as NZ's roads have a fair bit of coarse chip which generates tyre roar, can anyone recommend a decent all-rounder with sound-deadening tech for my next set. Kodiaq RS, running 20 inch Extremes

@chrisluciofg   What tyres are on your Kodiaq RS now?

 

Maybe those that will know what tyres are less noisy on the roads you drive are local SUV drivers that have 20" tyres, or local tyre fitters that are asked to change 20" tyres for less noisy ones.

Personally i would want the ones with best grip for the conditions rather than ones that make a different noise.

New Good Year Assymetric series tires are pretty quiet (68-69 db) for sure they are bit more expencive then some no well known brands.  I have Sportline and 19'' an originally installed Pirelli Scorpion series tires (for summer) and i must admit that they are not the quietest ones, my winter Michelin Alpin are more quiet ones. But they both are 19'' and at least here list of 20'' tires with size for RS is not really long...

Michelin Primacy 4, but then you won't get the grip of the factory tyres. Can't have your cake and eat it.

For my previous car (Golf Estate) once they were part-worn, I changed the factory-fit Michelin Primacy to all-season Michelin Cross-Climate Plus. Made a substantial difference - much less road noise and the more compliant tread seemed to filter out the high-frequency 'buzz' from the road surface. And of course big bonus is that at low temperatures, or snow (pretty rare here though) they have much better grip than summer tyres, whilst not giving much away in dry braking or steering feel. Best upgrade I made for that car!

 

Incidentally, you cannot use the dB rating as a definitive guide to cabin noise. The noise rating on tyres relates to the drive-by noise, and whilst you might think that this would nicely correlate with cabin noise - the tyre tests confirm (and my experience) is that it doesn't. For example, the official noise rating of the tyres I replaced and the CC+ were exactly the same, but big difference in cabin noise.

 

Haven't explored possible tyre choices for 20-inch wheels, my Monster Truck came with 19-inch and the choice of all-season tyres was very limited, hence I've downsized the wheels to 17-inch (Borbet 5-spoke wheels if anyone is interested) and fitted Michelin CC+ 215/65 tyres. Potholes round here are spectacular and evidently breeding, so need a bit more protection for the rim. Can't comment much on tyre noise/feel, because the lockdown has meant minimal driving since I collected my new car, but initial impressions are favourable, especially when I experiment more with the optimum pressure settings.

Get your car insulate against road noise. Wheel arcs an bottom at least.

Cost 300 - 500 eur (gbp), but in the future you don`t have to pay for top notch tyres.

 

I am driving now on Pirelli Scorpion Verdes, pretty good balance between road noise, grip and wear.

I also have the whole car treated with sound deadeners.

2 minutes ago, linni said:

I am driving now on Pirelli Scorpion Verdes, pretty good balance between road noise, grip and wear.

Yep, the Pirellis seem to be the best factory fit tyres for the 20" rims.

Pirellis are my second summer set on this car.

Originally it was equipped with Contis, but they weared out very fast.

8 hours ago, linni said:

whole car treated with sound deadeners.

 

tell me more pls, linni

Look for "car sound insulation", "sound deadening", or similar. Or Dynamat.

Car body will be covered from inside with sound decreasing  special adeshive foam and tar matts.

All carpets etc will be removed to install matts. But it`s worth every penny.

For 1000 euros you`ll get saloon as quiet as 20 000 euros more expensive car.

Just now, linni said:

Look for "car sound insulation", "sound deadening", or similar. Or Dynamat.

Car body will be covered from inside with sound decreasing  special adeshive foam and tar matts.

All carpets etc will be removed to install matts. But it`s worth every penny.

For 1000 euros you`ll get saloon as quiet as 20 000 euros more expensive car.

 

True. I did it with my previous Octavia RS and result was impressive. Has not yet done it with Kodiaq, but planing...

Right. I had it done on my previous Superb already.

Altough Kodiaq seemed to be quite silent car I decided to go for extra isnulation anyway. 

 

P.S. 

Coming from turbo petrol Mondeo to my first diesel car Superb was quite a schock for me.

Soundproofing made a lot of difference.

Edited 30 April, 20206 yr by linni

Not sure if they are available in the required tyre size or even in your country, but I can fully recommend Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Gen2 which I had fitted to my Octavia Scout. 

 

They are more a 'winter' biased all season compared to the Michelin Cross Climates which are a more 'summer' biased Michellin CC v Goodyear 4Seasons Gen2  - go to 4:03 for a direct comparison.

 

In 10 years of ownership I had the original Dunlop SP01's, Nokian WR A3's, Goodyear Efficient Grip Performance and the 4Seasons were the quietest, most comfortablest(?) and most planted  tyres.  So much so, I've fitted them to my Honda HR-V.  

 

If you haven't already you could have a look in the Tyres and Wheels Section to see if there are any posts in there that may help you.

