tod071

After much searching in all forums, I still can't find a consensus, so I thought I'd take a poll. Living in Hawaii (so dry/wet only, no snow) and want the quietest tires based on CL members' opinions. Others are welcome, please post your quietest thoughts.

RMMGS4

iTrader: (5)

Last year my buddy lowered his new E320 using the HR / Bilstien Cup Kit and put some 18"s with 40 series tires. He was very concerned about tire noise and did not want to compromise his Mercedes feel.

He decided on the Yoko DBs and was not disappointed. His car only had 1000 miles on it before changing over to the lower profile Yokos. He said as far as road noise, it was very good if not better than stock.

Now losing the factory Mercedes the ride is another story, but he has to live with that.

retrodrive

Heh, everyone is just going to vote on the tires they currently run. I am pretty sure that will happen.

kvoman

BFG g-Force KDWS

BkLexZ

I have Michelin Pilot Sport on my stock 17" rims and although they handle great I cant stand that that tire noise. The tire noise is definetely there after some miles. I heard that Dunlop sp9000 is a pretty quiet tire with decent performance and wear.

e23296

I switched out the original Bridgestones for Michelins (225x55x16) at about 20K miles but these really started to make noise after about 12Kmiles. I then dumped the Michelins and put Yokohama DB (245x50x16) on my car and these were virtually silent until about 8K miles. I have rotated, swaped left to right, aligned the wheels but the noise keeps getting loader.

Lexus told me that the GS models scuff the edges of the tire which creates noise with mileage. I would like to invest in custom wheels / tires but I hate to ruin even more expensive tires.

To answer your question, I thought the Yokohamas were perfect until my car started to scuff the edges.

DeniskaGS4

Dunlop Sp-Sport 9000.. Dont overlook them when shoping around.. Great tires.. They are quiet, handle well, and resonably priced.. I am on my 2nd set...

jeffandi

I had the Yoko AVS dB and I now have the Potenza S03. No comparison, the S03 is MUCH quieter.

Jeff

strongsail

My '93 SC4 had new Toyos when I got it a year ago, and after 25K they are howlin' pretty good - tread wear is nice & even, plenty of tread left, maybe they will never wear out, but get hard like hockey pucks - when I swap to my Supra TT wheels this summer I'm going to try Kumhos - can't beat the price, and they were pretty quiet on a car I test drove before I bought mine -

retrodrive

I have Dunlop 9000 sport and thinking of getting AVS Db. Dunlop were pretty quiet at first but as they get harder, I get more and more noise.

tod071

my brother has Kumhos, but I've never heard of those. Not the prettiest either. Are they supposed to be quieter than the Yokos?

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

I've got Dunlop SP9000 - really like them. Someone said they get noisier as they wear - ALL performance tires do, some worse than others. A friend with a Bimmer had Toyo T1-S's (which I've also had and liked) and those things were HOWLING after 15K or so.

redgs4

Did you have the AVS db or the AVS Sport? The AVS db are supposed to be pretty quiet while the AVS Sport start off loud and howl like a stuck pig once they wear down a bit. And while my S03s started off moderately quiet they are also starting to get pretty noisy after about 12K miles of wear. Given the other posts it looks like this is par for most any tire.

Blanco

iTrader: (8)

I've currently got Yoko's AVS dbs on the rear that need replacing, and Yoko AVS db S2s on the front (I run a staggered set up). The recently replaced S2s seem pretty quiet. For the money I'm happy so far. The non-S2s though wail like a hungry stuck pig!! They're obnoxiously loud. Even had passengers remark about the noise, not to mention since they haven't worn PERFECTLY even, the noise they generate tends to oscilate. When they're cold running down my street from the garage, they actually resonate so much so that they cause my rear deck lid to vibrate!!! Once they're warm, or on the highway the noise is pretty constant, but it's still there. Keep in mind though, these are very near the end of their life cycle. I'd already have replaced them, but the same size S2s won't be availible till the first of next year.

I figure I'll give Yoko another chance to keep my business. From reading on tirerack, I see that they admit that there was a design flaw in the original dbs, and that it's been corrected in the S2s. I admire their integrity. So far my front set work as advertised, but it's hard to tell how much quieter they are, since the bigger rears are so loud!! If the S2s don't work, then I guess I bite the bullet and try the Pilot Sport A/Ss.

BTW, I don't think you can still buy the dbs (originals) can you??

Good luck!!

jeffandi

No, I don't think you can get the original dBs anymore. They have been replaced with the dB s2. My S03's have about 12k miles on them now and they are louder than when I first got them but still nothing as bad as the dBs i got rid of after 15K miles. That's probably why the redesigned dB s2 are here. Because the original dB's were supposed to be quiet but weren't.

Jeff