New tyres for XC90 - 20" + Air

[Twilight2017XC90]

I read a post couple of weeks ago on this forum that someone has picked up a new car and "thought" Volvo has added air suspension (which he didn't order) as his car was a lot quieter than previous XC90 (thats his exact words and logic). When he get off at home and checked his got Michelin tyres and not Conti. May be you can dig a little and find out the exact specs from the member.

I echo comments above to go for wet grip A and if possible A rating for noise and not less than B fuel economy (don't have choice when ordering a new car). Only once I had those non branded tyres on my A3 and it was hell after 5k - a lot skittish and no grip even on a dry summer day.

Surprisingly, MY18 (Apr17) on Conti factory fitted doesn't make much noise whereas MY16 (Dec15) on same brand Conti was a little noisy. Just had the first service at 4700miles and tyre thread is 5.55 on front and 5.56 on rear. I am certainly not heavy on my right foot, use it for pure leisure, but if I go with above figures than I may need replacement around 20k.

[Deman77]

I am all but certain that Volvo made undeclared improvements with regard to noise insulation and suspension ride quality for air on my18. It’s not just better tyres. The reason they are not declaring it is they know they will have everyone on earlier models asking for a retrofit under warranty. Think they learnt their lesson with contisilents.

[Lexman8]

Originally Posted by Deman77

I am all but certain that Volvo made undeclared improvements with regard to noise insulation and suspension ride quality for air on my18. It’s not just better tyres.

Last time I had an XC90 loaner (non-air and only 800 miles on the clock) I reckoned it was much quieter than my own XC90. It occurred to me then that undeclared improvements had been made.

[The Wesminator]

interesting read.

My MY18.5 R Design arrived on 20" Mitch's and didn't seem to bad. I have now popped on a set of 22" R Design with Pirellis and the noise is just madness, droning and sounds like the front wheel bearings are shot.

Is there anything out there what will improve this???

Ta

[Quacker]

Originally Posted by Lexman8

The standard ContiSport Contact 5 is rated at 73dB for noise but the Silent version of it is also rated at 73dB. As such, I wouldn't expect a big improvement although the nature of the noise might be preferable on the Silent version and also better under certain conditions.

Similarly, the standard and Acoustic versions of the Michelin Latitude Sport 3 are also rated the same at 70dB.

However, the 3dB overall reduction that the Michelins provide compared to the Contis might be more significant. These noise figures are 'drive-by noise' so don't relate specifically to interior cabin noise but they're probably a good indicator. Roughly speaking a 3dB reduction is a halving of the noise level (because it's a logarithmic scale).

The noise rating is for external ‘drive-by’ noise. The noise you would hear standing on a pavement while a car drove past at a set speed on a standardised road surface.

Since Contisilent has the same carcass construction and tread pattern as a non-Contisilent Conti, it should be no surprise that there is no change to the drive-by noise or its rating.

What Contisilent and similar tyres do is to muffle internal carcass resonance that would otherwise be transmitted through the alloy wheel’s spokes to the car’s hubs, and hence through the suspension to the body shell, and hence the occupants inside. They achieve this by simply sticking a thick sound absorbing foam plastic material tightly to the inside of the tyre. This absorbs a fair proportion of the vibration/noise energy that would otherwise travel, not through air but through the car’s materials and structure.

You are correct that the drive-by noise level probably has a greater effect than whether a tyre is internally silenced or not, for the very reason you explain. However, every little helps.

I suspect that the design of the suspension and body also has a rather important influence on cabin noise. This may be something that Volvo can substantially improve on the next generation of models.

[Deman77]

If Acoustic MICHELIN provides as much improvement against standard as contisilents did against the original I think 50 coins a tyre extra is excellent value.

[familymangreg]

Originally Posted by S60Chris

Not everywhere will repair them if you get a puncture because of the foam lining and I’m not sure how much quieter they are in reality - I went from Conti’s to Michelin’s on my Passat and noticed a marked reduction in noise so I would be tempted to do the same, but whatever I get will be A rated for wet traction as a priority

Yes, I had a slow puncture (screw through middle of tyre) back in December. Fortunately a local mobile tyre repair contact knew how to/was happy to fix it. He doesn't find them easy jobs however, as you have to cut away the foam insert over the puncture area and then remove all the glue (the tricky part) before you can apply the puncture plug and get a good bond. I suspect that for some repairers it might be too much hassle, hence the 'cannot repair line'.

:wq

[Quacker]

Originally Posted by Deman77

If Acoustic MICHELIN provides as much improvement against standard as contisilents did against the original I think 50 coins a tyre extra is excellent value.

£50 for a bit of stick-on foam is daylight robbery, not "excellent value". In the real world, £50 will get you a quite substantial whole budget tyre for a super-mini type car, not a bit of acoustic foam.

It never ceases to amaze me as to the relative difference people put on ‘value’ these days. Your ‘value’ is my ‘daylight robbery’. £10 per tyre extra would be what I would call ‘value for the money’ for that foam and what it does. That would almost certainly still give the manufacturer a fair production margin over costs.

[familymangreg]

Thanks all for your input on this, much appreciated as always!

So I bit the bullet and order 4 new Michelin Latitude Sport 3 Acoustic Technology tyres. The none acoustic version are rated 3db lower for noise than my current Conti Silents, so I initially ordered these. But then my wife pointed out that she's rather swallow a few more £'s than have me moan for the next 12+ months that I should have gone for the acoustic version! So I changed the order!

The tyres are rated B for efficiency, A for wet weather and 70db for noise. My local mobile tyre fitter has also priced them including fitting a few £ cheaper than the best none-fitted price I could find online!

He's coming to fit them at 1pm.

:wq

[Lexman8]

Originally Posted by familymangreg

So I bit the bullet and order 4 new Michelin Latitude Sport 3 Acoustic Technology tyres.

Will be very interesting to hear (see what I did there?) how they perform.

I had an early start yesterday and the temperature was ~7C. The noise from the Pirelli summer tyres at this temperature was even more intrusive than normal.