Hankook Kinergy Noisy

[Spider]

I bought a new Cruze LT with the RS option which was delivered with Hankook Kinergy tires that I found extremely noisy, I complained and the GM dealer said that they were just fine, not a problem at all. Easy for them to say. I replaced them with snow tires on their own rims and sensors and the noise magically disappeared completely. The Hankook tires (about 2500 miles) are in my basement now where I took a closer look at them and discovered coloured lines in the tread area (not paint) all around each of the 4 tires. Misaligned belts? I contacted Hankook here in Canada earlier this week but have not had a reply yet. Anybody ever heard or seen such a thing? Spider

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

Those tires appear to have way more than 2500 miles on them how deep is that tread?

 

[Spider]

Tread depth measured with machinists calipers at various locations on a couple of tires is about .225" to .250". Thanks for your input.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

OE tires are not the same as aftermarket tires you'd buy from Tire Rack, DT/DTD, Walmart, or your favorite tire shop, even when they have the same name. The OEM just wants cheap LRR tires to meet CAFE targets and will install any piece of plastic to get the highest numbers

 

[CapriRacer]

Nope, that is indeed paint. It's used to identify tires that are the same - because other tires will have a different color combination. Makes it easy to see if you have an odd tire in the stack. And - Nope - nothing to do with noise generation or anything other than quick identification.

 

[Spider]

Barry, nice web site. Drawing on your expert experience do you have any suspicions on what would cause the roar of the Hankooks to disappear completely when they are replaced by snow tires that should be a little noisy but aren't. A simple observer like me is convinced that the problem is the tires. I will see that they are rotated when they are put back on the car this spring but what do I do if the roar returns? Replace them at my expense? Thanks for your time Spider

 

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted By: Spider

Barry, nice web site. Drawing on your expert experience do you have any suspicions on what would cause the roar of the Hankooks to disappear completely when they are replaced by snow tires that should be a little noisy but aren't. A simple observer like me is convinced that the problem is the tires. I will see that they are rotated when they are put back on the car this spring but what do I do if the roar returns? Replace them at my expense? Thanks for your time Spider

There are parts of this that do not make sense. As a general rule, OE tires - the tires that come on new vehicles from the factory - are generally designed to be quiet - ish. I can not imagine GM allowing a basically noisy tire through their process. On the other hand, I gather that this vehicle was designed in Korea, so maybe the GM engineers didn't have the power (or didn't know about it) to overrule the Korean design team. Another thing that doesn't make sense is that the winter tires are quieter. So is it possible that the noise only appears bad on one particular road? That has been known to happen. If that is the case - and even if the noise is there pretty much all the time - then, yes, you are going to have to replace the tires. I would start with the dealer where you bought the car. If they won't help you financially, then call Hankook's 800 number and talk to them.

 

[Nyquist]

We have those tires too on our 2017 Cruze Hatchback, and they aren't particularly noisy. Granted I have two small children in the back seat, so the tire noise may not be discernable over that generated by my offspring.

 

[UG_Passat]

Originally Posted By: CapriRacer

Originally Posted By: Spider

Barry, nice web site. Drawing on your expert experience do you have any suspicions on what would cause the roar of the Hankooks to disappear completely when they are replaced by snow tires that should be a little noisy but aren't. A simple observer like me is convinced that the problem is the tires. I will see that they are rotated when they are put back on the car this spring but what do I do if the roar returns? Replace them at my expense? Thanks for your time Spider

There are parts of this that do not make sense. As a general rule, OE tires - the tires that come on new vehicles from the factory - are generally designed to be quiet - ish. I can not imagine GM allowing a basically noisy tire through their process. On the other hand, I gather that this vehicle was designed in Korea, so maybe the GM engineers didn't have the power (or didn't know about it) to overrule the Korean design team.

Be prepared to be disappointed in reality of GM https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/mark-phelan/2018/02/08/gm-tires-buick-regal-tourx/313763002/