Looking for a quiet tire

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I am looking for a quiet tire for my daily 2017 Sonata hybrid.

A little background. I have a weird left inner ear disease that limits the clarity and frequency range that I hear. I hear highly distorted mid-range tones amplified and "warbly". I hear perfectly fine in my right ear.

I drive the car about 1k miles per week for business on a mix of city, interstate highway and back roads with varying quality of beat up road surfaces. Although I drive a lot, I'll handle less tread life for quietness if needed. I'm used to replacing tires about once a year.

The car in general is solid and quiet, however the resonance at highway speeds or on coarse roads from the Goodyear Weatherready tires that I recently purchased the car with are wearing me out each day. I'm looking for a quality 3-season tire that is going to be good for reducing road noise. I have a set of Nokian's that I'll use for winter conditions.
215/55/17

Thanks!
 
I'm just spit balling here, but I've both noticed, and have been told, that today the tires that came on most new vehicles, are chosen by the manufacturer to give the best fuel mileage, along with the quietest ride possible.

Manufacturers want as good of fuel economy as they can possibly achieve in every vehicle they sell..... Especially today with CAFE constantly pushing for better fuel mileage. And they don't want customers complaining about noisy tires, or road noise in general. So they try to equip most of their new vehicles from the factory, with not only the quietest tire possible, but one with the least rolling resistance.

I don't know if that's true or not. And there may of course be some exceptions on high performance vehicles and certain trucks. But it sure seems like plausible logic. When the tires on both my Toyota and Jeep go south, I'm going to put the exact same make, model, and size on. I'm happy with the way both cars ride and handle, and both are getting very good fuel economy. So why mess up a good thing?
 
In no particular order...depending on your size. I too have 215-55-17
And the quietest tire(I believe) that have ever had were the MICHELIN PRIMACY MXV4 that came on the Altima in my signature in this size. Expensive though!

Bridgestone Turanza QuieTrack
Continental TrueContact TOUR
Good/Year Assurance ComfortDrive
Pirelli P7 Cinturato All Season PLUS II or III
 
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The quietest tire I have ever driven on are Pirelli Cinturato P7 Plus 2. I think they were replaced by a newer model though and who knows if they still are as quiet. My Michelin CrossClimate 2's are pretty darn quiet as well. They do make some noise when braking though due to the tread pattern.

I think you may want to take a look at the Bridgestone Turanza QuieTrack as they are still being made and are designed to be quiet.
 
CapriRacer said:
Just a FYI:

Tire noise is mostly about the tread pattern - and a quieter tire generally gives up wet and snow traction to get that.

Plus a lot of tire noise is really road noise. That will be hard to avoid unless you move.
Click to expand...
So on flat pavement, the main source of tire noise is the front edge of the contact patch "slapping" against the pavement?
I'd guess there's two main transmitters of noise, through the air in front of the tire, and through the tire sidewall, then the car's rim, suspension, body of the car?
Is there a rule of thumb on tire contact patch width affecting noise? Sidewall height? number of sidewall plys?
I'd guess a taller sidewall, narrower contact patch, low speed rated tire would be quieter if it had the same tread pattern? Atleast in transmitting noise through the sidewall.
 
In general, Michelin tires are very quiet. Many of their passenger car tires have soft sidewalls and transmit little harshness. Coupled with excellent tread designs with varying size tread blocks that damp out harmonics.
 
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drtyler said:
Michelin Defender T+H
I recently installed them on my sedan, and they are very quiet. MUCH quieter than the Bridgestones on it before.
Click to expand...
Same here... Just had these installed and they are great tires. Glad I went with them!
 
OVERKILL said:
Something from Michelin or Continental would typically be my go-to in a situation
like this, having owned both, and both tend to be very quiet.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Had Conti PremiumContact (1st gen) and Michelin EnergySaver+
(BMW spec) on previous vehicles. Both were virtually soundless. Fantastic.
However Conti UHPs got worse recent years.
Avoid Conti SportContact 5 and PremiumContact 6 if you're thin-skinned.

2021 Tyre Reviews UHP Summer Tyre Test - Tyre reviews and ratings

We've taken 14 of the best ultra high performance summer tyres in the very popular 225/40 R18 tyre size, and we've tested the dry and wet handling, the dry and wet braking ability, aquaplaning ...
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2022 AMS Performance Summer Tyre Test - Tyre reviews and ratings

It's the first test of the new Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6, and it's the first test win for the new tyre!For 2022, the excellent publication Auto Motor und Sport have tested ten ultra high ...
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2022 AutoBild Sports Cars UHP Summer Tyre Test - Tyre reviews and ratings

The 2022 Autobild Sportscars summer tyre test has tested eleven 225/45 R18 sizes using a BMW 3 Series, but has also tested four of the SAME sets in a staggered 225/45 R18 front and 255/4 R18 rear ...
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Several other reviews where Conti PremiumContact 6 is noisiest.

.
 
