tyre noise rankings demonstrates that ......noise is understood as a level of sound that causes an unpleasant hearing sensation or even discomfort to the driver, passengers and bystanders.
 
Yes, also from https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=23&t=1343700 "The test consists of a test car driving past a microphone 7.5meters away at 50mph" The test itself is only listening to the noise outside. It's that and the car's sound proofing/suspension's ability to filter out the "unpleasant hearing sensation or even discomfort to the driver, passengers" that counts. So a tyre seller claiming the noise ranking demonstrates "a level of sound that causes an unpleasant hearing sensation or even discomfort to the driver, passengers" is wrong. That can't be determined from a straight db reading outside of the car, which is a measure of overall noise level and nothing to do with its quality/"unpleasantness". You can have quite low level yet very irritating and unpleasant noise!

@traindweller You could get a tyre with a marginally better db rating sounding worse in the car, because of the unpleasantness of its (albeit slightly quieter) sound and the car's inability to filter that particular sound out so well. And, as I already said, tyre noise ratings are nonetheless indeed a guide for the level of internal noise you might expect and, as you said, it's the only consistent measure we have to start with...
 
Some tyres get a lot more noisy as they wear too, some worse than others. I've got toyo proxies and tbh they are not that quiet when new, but fairly terrible when worn. In fact these tyres are fairly terrible on the S3 full stop compared with when they were on the old 3.2. I wont get them again and may even change them early (its perhaps something to do with being 18s and a lower profile instead of larger profile 17s previously).
 
Damo S said:
Some tyres get a lot more noisy as they wear too, some worse than others. I've got toyo proxies and tbh they are not that quiet when new, but fairly terrible when worn. In fact these tyres are fairly terrible on the S3 full stop compared with when they were on the old 3.2. I wont get them again and may even change them early (its perhaps something to do with being 18s and a lower profile instead of larger profile 17s previously).
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I found the Michelin ps3 were like that. After the first 2-3mm they got noisier.
 
Unfortunately 'quiet' tyres are subjective as there are many factors that can influence this. It isn't much good taking the opinions of tests either unless they are conducted on the very same vehicle over the exact same roads. Although they can be useful as a rough comparison guide.
What comes across as a quiet tyre may not be so once you have them fitted to your own vehicle. Suspension wear and longevity are a factor as well. Personally I've not noticed much of a difference myself and always stuck with Audi AO tyres.

There are some though that are advertised as low noise, or noise cancelling, and they usually have some foam or sponge inside https://www.kwik-fit.com/blog/noise-cancelling-tyres-new-pirelli-tyres-are-oh-so-quiet
 
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cuke2u said:
There are some though that are advertised as low noise, or noise cancelling, and they usually have some foam or sponge inside https://www.kwik-fit.com/blog/noise-cancelling-tyres-new-pirelli-tyres-are-oh-so-quiet
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Interesting if they work. Reading the description suggests to me that the technology would reduce cabin noise, but not necessarily the noise outside... so the reduction in noise would not be reflected in the standard noise rating for the tyres (which is external noise only)
 
Quite, you'd think any external noise rating is not relevant to what you'd experience inside. However whether this technology reduces the inside noise levels I don't know. Having said that there must be though some noise frequencies from tyres can transmit through the suspension and the steering wheel, perhaps even setting up a resonance that can heard as noise...
 
OK, I just drove back from having a full set of Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetric 5s fitted. The reduction in tyre noise in the cabin is profound!
 
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steverobertsbbc said:
OK, I just drove back from having a full set of Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetric 5s fitted. The reduction in tyre noise in the cabin is profound!
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Nice!

For anyone reading this with 19s, I found the switch from the stock Pirelli P-Zeros mine came with to my current Continental DWS 06s was equally awesome.
 
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