Road noise on new wheels.

[jaylah]

Hey all,
Recently i bought new 18" rims for my car, and they came with two different pairs of tyre. One brand was 'blue streak' and the other was 'firenza'. (never heard of these brands) Ever since the wheel were put on, i've been getting A LOT of road noise. I even swapped the wheels around so the firenza was now in the front but same thing.
My question is, what is making the road noises? Is it solely based on the tyres, or am i bound to get it from big rims?

[JohnnyJohnJohn]

Did you get an alignment? Also why don't you have the same tyres all round?

[jaylah]

I got an alignment in the front, not the rear. I just bought them second hand like that. I'm going to replace them all in the future since both tyres are near new right now.
Apparently the firenza aren't meant to make a lot of road noise, according to reviews. The other ones on the other hand, i know they are cheap stuff.

[Oz_Striker]

make sure that the tyres are facing the right way round, sounds silly but it happens. What size were the wheels you had on it before the 18's? If they were the stock wheels or just a smaller wheel, it's likely they would have been a narrower wheel. Because the new wheels are a bigger diametre they will most likely be wider. This means more rubber from the tyres comes into contact with the road, hence more noise. This is also applicable to the tyres your using, a sports tyre will usually have more rubber contacting with the road and will be softer than a standard tyre which are designed more for long milege and this will make them louder aswell. You'll also most likely be getting a firmer ride than before which can also make road noise a bit louder

EDIT: a cheaply made tyre could be contributing to the problem as well

[aaronng]

Tyre noise also depends on the tread design, construction of the tyre and the composition of the rubber.

[jaylah]

Tyres are facing the right way. I was on 195/65/15 before and now on 225/40/18. I think it's the cheaply made tyre. But then again, you can't COMPLETELY eliminate road noise can you? Can only minimise it? Am i right?

[geeang]

It's also due to the fact that you went from 15 inch wheels with fat tyres, to 18 inch wheels with thin tyres.

[Oz_Striker]

Tyres are facing the right way. I was on 195/65/15 before and now on 225/40/18. I think it's the cheaply made tyre. But then again, you can't COMPLETELY eliminate road noise can you? Can only minimise it? Am i right?

it's common sense, road noise would be rediculously hard to completely eliminate, unless you found a way to secure Beats headphones over each wheel lol even on some of the most expensive luxury cars worth hundreds of thousands of dollars there is still going to be some road noise


It's also due to the fact that you went from 15 inch wheels with fat tyres, to 18 inch wheels with thin tyres.

That will be the main reason, stepping up in wheel size and way down in tyre size will be why you have noticed such a large difference. When i got aftermarket wheels, i only went to 16's (way big enough for me) and my tyre size didn't decrease too much but i still noticed a difference in road noise, not much but it was a bit louder. bottom line is if you rocking such large wheels on thin tread then your going to have more road noise than you would have from the stock setup, and either way there will always be road noise

[Mikecivic78]

As said, lower profile tyres and larger rims are a contributing factor.

Plus sounds like you've got shit budget tyres. As aaronng says, tyre design and materials are a factor as well.

Upgrade to something decent when you have the cash. Never cheap out on tyres IMO.

Whenever you buy rims with tyres (or any car for that matter), always factor in the quality/wear of the tyres.