 

Regards,

 

FALS

 

 

 

 

Would agree totally with FALS regarding tyres - in my experience the premium brand all-season tyres are significantly quieter than their summer equivalent. On some cars (IIRC Peugot) you can actually specify all-season tyres if you opt for the 'grip control' option.

 

Regarding linni's comments on fitting additional noise insulation - my direct and indirect experience is mixed. As an experiment (free to me, details of why too tedious to recount here) I had additional sound insulation fitted to my Golf Estate diesel. Yes, there was some reduction in noise, but the car was already quiet. Road noise is particularly difficult to reduce because of the way it's transmitted to the car interior via the suspension etc, so changing the tyres made far more difference, although the sound insulatilon did reduce the slight 'drumming' noise from the rear that estate cars are prone to. Again, it could be that the Golf already had some strategically-placed anti-drum mats, hence not much difference. Also, it's rare that I've seen objective measurements of the sound reduction - if someone expects their car to be quieter then they often perceive it to be so.

 

Colleague had a sound proofing kit fitted to his ancient 4x4, and it did indeed transform it from 'need ear defenders' to 'just about tolerable' when on the motorway. Another colleague had one fitted to his Skoda Octavia diesel - he said it reduced the engine noise a bit (which was his particular hate anyway) but made no discernible difference to road noise.

 

In the UK, last time I looked, there are many places that can supply the sound-deadening materials, but couldn't find any that install (but TBH I didn't look that hard!)

Goodyear Efficient Grip Performance would be my choice as well.

 

About sound proofing - there will always be some road noise as Kodiaq is not a classic sedan - you cannot insulate rear folding seats. And big trunk acts like a subwoofer.

RS has pretty loud diesel engine but at 100 km/h I cannot hear any engine noise. On smooth tarmac also tyre noise. Only wind whisteling near left B pillar.

 

P.S. When looking for sound proofing companies, prefer expensive ones, who use decent materials, not some cheap chinese c*ap.

 

 

Edited 1 May, 20206 yr by linni

Actually FALS was recommending the Goodyear all-season tyres: the 'Efficient Grip' is a summer tyre.

 

In the UK, the 'Honest John' website has long been recommending Michelin CC+ and now recommends other premium all-season tyres (Goodyear, Continental etc) for those that wish to have less road noise and a more compliant ride (for small-bump absorption) as well as all of the other benefits of having all-season tyres compared to summer ones.

 

One of my colleagues fitted a set of winter tyres and loved them so much, he now keeps them on all year, reckons he's not lost any discernible dry-weather grip or handling (but then, like me, he drives with a lot of mechanical sympathy - not slow, bur carefully) and says it's like having a much more expensive car in terms of road noise and ride, possibly at the expense of decreased tyre mileage and perhaps small (but within variation) fuel consumption penalty.

 

As I've said in another post on this forum - I totally admire anyone who drives around in 20-inch wheels with low-profile tyres. NZ must have better roads than my part of the UK, where you would need spinal surgery after a week of driving, as well as at least one new rim and tyre. We don't have potholes here - they're more like caves!

NZ has very good roads, been driven there on both islands.

UK has done step back - roads are getting worse and worse. Wales is ok, but England is surprisingly not good at all.

 

But again - having a winter with avg temperature around 10 deg Celsius, do you really need all season tyres? Unless you don`t live on Southern island in Alps area.

Edited 1 May, 20206 yr by linni

Linni, I've never said you need all-season tyres, just pointed out their advantages. 10C may be the average winter temperature, but it can still have days well below that, and a few years ago we had widespread snow even in the south of the UK.

 

Totally agree about the poor state of UK roads - as someone who has driven a lot in northern europe, I love the relatively empty (compared to UK) roads, with good surfaces. Really notice the difference when I return to the UK and feel ashamed that we've let our roads get so bad.

Agreed, extra precaution will not harm.

1 hour ago, linni said:

NZ has very good roads, been driven there on both islands.

Disagree, our chip seal roads are terribly loud and are much more prone to flinging the small stone chips. The fact that a majority of the main highway going from the top to bottom of NZ is a single carriageway with chip seal is rubbish. 

I remember them being very good. Cannot compare to German concrete roads of course, but during 3000 km trip did not see any single pothole. Used the highway only for few hundred kilometers.

Anyway, better than in UK

My previous car was a dreadful Subaru Forester, but now back to Skoda. The Scooby had Yokohamas from new, after 20k miles, the fronts were washing out at anything tighter than a roundabout,  so did some research & fitted Vredestein Sportrac 5s. Brilliant. My Kodiaq has Pirelli Scorpion Verde, still only 10k miles, but no problems so far. When they do need replacing, will have a serious look at the Vredesteins again. Usual disclaimers, no connections other than a very satisfied customer of Vredesteins.