430keeper

Wondering what the quietest tires on the planet would be
for the sc430 ? Willing to sacrifice performance, tire life,
and traction. Just need the quietest tires possible....our
roads here in Oklahoma have lots of rough aggregate in them
that creates a huge amount of tire roar. Any ideas ?
What about the Continentals ?

LexBrett

I have Michelin pilot super sport summer tires and Pirelli sotozero winter tires. Both are rated number 1 on tirerack and produce absolutely no noise I can hear. They are also the best tires you can buy for comfort and performance. They are expensive though. I used to run contis which were good but nowhere near as nice as my current set up.

OBP

Some of those Bridgestone Ecopia tires ( low rolling resistance ) are pretty quiet. Have them on our SUV and they are indeed quieter than OEM Mich Latitude. But dunno if they come in the right sizes for our SCs.

Black31385

X2 on the Michelins

416tt

iTrader: (1)

a lil off topic butttt :

A friend of mine has sound deadening materiel in a loud amg mercedes, he installed sound deadening material and it make quite the difference! also made the sound system sound super smooth too with no rattle through the body..

Darthsid recommeded it to me as well, im going to do it next summer

maybe after you find tires, you should too!!

NAmVet68

x3 on the Michelin Super Sports.... best of all worlds: grip, longevity, lack of noise, comfort, and relatively reasonable price (look at price per mile - in the long run, the Michelins are no more expensive than "cheaper" tires).

One of my favorite tires. I used to like Yokahamas, Falkens & Khumos, and each of them have their good points, but the Super Sports seem to be able to hit the right balance on a heavy car like the SC430 (remember - these cars are 3800+ lbs - pretty heavy for a modern car).

FLYCT

X4 on the Michelin Pilot Super Sports Summer tires. So SMOOOOOTHHH.

Michelin recently came out with Pilot Super Sport ZP Summer tires (ZP = Zero Pressure, Run Flats) They are about $500 more for a set of 4 over the non-run flat version. No ratings yet but they might be worth a try if anyone feels the need to go with Run-Flats.

416tt

iTrader: (1)

guys with the tire recommendations^ what tire size do you run? and on what wheel specs?

the reason I ask is because on the stock 8" wide lexus wheel I had 245(9.6"wide)/40 which is Lexus's recommended size and they were noisy. I replaced with 225/45 they were much quieter and much easier on the steering, it felt alot lighter.

anyone else try changing tire size? notice any differences?

430keeper

I like what you did bimmer....seems a narrower width would help with the steering....
And I would really like more sidewall than the 245s permit. What brand of tire
did you go with in the 225 size ?
Did you install offsets to make up for the narrower look ?

416tt

iTrader: (1)

It definitely does 100%! My SC came with the stock wheels + goodyear's eagle .. I found that with wider tires on narrower wheels the SC would seem to ride straight perfectly but as soon as I wanted to turn or even move it left/right, I had to use extra force and it wasn't nice specially with SC's spongy steering.. felt like i was pulling the steering way past its normal point (elastic feeling) and not only that, when there were grooves or an uneven road , the tires gave me trouble when trying to keep straight as each side would pull me in the direction for its flat bottom to settle with angle of road because it doesnt have that rounded edge to let me turn steering easily (not sure if you understand what i mean, check pic below) and aside from that they were noisy, kind of like extra tire was there when not needed



Because of that I ended up getting 20's .. 8.5 wdith in front and 10 in rear with low profile tires less width then wheels and they were EVEN quieter, comfier and easier on steering then the stock.. its where i got the idea of taking the tires off the stock wheels and reducing width and it worked.

For tires I ended up getting Continental ExtremeContact DWS 225/45-18 (all seasons) incase I ever needed the car in winter.. im sure if you get Michelins or something it would be even better with the noise. For the wider look I did not bother as I would use my 20's but I ended up getting supra bbk installed so I cant use the stock SC wheels at all unless I got spacers but then I wouldn't have enough bolt thread to tighten on so I ended up buying a seperate set of wheels for winter with similar set up, low offset.

I dont think it matters how wide your wheels are, just as long as the tire isnt wider then them I mean narrower wheels are obviously lighter and feel easy on car but people want low offsets to adjust for the look..


This is just to give you an idea of how I would do it:

Narrow wheels (7.5 to 8") / 205 - 225 tires, --> 10 - 25 offset = feel nice and light, but stress on bearings .. I wouldnt suggest below 8.5 inch wheels with low offset for the sc)
--> 25-40's offset = feel nice, light, and work great but look funny

Wider wheels (8.5 to 9.5")/225 - 245 tires, (20-40') offset = feel nice, little heavier feeling then narrow wheels, look nice and I would say the perfect package for getting the most flush look and everything else

10"+ I would just recommend for rears.. and sorry for the long reply

4everSC430

Love this thread! Question: If I go with the Michelon Super Sport Summer, will they still drive fine in a Southern Winter (we get maybe 1-2 snows a year, rarely over 6 in)?

JohnnyCake

This car NEVER drives fine in the snow. It is a heavy pig.

416tt

iTrader: (1)

Johnnycake is right lol ^ ... Winter tires do help getting it on the move as on summers the car goes NO where. at the end of it you just gotta drive cautiously and slowLy with distance ...Snow mode is helpful.. Lol DONT MAKE FAST TURNS OR SPEED. It's not easy to stop when it starts sliding!

DiggerJim

I'm riding with Blizzak snows in CT and have had 2 snowstorms already this season. Both were multi-inch (3-8) storms. Driving on plowed roads where there was only a couple of inches on the road was fine using snow mode.

I grew up driving RWD cars in the snow. Snow tires are a must but then it's just standard behavior - take it easy, drop the speed a bit (5mphish off posted limit, not crawling), give more space between cars - like 4 seconds vs normal 2 or 3 seconds so you have time & space to slow.

The car is way better than my BMW 328 or Volvo 260 wagons I grew up driving in the snow.

Watch out for the other guys though. Lots of people down south don't drive well in the snow because they don't get much of it. Keep an eye on how closely you're being followed.

Worth taking the car to a big parking lot and practicing stops and such yo get a feel for what you can do before the back end breaks loose.

OBP

Beware. From someone who drove an SC430 with Conti DWS all seasons in a southern winter a year back. No salt, no grit, no plows and southern drivers who don't know snow driving and that means havoc. I had to abandon my car at the foot of a hill cos the all seasons just were not good enough to make it up the hill. Front engine RWD really requires proper snow tires, even in the south. Or watch the weather forecast for snow and stay home if you ride on Mich Pilot Super Sports rather than Mich Pilot Alpin.