A tyre-some question

[HorneyMX5]

Hello Porsche owning people of PH! I have a question on behalf of a 911 owning friend. The car in question is a 996.2 C4S and the question is which tyres are the quietest? She is suffering from too much road noise on the current Pirellis.

I did explain that due to the physical size of the tyre that the likely outcome is none of them, but that I would try and find out for her anyway.

[nxi20]

Other than pure track rubber (Toyo 888, Yokohama A048 etc), the Pirelli is by far the noisiest "normal" tyre IME; they don't really have much to commend them tbh. Try anything from Michelin (PS2 or Pilot Supersport are probably the best choices) & you'll see (hear!) a huge reduction in tyre roar.

[Rockster]

My experience with Pirelli and Michelin tires (on my Boxster) and Continental and Bridgestone tires (on my Turbo) is new they are all quiet. Worn the Pirelli tires are the noisiest but the other brands are by no means quiet.

[Koln-RS]

Porsche's are renowned for tyre noise, although much improved in the 991. On a 996 C4S, 17" wheels might help.

All new tyres have official noise ratings, but in truth, they are all very similar. Goodyear Eagle F1s are generally rated as quietest, but don't think they come in N spec.

[quickie123]

I think Dunlop sport maxx RT is rated at 67db

[HorneyMX5]

I doubt she'll give a monkies about them being N rated, car isn't under an OPC warranty.

[IknowJoseph]

I'd suggest a good geometry set up too. I changed to Michelins and got all 4 wheels pointing in the right direction; the car was quieter, handled better and used less fuel.

[Rockster]

IknowJoseph said:

I'd suggest a good geometry set up too. I changed to Michelins and got all 4 wheels pointing in the right direction; the car was quieter, handled better and used less fuel.

That's a good point. I have I'm sure related the time on a road trip my Turbo got so noisy I thought a wheel bearing was bad and had a dealer service department check out the car. (This required a 140+ mile detour.) The verdict was the noise was from the front tires and was due to alignment. The alignment having been upset by the inadvertent action on my part of pulling too far into a parking space at a hotel and bumping the front tires into the curb. When I expressed some disbelief tire alignment could account of the noise the tech had me feel the front tires and I could feel the feathering. After I got home (nearly 2000 miles away) and had the car aligned (and sure enough the before numbers had the front toe wrong) and after some more driving to let the tires adapt (scrub in) to the new alignment the noise was gone.

[tjlees]

+1 on the geo being checked since it makes a noise difference at speed. For me Michelins have been the quietest, though that's relative. 996/997 suffer from tyre noise.

I would suggest getting hold of a noise meter and testing a few cars before randomly spending money. Having been down this route before, ears are very subjective!

From autocar at 70 mph a 918 is 78db, 991 turbo is 73db, Cayman is 69db, boxster S is 73db, 991 C is 75db.
... And for comparison purposes the Rolls Royce wraith is 62db @ 70mph - so it's whisper quiet. The 3 series 320d,which I consider quiet, is 68db @70mph.

[HorneyMX5]

Some interesting advice, cheers chaps.

I'll let her know to get the alignment checked along with the new tyres.