[Euro] Question re road noise

I took my new Euro out to the freeway for the first time (Hume Highway). On smooth bitumen, the Euro was dead silent, with very little wind rustle, virtually silent engine and little tyre noise. However, once I got on coarse chip bitumen, the tyre roar was quite instrusive.

My questions are:
Besides changing to quieter tyres, are there any aftermarket products to reduce road noise? For example, is it possible to line the wheel wells with asphalt?
Do other Euro owners find Euro's coarse chip road noise any worse than other similar cars?

I find that the Camry is better at insulating road noise and the Mazda Astina is much worse than the Euro. So I think the Euro is somewhat average in this regard.

Hope to hear some observations. Thanks.

It's more got to do with what tyres you are using.

Normally directional tyres are noisier because of the tyre pattern. If you would like to have less road noise then you will have to replace it with a set of non-directional tyres. Tyre compound is another factor that contributes to road noise.

These tyres are easily identified by the arrow that shows on the sidewall for directional tyres and no arrows for non-directional tyres.

The stock Dunlops that we have are not directional though. Which tyres do you have?

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Originally Posted by aaronng

The stock Dunlops that we have are not directional though. Which tyres do you have?

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It came with Dunlop SPs. Based on Wheels Mag's last tyre test, the Dunlops are meant to be reasonably quiet. I think it come out third or fourth quietest amongst 9 or 10 tyres tested.

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Originally Posted by FWCL

It came with Dunlop SPs. Based on Wheels Mag's last tyre test, the Dunlops are meant to be reasonably quiet. I think it come out third or fourth quietest amongst 9 or 10 tyres tested.

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For the road surfaces I am on, I think they are ok. Not as quiet as I'd like them to be. Probably the road condition is bad here in the Eastern Suburbs. I want to try Yokohama C drives next and see how they hold up in noise. The C is meant to stand for Comfort.

FWCL: as you get Dunlop stock tyre, you must have 205/55/16 tyre..

I just fitted a set of used 18" rims with Falken ZE326 225/40/18 tyres yesterday. and I can tell you the rolling noise from the tyres is markablly higher compare with stock Dunlop 205/55/16.

Falken ZE326 is not uni-directional tyre nor ultra high performance tyre. but I think the additional noise is from wider tyre and smaller offset of the rims (means the whole wheel stick out more). I can't image how loud it will be if I fit Goodyear F1 or semi-slick tyre.

aaronng, I would like to try Yokohama's C-drive too. The pattern looks very modern and should be a very good all-rounder type of tyre. Unfortunaltey they dont come in 18" yet, but hopefully in the future.

Thread hi-jack....Way to go Roger!!!! (PNR888) PICS!!!!!!. (in another thread of course ;))

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Originally Posted by PNR888

aaronng, I would like to try Yokohama's C-drive too. The pattern looks very modern and should be a very good all-rounder type of tyre. Unfortunaltey they dont come in 18" yet, but hopefully in the future.

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I think for 18"s, they recommend the A.drives. Hehe.

awesome stuff Roger! didn't even know you had plans to get 18's. looking foward to the pictures...

is road noise basically a function of having more grip?

Mat and Chris, you actually have seen those rims and tyres before, I got them off Hardi (HK88).

As I mentioned on previous post, the noise level is definitely much higher, even just after I replaced 2 front wheels on (I drove like this for 2 days). After I put rear ones on yesterday, the noise level increased further..

I guess you can't win all the time. You got to sacrifice something for look and handling. I probably will get used to the new noise level very soon, otherwise I may look into getting some quiter tyres.

and yeah, I will try to take some snapshot when the sky clear up and post up.

Ahhh well there you go!. Cool! :) What rims did Hardi get as a replacement?

He has stock 16" on for the time being, as he is waiting for Volk TE37 to arrive from Japan