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

[David99]

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.

According to this article (and that is my understanding) 10 dB is aprox twice as loud to the human ear.

Either way, I think what most tests and people are missing here is the point of view. Inside the cabin there is little difference. To a pedestrian the difference could be much more noticeable. The tires are exposed sideways while the wheel well is padded and insulated. We hear the tires very little inside the car. Even when we roll down the windows. But drive by a wall where the sound from the tires bounces back and you suddenly hear the tire noise very good.
In other words, there might be a significant difference in sound to people outside the car with foam padded tires, while there is little difference inside the car.

 

[FreeOfPge]

In my case I do hear a lot of the sound for one big reason, my daily drive takes me down a 4 mile stretch of road that has been patched, slurried and graveled. I have been traveling it daily since 1999. This particular stretch is - in any vehicle - loud. I have driven several gas cars & trucks, three different electric vehicles (Volt, Tesla S, Leaf), Rv's and moving vans down this road and can tell you first hand that in certain situations and on certain roads the tires can significantly improve or degrade sound-comfort.

I've changed tires on my vehicles over the years - while continuing to drive this road - I have seen several shifts in noise. They are not small shifts either. Sometimes the difference is smaller than other times but there is always a difference, good or bad. Using this particular road repeatedly for 17+ years gives me a good sense of how well a tire performs, noise-wise.

So, when judging tires in regards to noise I am in fact stating my own point of view, but I am also particularly sensitive to it and can say with certainty that the P Zero Nero's did in fact lessen the cabinet noise inside the Model S in a significant way.

For this reason, like the OP I am particularly interested in tire related sound reduction and look forward to reading future posts.

Edit: FWIW, I should note the possibility that the improvements I'm hearing are related solely to the fact that the tires are brand new BUT on several occasions I have observed increased noise levels with new tires as well.

 

[doc@tirerack]

While we haven't payed much attention to the Primacy of late (as it is pretty much used as an OE tire only, and last tested in 2010), I can say that the Pirelli Cinturato P7 AS Plus (https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...el=Cinturato+P7+All+Season+Plus&affiliate=JQ*) is a little quieter but not quite as good in wet traction (if driven "enthusiastically) as a trade off.

 

[rallykeeper]

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.

It's probably placebo, plus new tire, but fwiw I recently switched from the old OEM Primacies to the new Goodyear OEM tires (3rd set of tires for us -- we originally had the foamless Goodyear eagles). I thought they were noticeably quieter.

And, the new Goodyear OEMs were a heck of a lot cheaper than replacing with Primacies.

 

[Az_Rael]

Just got the new Primacies installed this morning. As expected they are much quieter than my old Primacies. Just goes to show that new tires makes a world of difference even if they are the same tire.

 

[Barry]

While we haven't payed much attention to the Primacy of late (as it is pretty much used as an OE tire only, and last tested in 2010), I can say that the Pirelli Cinturato P7 AS Plus (https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...el=Cinturato+P7+All+Season+Plus&affiliate=JQ*) is a little quieter but not quite as good in wet traction (if driven "enthusiastically) as a trade off.

What do you think of the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ ? Any personal experience? Looks good from the reviews...

 

[Drone Flyer]

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".

The Goodyears are crap!
Tesla is using them because they are a lot cheaper than the Michelin tires.
My new Model S had them and I demanded they put the Primacy tires on like I had on my earlier Model S. They obliged.
The Primacy tires are great! The foam in the Goodyear is a gimmick I would think!

 

[AmpedRealtor]

I strayed from the OEM tires and was sorry. I'm now back to the Primacies and I'm happy as a clam.

 

[bmah]

I strayed from the OEM tires and was sorry. I'm now back to the Primacies and I'm happy as a clam.

Out of curiosity what did you try and why didn't you like them?

Thanks,

Bruce.

 

[mdevp]

Cinturato's are a tad quieter(IMO, but very close) but I feel it has a nicer ride. They spin on p85's and don't do so well on low treads from what I hear, I only have 5k on mine.

 

[yobigd20]

Here's what I've driven.

