I'm currently running a set of Xi3's my experience is the opposite they are whisper quiet I wish there was an all season or summer that was this quiet. They do feel sloppy in warm weather due to the soft rubber compounds but I'm fine with that in winter conditions they are excellent. They also have a great ride again due to the soft rubber.

 

This would have brought me back to concluding something is wrong with my car 2 yrs ago, but on my 3rd winter, I'm 100% certain my howling is from the tires, not the drivetrain...

 

One way to generally tell. Put the car on a lift, if possible, and run it. If you don't hear the howling (the spinning tires won't be in contact with anything), then you can probably be sure it's the tires. If you do hear the howling, then, yes, probably something in the drivetrain.

 

The 17 inch Michelin Primacy MXM4s on my 03 Accord Coupe commuter came with the car and were worn but still drove very well and were quiet. Great handling as well. Currently I've got Michelin X-Ice in the base 16 inch taller size and I'm very impressed with them. Quiet and decent handling considering these are dedicated winter rubber.

OTH the Pilot AS3s on my GS430 were very noisy on some surfaces, but they had fantastic handling grip. The Toyo Garrits which came with that car could also dish out some noisy harmonics on certain road surfaces. Part of the problem was the wide tire size on the GS in the optional 17 inch 235 width. Surprisingly my Lexus was noiser than my Accord.

There is an explanation for that and my thoughts led me to this article which illustrates how the deeper tread on a new tire has more rolling resistance. Conclusion of the article below.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiret...jsp?techid=177

 

are you sure the howling is not a wheel bearing?

 

Noise with a bad bearing will usually get worse (or more audible) with a side-force...such as in a turn or sudden lane-change. That's usually not the case with simple worn tires.

 

My history....I got the LS430 in Oct. 2016, and I actually bought the xice xi3's and picked them up at the distribution center prior to getting the car (mounted on MSW rims). So I had the snows on within 2 weeks of getting the car. My wife said what is that sound? I was thinking here we go.....google revealed carrier bearing etc. issues on Tundras. So I got myself all worked up and convinced myself I needed a new rear diff lol

Put the all seasons back on April 2017, no more sound. One can actually hear different sounds with any car, as it goes onto different types of pavement, any tire. My BMW has German made Ultragrips and they are not noisy like the xi3s. If I had a second chance, I would likely go mainstream and simply get Blizzaks--never owned a set before, was a Hakkapeliitta man prior, 3 sets. Even had the original 1's with studs (not eco, real ones).

edit p.s. my cousin had a howl on the CR-V (2006 EX). I said why not run it by the Japanese indie he'll tell what's what. They did just what you said, put it on the lift and let it go at low speed. Concluded it's the transmission--recommended action, NONE. This can break on your way home, it can break 5 years from now. Our guess is the latter. Unless you are ready to spend a couple thousand, then drive it as is, I would.

Flash forward, it still howls, and it's been like 2 years and the car is now up to 280k. I love indies, zero upsell, zero unneeded repairs. Japanese or German. At times I worry if they will survive. If not, we're in trouble lol