Road Noise

Aurhinius

Aurhinius

Aurhinius

Associate
Joined
19 Oct 2002
Posts
1,510
I have a 2011 mazda 3 and sometimes find the cabin road noise on the motorway tends to drown out the bose stereo.

I was wondering for all those really knowledgeable people out there how much tyre's contributed to this noise as opposed to the road surface?

I would consider changing all 4 tyres for something with a quieter external noise rating but will this actually make a difference?
 
After I bought my Mk4 Mondeo I swapped all 4 worn cheap Nankang tyres on it (all 74db, F & C rated) for some Dunlop SportMaxx RT (68db, C & A rated) and even though the Mondeo cabin is very quiet anyway the difference in noise was amazing, so much quieter with the dunlops.
 
Yeah was thinking a set of Dunlop sport maxx RT's was the way to go they have a EU rating of 65db which is significantly less than the rainsport 3's I have on the front at the moment.
 
Noise ratings are for driveby noise which is airborne noise, cabin noise is usually a function of structural borne noise, ie vibration from road travelling through the suspension and subframe etc into the cabin where it excites a panel to radiate that noise.

Basically the noise rating on tyres has nothing to do with the noise inside the car.
 
Thought about that too but surely they must have some contributing factor.

Given that a harder compound which would give more airborne noise is likely to cause more cabin noise due to transmitting road surface vibration?

Just thinking out loud.
 
Whilst the noise rating itself might not be a reliable way of measuring the difference I saw a huge difference in noise when I binned the Sagitar P307's I had on the car & swapped them got a set of Goodyear Efficientgrip Performance, far quieter now.

Likewise my Mondeo is now a lot quieter than my dads which has a set of Nexen tyres fitted.
 
Aurhinius said:
Thought about that too but surely they must have some contributing factor.

Given that a harder compound which would give more airborne noise is likely to cause more cabin noise due to transmitting road surface vibration?

Just thinking out loud.
Click to expand...

Sorry I replied quick initially and my post does sound like that. You're right; What I meant is the quietest scoring tyre won't be the neccessarily be the best in cabin but there is indeed a relationship as of course some cabin noise is tyre roar.

I like the idea of tyre cavity absorption but no one has yet started putting them on cars. Basically a big foam hoop inside the tyre to reduce roar.
 
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