44k miles on OEM goodyears.
40k miles on Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3
-1k miles in a loaner than had the OEM Primacies
46k miles on Pirelli Cinturato P7 A/S
20k miles on Michelin XIce3
1k miles on Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ (just put these on 2 weeks ago)

My opinion:
Both the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 and 3+ absolutely blow the competition away in every category, except snow. The 3's sucked in snow, and I haven't driven the 3+ in snow yet supposedly they specifically made them better in that area. It is my honest opinion that these should be the OEM tires. They are a world of a difference quieter AND grippier, and they noticing feel softer/smoother. There is absolutely no spin launching in the RWD P85 with these.

 

[Az_Rael]

Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 and 3+

I debated those, since my husband is running those on his Audi S4 and likes them a lot. Just didn't know how they were in rain, etc or if you take a range hit for them. Good to know they are quiet. I might try them when I am due for tires again (I drive 25k-30k a year, so I pretty much put a set of tires on almost yearly)

 

[yobigd20]

I debated those, since my husband is running those on his Audi S4 and likes them a lot. Just didn't know how they were in rain, etc or if you take a range hit for them. Good to know they are quiet. I might try them when I am due for tires again (I drive 25k-30k a year, so I pretty much put a set of tires on almost yearly)

these tires are awesome in rain. Better than the others. Even when I'm driving like an idiot and would expect them to slide like any other tire but they don't. Range loss for efficiency is negligible if there even is any. I run them wider 255/45ZR19s too.

 

[Bet TSLA]

The Goodyears are crap!

How would you know if you didn't even try them? And aren't old Goodyears and new Goodyears significantly different? Redesigned?

 

[mdevp]

these tires are awesome in rain. Better than the others. Even when I'm driving like an idiot and would expect them to slide like any other tire but they don't. Range loss for efficiency is negligible if there even is any. I run them wider 255/45ZR19s too.

Any differences between the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 and 3+ yobig?

 

[Nosken]

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

I was once in a Diesel Ford Expedition that had noise cancelling due to the diesel clatter. On a long trip it seemed that the increased "noise" from noise canceling was fatiguing. When noise canceling introduces "noise" to cancel out the native noise-are our ears getting twice the effective noise. No sound, but twice the sound waves?

 

[jerry33]

I debated those, since my husband is running those on his Audi S4 and likes them a lot. Just didn't know how they were in rain, etc or if you take a range hit for them. Good to know they are quiet. I might try them when I am due for tires again (I drive 25k-30k a year, so I pretty much put a set of tires on almost yearly)

They are very good in rain. You do take a range hit, but it's slight (but enough that I went back to Primacies. I suspect most folks will stick with the 3+).

 

[yobigd20]

Any differences between the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 and 3+ yobig?

Supposedly original was discontinued and the "+" was created solely in response to user complaints that the tires were awesome but sucked in snow and ice. So the "+" is just like the original, but with much better snow and ice handling too. Obviously I can't verify that as snow season is over. I had dedicated winter tires now anyway, the XIce 3. They are loud though. If I find the new "+" are good enough for winter I might not put the XIces back on. Oh the XIces are directional too, so you can't cross rotate. You can with the PS A/S 3 though, if you choose to (Tesla recommendation is only front to back, without cross rotating). I always have wear issues though, so I think I'm going to try cross rotating these +'s and see what happens.

 

[jerry33]

You can with the PS A/S 3 though, if you choose to (Tesla recommendation is only front to back, without cross rotating). I always have wear issues though, so I think I'm going to try cross rotating these +'s and see what happens.

Mostly these type of recommendations are just for consistency. Unless the tires are casing directional where you must cross rotate (there are very few of these around--mostly are special-limited production), or have direction of rotation arrows on them, any rotation method is fine. The most important rotation (for 2WD cars) is the very first one which should be done around 1500 miles. This will give every tire a turn on the drive axle early in it's life. Doing this helps prevent odd wear later. In some (note: some) cases tires can give a lot more life (I've seen up to 50%), so it's worth doing if possible.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

Out of curiosity what did you try and why didn't you like them?

Thanks,

Bruce.

I went with the Pilot Sport A/S 3 (not plus) and they wore out after only 15,000 miles compared to over 40,000 miles with the Primacies. They also developed cupping and terrible road noise even though there was no issue with the alignment per Tesla. The new Primacies are wearing evenly and slowly just like my first pair. Even though the Pilot Sport A/S 3 has the same tread life rating as the Primacy, it clearly isn't compatible with Model S RWD. The A/S 3 also increased energy consumption by up to 10%, it is not a LRR tire and the increased consumption is noticeable.