too much road noise - tires?

[robphelan]

I have a 2009 Acura TL w/tech package. I love driving this car. It's a lot of fun, but it's a bit noisy - I normally have a podcast or the radio on, buth it's off when the wife is in the car.

The suspension is a bit stiff and the road noise is a bit excessive. I am thinking about replacing the tires - 245/50/r17 currently have the Michelin Pilot MXV4. The tread left is still decent, but do you think i'd get a noticeable noise difference if I replace them with the primacy MXV4?

[hans007]

the mxv4 are just terrible tires in general.

i had a 2005 TSX with primacy mxv4. lucky for me they got destroyed when some piece of metal slashed through them.

replaced them with yokohama avid v4s and it was like getting a new car. way better handling, way better traction from a stop in the wet, better stopping , and quieter ride.

that was in 07 and the v4s was great then. but i'd recommend you look at non michelins (michelins are really expensive ). the main problem with honda / acura products is they put all season touring tires on everything which are designed to save fuel and last long but nothing else (i think on the civic SI you can pay extra for summers).

get all season performance or just any softer tire and your car will feel totally different.

http://blogs.insideline.com/straight...t-dw--dws.html

I have those currently (the DWS) and they are awesome. i've got 25k miles on them and they look like they can do another 15-20k so they will last nearly as long but perform 100x better.

[Howard]

Pilot MXV4 != Primacy MXV4.

[fstime]

Go to tirerack, input your vehicle's data.

Look up tires in the category you are interested in (summer, winter, performance all season, all season, etc) and look at the ratings table.

Everything is rated, including comfort level.

I am currently running Toyo Proxes 4 which tirerack does not sell. They just came out with a "plus" version which includes a 55,000 warranty, another thing to look for.

I can highly recommend Toyo, I got a nail in my sidewall after 6 months and only 1600 miles and they got me a new tire for $70 or a little less than half retail price.

Pilot MXV4's are generally considered bad OEM tires.

[KaChow]

I replaced my OEM Michelins on my '09 TL with Continental ExtremeContacts and they were not only much quieter and smoother but they handled wet roads better than the OEMs handled dry roads. Unfortunately I picked up a nail in the sidewall on one of them and nobody (even TireRack) had them in stock so I saved the three good tires for emergencies and replaced them with General GMAX AS03's...I'm super anal about having four matching tires! The road noise with these is good on a good road but about as noisy at the OEMs on a bad road. They do handle much better than the OEMs, but not as good as the Conti's.

When I'm ready for another set, I'm going to go back to Conti's...awesome tires!

[robphelan]

a new search on tirerack is showing the Bridgestone Turanza with Serenity Plus as being pretty quiet.

googled and seems to have good reviews on road noise - any thoughts?

[KIAman]

Is the noise being transmitted through your suspension into your car or is it noise seeping in from outside somehow but not THROUGH your car (if that makes any sense).

Consider getting a good rubber restore and apply it to your door seals (I use gummi fledge) and it could quiet your interior.

[SpatiallyAware]

Originally Posted by hans007

the mxv4 are just terrible tires in general.

i had a 2005 TSX with primacy mxv4. lucky for me they got destroyed when some piece of metal slashed through them.

replaced them with yokohama avid v4s and it was like getting a new car. way better handling, way better traction from a stop in the wet, better stopping , and quieter ride.

that was in 07 and the v4s was great then. but i'd recommend you look at non michelins (michelins are really expensive ). the main problem with honda / acura products is they put all season touring tires on everything which are designed to save fuel and last long but nothing else (i think on the civic SI you can pay extra for summers).

get all season performance or just any softer tire and your car will feel totally different.

http://blogs.insideline.com/straight...t-dw--dws.html

I have those currently (the DWS) and they are awesome. i've got 25k miles on them and they look like they can do another 15-20k so they will last nearly as long but perform 100x better.

Michelins are expensive for a reason... They tend to be better tires.

[vshah]

another vote for the conti DWS - i just swapped then on for the winter, and they are so much quieter than my direzzas.

[phucheneh]

Originally Posted by KIAman

Is the noise being transmitted through your suspension into your car or is it noise seeping in from outside somehow but not THROUGH your car (if that makes any sense).

Consider getting a good rubber restore and apply it to your door seals (I use gummi fledge) and it could quiet your interior.

He's talking about noise being transmitted through the suspension/chassis/unibody. I think about all you could do for that would be to add some mass to the floorboard (dynamat-type products).

OP, what your current tires feel like? If you rub your hand across the tread, is it a smooth transition between each tread block, or does it feel a bit 'lumpy'?

You may be getting excessive noise from a wear pattern.

[hans007]

Originally Posted by SpatiallyAware

Michelins are expensive for a reason... They tend to be better tires.

I think their all season touring tires are just living off the name they make in say pilot sports etc which actually are great. The OEMS slap these garbage tourings on every accord and Joe doesn't know about cars just buys the exact same tire come replacement time at Costco since its all they carry. Its Michelin after all they make great sport tires so these all seasons must be good.

[robphelan]

Thanks everyone - I went with the Conti DWS - discount tire had them for ~170 each. installed with all the bells/whistles/ripoffs for $973.

So far, in my estimation, it's about 20% quieter.

I did notice some handling improvement, too - I work at the end of a windy road (that's lots of fun to drive) and can certainly feel it hugging the road a little better - however, that alone wouldn't be enough justification to spend that much.

EDIT: looking up gummi fledge now - not sure what that is.

[KIAman]

It took about 500 miles for my DWS to really start grabbing the road. Before that, I was wiggly all over the place, literally scared for my life.

I still have my set with almost 30k miles on it and the S is still visible. This is a monumental ability considering I destroy most tires right around the 10k mark.

[abaez]

I am looking for some new tires for my 07 impreza hatch but $1k for some tires jesus christ!

[JCH13]

Originally Posted by abaez

I am looking for some new tires for my 07 impreza hatch but $1k for some tires jesus christ!

Your whole car's dynamic rests on the tires, they can make a big difference in comfort and safety, and a set of tires like the DWS will last 50k miles (warranty life). $1k spread out over 50k miles is not bad at all.

[vshah]

are they really that much more expensive for larger sizes? mine were 119 each from tirerack 215/45/17, got them all mounted for $60 and put the wheels on the car myself.

just checked. guess they are that pricy sucks!

i remember a few years back everyone was talking about general exclaim UHP as a great budget tire. those are summer tires though.

[JCH13]

Originally Posted by vshah

are they really that much more expensive for larger sizes? mine were 119 each from tirerack 215/45/17, got them all mounted for $60 and put the wheels on the car myself.

just checked. guess they are that pricy sucks!

i remember a few years back everyone was talking about general exclaim UHP as a great budget tire. those are summer tires though.

Yeah... the only person I knew who got them had three sidewall failures in 2-3 months. I was totally unimpressed. Since ditching them he hasn't had an issue with a set of Nokians.

[Howard]

Originally Posted by JCH13

Yeah... the only person I knew who got them had three sidewall failures in 2-3 months. I was totally unimpressed. Since ditching them he hasn't had an issue with a set of Nokians.

Funny. I had mine for two years and ran over a curb (all 4 tires) at fairly high speed without damaging them. Held pressure great too, until two got nailed.