Does wheel size affect noise on the XC90?

[jimbg]

I am looking to possibly order a XC90 shortly and was wondering if there is a sweet spot for wheel size and potential road noise?

I understand the smaller the better, but are any worse than others?

Is having air suspension a major factor regarding noise?

Also what tyres are Volvo fitting these day?

Cheers
Jim

[nu11eaf]

I have 20" wheels with Contisilent tyres and air suspension which I find very noisy above 40mph on anything but new smooth tarmac, I have driven service lone cars on 19" wheels that were noticeably quieter.
I recently had a puncture and replaced the rear tyres with pirelli scorpion verdi's and have not noticed any difference in noise levels but still have the horrid Contisilents on the front.
Volvo fit several makes of tyres, depending on wheels/spec/model etc.

[MaDProFF]

I was really surprised how quiet and good the 21" oem tyres are, sense they are quite fast wearing though.

My Winter tyres which are 19" rims, Nokians, are a little noisier, that did surprise me as in the past winters have generally been slightly quieter.

[Duri13]

I just got my XC90 with 19" 235/55 Pirelli Scorpion summer tyres and I am very happy with the comfort and also a noise (or lack of it). One of the reasons I went for Momentum instead of Inscription was that Momentum had 19" wheels, while Inscription comes with 20" 275/45 tyres, which I liked much more (design) but the price list did not mention if these tyres were noise dampening. Bigger 21-22 tyres had this mentioned in the price list. So I was confused. I guess the extra 4cm width on these 20-22" tyres can cause more noise but for some reason only 21+" are with lowered noise, according to price list. My dealer was not able to provide a reliable answer so I went for a safer choice, which was 19" and only 235mm width.
It could be that also 20" tyres are noise dampening because the Diplomatic/Expat price list had it mentioned but since January they switched to standard price lists and it is no longer there...so I got confused.

Anyway - when I was testing XC90 on 19" 235/55 Pirelli Scorption WINTER, I was really annoyed by the noise. I guess when winter comes, I will need to avoid this particular one. The summer version, as I have it now, is fine though.

Regarding your last question - I do not think air suspension could have anything to do with a tyre/road noise.

[jimbg]

Thanks for the replies, I will have to re-read the price list regarding noise damping.

[NewV90Owner]

Noise cancelling tyres can't work miracles.

Tyre/wheel noise comes in may different forms:

1. Noise from the tyre on the road (classical tyre roar) and this is the value on the tyre label.

2. Noise from the resonating air inside the tyre itself - it is this noise that noise cancelling tyres are focused on.

3. Noise from the the vibrations on the road being transmitted through the tyre to the axle through the suspension through the subframe and then to the shell of the car itself.

Noise cancelling tyres can't do much about 1 or 3.

A wider tyre (for the same profile) has a larger contact area and hence more noise (type 1).

A taller tyre has more damping from road vibrations and hence less noise (type 3).

A tyre with a higher load rating will typically have thicker side walls and hence more type 3 noise.

This is all sensitive to the exact make up of the tyre.

The elephant in the room is that heavier cars have wider tyres and higher load ratings and hence they can be noisy unless heavily sound proofed.

Cars with separate frames can have a high level of isolation between the body and the frame and hence little type 3 noise (older Discovery models and Shoguns for example). Some cars also have excellent subframe isolation (e.g. BMW 5 series).

Lower profile tyres typically have a higher pressure and smaller contact area than higher profile tyres and that is why the wheel width goes up as the profile goes down (as in most Volvos).

This is also why a Ford Fiesta on tiny wheels and tyres is quite quiet!

[Deman77]

Originally Posted by jimbg

I am looking to possibly order a XC90 shortly and was wondering if there is a sweet spot for wheel size and potential road noise?

I understand the smaller the better, but are any worse than others?

Is having air suspension a major factor regarding noise?

Also what tyres are Volvo fitting these day?

Cheers
Jim

Those are the right questions to ask as xc90 is susceptible to road noise on the wrong tyres. What’s more you can get a large variation depending on tyre pressure. You won’t get a definitive answer here. Volvo changes thing around from time to time with what tyres ship with different wheels.
The only guaranteed solution is to go with used and test drive it in different conditions before buying.
Second best is find several combos where people swear it’s not noisy (more than a few) and then agree with dealer that if it comes on different tyres they will swap you into the tyres you expected.