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2014 A6 Premium Plus with Sport Package and 20" wheels and Pirelli PZeros - Less than 1,000 miles. Lots of cabin noise, resonant noise (unpleasant road song) and whir (a sound like wind rushing by even at speeds to low for it to be wind). I've been back and forth with the dealer, the local service department, and Audi of North America. It has taken a lot of time and been very frustrating. It took the local service department two tries to get the alignment right (the first time they used the wrong specs). They also tried to balance the tires and found out that two of the tires could not be road forced. Incredibly, they put the bad tires back on the car. After numerous phone calls, they agreed to replace them. The correct alignment and replacement of the two defective tires reduced resonant noise some, but not whir noise. The service department said that the problem was that Pirellis are just really loud tires, and I should buy Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 tires if I wanted a quiet cabin. Since there was still the same whir, and excessive resonance, I replaced the Pzeros with the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3. The Michelins actually make more resonant noise than the Pirellis and had a harsher ride. The whir noise is about the same. Thinking of trying Ventus S1 Noble 2 or going to going to a smaller wheel, 18" or 19", with a different tire. I wonder if the whir noise could be from the wheels rather than the tires. Is this possible? Has anyone reduced resonant noise by at least 50%? Has anyone reduced whir noise by 50%? If so, I would really appreciate it if you would share your secret. Thanks.
I just read a post where someone had s1 noble2 and swapped them for Advan sport all seasons. He said advans had less road noise
That said, the real problem is that our cars have very poor sound insulation.
subterFUSE - Thanks for your detailed input.
I thought my noise problem was poor insulation, but I have rolled my window down, and driven until I have found a really noisy vehicle in the lane next to me. Then, I roll the window up. The noise disappears except in extreme cases. So, at least the cabin sound insulation is good against traffic noise.
I see that you are doing insulation on the floor of your car. Were you able to confirm that the noise was coming from the floor rather than being transmitted into the car from parts connected with the wheels? Have you tried insulating the wheel wells?
I'm not trying to second guess you. This noise is driving me nuts, and I want to find the solution. These are $60,000+ cars, and this should not be a problem.
I look forward to hearing the results of your floor insulation. Thanks for doing this and sharing it with us.
i have been told by an expert that Pzero are soft tyres hence too noisy and wear out quicker. For some reasons in the UK Audi Recommends Perelli Pzero on their cars, However have been told to get Bridgestone which will probably resolve the issue. So will have to wait for next year as i have bought the car with brand new perelli pzero all around.
Has anyone tried switching to a grand touring tire instead of UHP? I see the Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus, Continental ContiProContact and Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus are available in the 19" size, but nothing for 20". Because I have the ContiProContact as OEM for 18" and have no issues with road noise. In fact, everyone comments on how quiet the car is, especially on the highway.
I have the ContiProContact OEM 18s and have what I think is a lot of road/tire noise from the front end. Maybe it depends on what you've become accustomed to in you're previous car. The car is quiet at low speeds and has little or no wind noise at high speeds, but expansion joints and rough concrete produce a bong, bong, bong drumming noise which makes me wonder if it's the front suspension or the tires.
I have the ContiProContact OEM 18s and have what I think is a lot of road/tire noise from the front end. Maybe it depends on what you've become accustomed to in you're previous car. The car is quiet at low speeds and has little or no wind noise at high speeds, but expansion joints and rough concrete produce a bong, bong, bong drumming noise which makes me wonder if it's the front suspension or the tires.
Sure, it does depend a lot on the road surface. On concrete, every car I have driven including my A6 with ContiProContacts produces a high pitch whine and drumming noise over the expansion joints. I don't think there is much you can do about it. Fortunately for me, most of I-95 that I use is asphalt, which produces a lower pitch roar and there are no expansion joints. In my experience, this low pitch roar from grand touring tires is a lot less than with Summer or UHP tires.
I have a 2014 Q7 with Perelli Scorpion Zero and they were extemely noisy and made me hate the car. Finally Audi dealer in Naples, Fl. exchanged them with Michelin Lattitude's. I am now very happy as this vehicle rides and handles much better and has much less noise.
I have now tried the Pirelli PZero, Michelin Pilot Sport A/S and the Yokohama Advan Sport A/S on my new A6 with Sport suspension and 20" wheels. Here are the results:
Pirelli Pzero: Loud low pitched and high pitched whine at all speeds. Noise gets louder as speed increases. LOUD over 60 mph. Noise gets really loud on various interstate pavement, and is unbearable on cement at highway speeds. The ride is jarring. Absolutely amazing handling on curvy roads in dry and wet.
Michelin Pilot Sport A/S: Quietest of the tires I tested. Low pitched road noise, but MUCH quieter than the Pirellis. Not tomb quiet, but comfortably quiet. Harsh ride. Slightly harsher ride than the Pirellis. Handling is great. Maybe as good as the Pirellis. I only put about 100 miles on these tires, and returned them. They felt like the ride was getting slightly softer, but I did not want to risk having to keep them in order to find out.
Yokohama Advan Sport A/S: The first thing that I noticed was that the ride was substantially smoother. Changed the ride of the car from jarring to comfortable. Quiet. Low pitched road noise at about the same volume as the Michelins, but SLIGHTLY higher pitch than the Michelins. The handling MAY be slightly less than the other two tires on curvy mountain roads, but it could be that it does not feel as fast because it is so much quieter, and I am not feeling every little crease in the pavement.
Bottom line: The Yokohama Advan Sport A/S transformed my new 2014 A6 with Sport Suspension and 20" wheels from a car that I was starting to hate to a car that I love. They are relatively quiet (some low pitched road noise), and provide a COMFORTABLE ride with great handling. I heard about them in another forum on Audiworld. They have a 30 day money back guarantee as of this review. I would strongly recommend them to a friend.
10-19-2014, 02:58 PM
