New tire time - anything quieter than the Michelin Primacy for 19"s?

[Az_Rael]

So, its time for tires on my new-to-me P85. I currently have the Michelin Primacy OEM tires which I have been pretty happy with overall. However, I see that Tesla now does foam-lined tires with the new cars (Goodyear, I think), and I was wondering if anyone has experience comparing the noise levels between those tires? Does the foam really help?

Anyone else have any thoughts on the quietest tires out there for the 19s? I guess Continental also makes some foam lined ones, but I can't find them in 19" sizes, only the 21".

 

[FreeOfPge]

Pirelli P Zero Nero's are quiet, at least twice as quiet as the OG tires. I'm pushing 20k miles on them now and beginning to hear little more road noise. They have not been rotated. I assume that would contribute to the additional sound but I'm no expert on tires.

 

[rhumbliner]

It's your money, but Car & Driver is still not sold on foam-lined tires

Tested: Do Acoustically Insulated Tires Really Hush Road Noise?

 

[Az_Rael]

Pirelli P Zero Nero's are quiet, at least twice as quiet as the OG tires. I'm pushing 20k miles on them now and beginning to hear little more road noise. They have not been rotated. I assume that would contribute to the additional sound but I'm no expert on tires.

Twice as quiet as the Primacy or the original Gooodyears Tesla used to use?

 

[jerry33]

I haven't found anything that are quieter than Primacies over the life of the tire. Some tires do start out quieter but are very loud as the tread wears down.

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

None of these threads have what I'm looking for.

A tire that performs as well as the Michelin Primacy in terms of all year traction, tire wear, but are a lot more quiet.

The foam lined tires seem to have a placebo effect without any real world measured evidence to back up the claims.

 

[Az_Rael]

It's your money, but Car & Driver is still not sold on foam-lined tires

Tested: Do Acoustically Insulated Tires Really Hush Road Noise?

I have seen that, and wondered how the results translated to people's actual experiences with the tires. Like if someone had the foam lined Goodyears when they bought the car and changed to Primacy tires and noticed a big difference.

 

[jerry33]

They have not been rotated. I assume that would contribute to the additional sound but I'm no expert on tires.

Tires get noisier as the tread depth gets less. There's no getting around it. If all the tires have the same tread depth and no signs of irregular wear, then rotation, or lack thereof, isn't going to affect this. Rotation is primarily about letting all four tires wear out at the same time (assumes non-staggered setup). Assuming two wheel drive, a first early rotation (1500-2000 mi) can help set up an even wear pattern which often prevents irregular wear later on in the tires' life by allowing every tire to have a turn on the drive axle. If there is irregular wear, rotation can partially mask the symptoms, but the underlying cause should be determined and corrected.

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

Tires get noisier as the tread depth gets less. There's no getting around it. If all the tires have the same tread depth and no signs of irregular wear, then rotation, or lack thereof, isn't going to affect this. Rotation is primarily about letting all four tires wear out at the same time (assumes non-staggered setup). Assuming two wheel drive, a first early rotation (1500-2000 mi) can help set up an even wear pattern which often prevents irregular wear later on in the tires' life by allowing every tire to have a turn on the drive axle. If there is irregular wear, rotation can partially mask the symptoms, but the underlying cause should be determined and corrected.

So essentially we can't put any trust into what someone says when they say their new tires are a lot more quiet than the old ones.

 

[jerry33]

I have seen that, and wondered how the results translated to people's actual experiences with the tires. Like if someone had the foam lined Goodyears when they bought the car and changed to Primacy tires and noticed a big difference.

This is going to be really hard to determine because new tires are always quieter than worn tires (I know you know this). The only way I can think to objectively measure this is to take monthly measurements of sound level over the life of both tires. If any of you out there own or manage a taxi or limousine service, please do this test on a few vehicles (say five of each tire) and let us know the results.

 

[brucet999]

It's your money, but Car & Driver is still not sold on foam-lined tires

Tested: Do Acoustically Insulated Tires Really Hush Road Noise?

Thanks for the link.
For those unfamiliar with the decibel scale, it is logarithmic, so 6 dB = twice the sound power, 3 dB sounds to the human ear as twice as loud, and 1 dB is barely noticeable.
Sound deadening through insulation or foam has some effect on sound propagated through air or reducing echoes from hard surfaces, but sound passing through walls in a building or through windows, or through body panels of a car are best attenuated by adding mass, thus reducing the drum head effect of sound waves causing the impacted surface (wall, window, body panel) to vibrate and re-transmit sound to the air inside.

Therein lies a problem for auto designers tasked with making the cabin quieter while at the same time having to reduce weight for better fuel mileage or battery range.

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

Thanks for the link.
For those unfamiliar with the decibel scale, it is logarithmic, so 6 dB = twice the sound power, 3 dB sounds to the human ear as twice as loud, and 1 dB is barely noticeable.
Sound deadening through insulation or foam has some effect on sound propagated through air or reducing echoes from hard surfaces, but sound passing through walls in a building or through windows, or through body panels of a car are best attenuated by adding mass, thus reducing the drum head effect of sound waves causing the impacted surface (wall, window, body panel) to vibrate and re-transmit sound to the air inside.

Therein lies a problem for auto designers tasked with making the cabin quieter while at the same time having to reduce weight for better fuel mileage or battery range.

My understanding is a fair number of manufactures have turned to active noise cancelation to avoid adding mass.

 

[Az_Rael]

This is going to be really hard to determine because new tires are always quieter than worn tires (I know you know this). The only way I can think to objectively measure this is to take monthly measurements of sound level over the life of both tires. If any of you out there own or manage a taxi or limousine service, please do this test on a few vehicles (say five of each tire) and let us know the results.

Sigh, you are correct. I guess that means I will probably notice a big difference with whatever I install. Probably will stick with the Michelins, I have become a big fan of their tires over the years.

 

[jerry33]

So essentially we can't put any trust into what someone says when they say their new tires are a lot more quiet than the old ones.

Well, they will be correct because that's almost always true (although some tires, usually cheap ones, are very noisy right from the start), but it doesn't mean the the newer tire will be quieter at the end of its life or at any given tread depth level. Other than the tire manufacturers' internal testing (of which they don't release the results), I don't know of any place that does noise comparisons over the life of the tire. It takes a long term commitment and vehicles that put on enough miles to get timely results.

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

Sigh, you are correct. I guess that means I will probably notice a big difference with whatever I install. Probably will stick with the Michelins, I have become a big fan of their tires over the years.

You should do a mock review as if you got a different type of tire.

 

[Haxster]

Or maybe rip the foam out of an old set of Goodyears and stuff it into new Primacys.

 

[Lasttoy]

To me it depends on your roads, I just drove from atlanta to DC to florida. The type of road surface determined the noise level. Some were so good it was silent, some were pure hell. Yes tire construction is important, but the best tired won't fix bad road surface.

 

[Az_Rael]

I decided to stick with what I have vs trying the foam ones. Ordered a set of the Primacies from America's Tire. I need the tires before I can get into the service center next, so hopefully they will do a good job. I have always had good service with them on prior cars.

 

[FreeOfPge]

Twice as quiet as the Primacy or the original Gooodyears Tesla used to use?

As the Michelin Primacy.

As I recall - could be wrong here - the owner of tirerack.com also owns a Tesla and had tested different tires. At one point there was either a thread with several tires tested or possibly something on his website. If time permits I'll look for that info and post later. Or, maybe someone here will beat me to it.

 

[FreeOfPge]

I couldn't find what I was looking for but doc@tirerack is still active on this board. Perhaps he could chime in here or you may want to PM him. Here is his original post with contact information.

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