I'm not sure if this is the correct forum to ask this... So my city just repaved about half a mile of local street (45mph limit) where I drive on everyday. It looks new, ordinary, and pretty flat (no pot hole), but the strange thing is when I drive my 2015 RX on it, I feel a lot of vibration and hear a lot of noise. Reducing the tire pressure helps a tiny little bit (OEM 18' wheel, not low profile tire). Surprisingly my 2009 Camry does much better on that road (less vibration). Both have Michelin Premier A/S so the tires are probably not the problem. What do you think is the problem here? How can a new road be so bad?

 

New roads can have a wavyness to them if they're not paved properly. It causes a resonance type vibration which is more obvious in your RX because it's taller and higher off the ground.

 

The type of asphalt they use could have been mixed differently and also are there any lines in the road to prevent skidding?

 

There's a stretch of interstate 69 by Lansing Michigan where you have this. People (probably most from out of town) are always stopping on the shoulder and looking at the tires. It really sounds like you have a flat tire.

 

Theres also a place in California where they purposely put the grooves in the road so that it plays William Tells Overture

 

What top surface did they put down? Was it the usual black asphalt (blacktop) or a white Portland cement concrete? The concrete is harder but less porous than the blacktop so is usually (finely) grooved to allow for water run-off. Those grooves, especially when perpendicular to the direction of travel, really increase road noise.

 

As I understand it, the interstates were paved with the white Portland cement concrete. The top surface is made rough and perhaps finely grooved to increase traction, especially in wet weather. As a result, road noise increases.

The freeways here in Southern Ontario typically were paved with blacktop but when a new toll freeway was put in here 20+ years ago, it was paved with the white concrete. The road noise was terrible.

 

Roads with a porous, anti-skid surface are almost always going to make the tires noisier than a perfectly smooth surface. The pores and grooves that allow water to drain and prevent that water from hydroplaning under the tires also, at least in dry conditions, allow air and sound waves to pass through and be amplified. I don't particularly like it myself (I'm generally a fan of smooth, quiet driving)....but that is just one of the trade-offs we get for better traction and safety on the roads.

Tires, may, in fact, be part of the issue. The 2009-vintage Camry (especially the non-SE models) generally has higher-profile, less-aggressive tires than what is typically found on newer ones since then...the trend in recent history for most vehicles has been towards lower-profile rubber. The type of wheels and tires used back then are, on average, noticeably smoother than those of today....although some suspension improvements, in the meantime, have compensated for at least part of that.


The 2015 RX you speak of, BTW (if my memory is correct, since I test-drove one), comes with 60-series tires, which are pretty absorbent and should not by themselves, transmit too much vibration or noise. What you are feeling may actually be coming more from the suspension than the tires....I noticed that the last-generation RX, overall, rode a little firmer, overall, than the new one with the big spindle grille.

 

Thanks. The top surface is black asphalt, not concrete. I opened the door at the red lights to look and there is no groove.
Agree on the noise on oncrete. Most highways here are concrete and they give very annoying noise. I prefer smooth quiet blacktop more
The sidewall on the camry is 129mm and the RX is 141mm so the RX has higher sidewall. I've replaced the tires on both cars last year so they are all new tires.

 

Thereis a little waviness to it you can't see with your eyes. Theres a stretch of 95 that was repaved and is the same way in the left lane, made me think something was wrong with my car the first time too.

 

michigan has done a lot of 2 inch asphalt overly on its interstates. They really went the cheapest route for many years now. I 69 south of Lansing to Indiana is concrete. Lansing to Ontario has lots of stretches of asphalt overlays. The particular part I had referenced is asphalt.