I’ve had continentals on both ends of the spectrum - harsh and loud vs best quiet tire ever.

the continental DWS06 was super quiet on my car except for a whine on the highway, which, without the other white noise, stuck out. Some of that could be chassis tuning. Under 60, they were near silent. They also had a soft sidewall.

in my experience, tires generally get louder as they age. Having just rotated well-worn rears to the front of my sedan, the cabin has gotten notably louder (it wears the rears faster than the front).

we put Michelin crossclimate2 on my wife’s crv. I’ve never bought Michelin tires before (not a Michelin kool-aid guy), but these are wonderful tires, especially in the rain. They give up some cornering force. They have been very quiet so far on her crv, which is a rather noisy vehicle. As another poster mentioned, they can growl under hard braking. They are good enough to likely be what goes on my sedan next. Note - they may not be a long treadlife tire.
 
IndyIan said:
So on flat pavement, the main source of tire noise is the front edge of the contact patch "slapping" against the pavement?
Click to expand...
First, noise generation is something I don't know a lot about. I've seen presentations and read papers on the subject, but I know enough that I realize I don't know very much. I'll try to answer these questions as best I can.

I think the issue is a bit more complex than just the leading edge. I know there has been some work on the side grooves creating echo chambers. I'm also aware the a pathway to a circumferential groove is advantageous - as is varying the size of the elements - as is making the corners obtuse angles rather than acute.
IndyIan said:
I'd guess there's two main transmitters of noise, through the air in front of the tire, and through the tire sidewall, then the car's rim, suspension, body of the car?
Click to expand...
Yes, the air, and the air chamber acts as an echo chamber and the size of the air chamber dictates which frequencies get amplified. Putting foam inside does reduce the echo chamber effect.

Noise tends to be air borne, and not through the car body. Noise is higher frequency, where the car body reacts to lower frequencies. If there is car body noise it is because there is something about the car body that is vibrating - which is why the car makers put stuff on flat surfaces = flat surfaces tend to create drum like effect.

IndyIan said:
Is there a rule of thumb on tire contact patch width affecting noise? Sidewall height? number of sidewall plys?
Click to expand...
I don't think contact patch width is a factor as much as a larger width tends to have more pattern. Tire size (sidewall height) isn't much of a factor as well. Number of sidewall plies? No.

IndyIan said:
I'd guess a taller sidewall, narrower contact patch, low speed rated tire would be quieter if it had the same tread pattern? At least in transmitting noise through the sidewall.
Click to expand...
Like I said, noise tends to be airborne and not through the tire. The air chamber acts like an echo chamber and its shape will amplify certain frequencies. I can guess a larger expanse of sidewall will help with transmission back to the surrounding air, but I don't recall anyone commenting on the size of the sidewall affecting the amount of noise transmitted. I suspect the issue of how the internal noise amplification is transmitted back to the surrounding air is much more complex than something as simple as the size of the sidewall.
 
CapriRacer said:
First, noise generation is something I don't know a lot about. I've seen presentations and read papers on the subject, but I know enough that I realize I don't know very much. I'll try to answer these questions as best I can.

I think the issue is a bit more complex than just the leading edge. I know there has been some work on the side grooves creating echo chambers. I'm also aware the a pathway to a circumferential groove is advantageous - as is varying the size of the elements - as is making the corners obtuse angles rather than acute.

Yes, the air, and the air chamber acts as an echo chamber and the size of the air chamber dictates which frequencies get amplified. Putting foam inside does reduce the echo chamber effect.

Noise tends to be air borne, and not through the car body. Noise is higher frequency, where the car body reacts to lower frequencies. If there is car body noise it is because there is something about the car body that is vibrating - which is why the car makers put stuff on flat surfaces = flat surfaces tend to create drum like effect.


I don't think contact patch width is a factor as much as a larger width tends to have more pattern. Tire size (sidewall height) isn't much of a factor as well. Number of sidewall plies? No.


Like I said, noise tends to be airborne and not through the tire. The air chamber acts like an echo chamber and its shape will amplify certain frequencies. I can guess a larger expanse of sidewall will help with transmission back to the surrounding air, but I don't recall anyone commenting on the size of the sidewall affecting the amount of noise transmitted. I suspect the issue of how the internal noise amplification is transmitted back to the surrounding air is much more complex than something as simple as the size of the sidewall.
Click to expand...
Complex stuff! I guess lots of wide tires with stiff sidewalls, still manage to be relatively quiet, and some aren't!
The tires that I've had experience with are; new BFG G-force KDW on a SRT-4 Neon test drive, which was rumbling right through the car on good smooth pavement! Maybe they were at 50psi or something, or poly bushings, it seemed stock but I didn't look underneath? Good grip but too noisy for DDing.
BFG sport comp 2's on my Focus which were quiet on good pavement, but seemed to be louder on rough surfaces than an all-season would be, no rumble though. Ran them for 3 summers with no complaints.
Michelin Hydroedge on a 2006 CRV, pretty loud on smooth pavement and very loud on rough surfaces. Part of it was the CRV but those tires liked to sing as they got older.
The OEM Bridgestone Duelers on the Outback 225/65R17's have a bit of a narrower contact patch than the same tire available from Bridgestone, and every other tire in that size I've looked up the specs for. Our Xice2 winters are nearly 1" wider on the road. I assume Subaru did this for mileage and NVH?
 
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