I just put on some used tires and wheels that I bought for my coupe. The tires are 19" S-03's and came with about 9k miles on them (according to the guy I bought them from).

I took it out for a test drive last night and the tires are insanely loud. In the car it sounds like I'm in a Jeep with 34" mud tires on!

I double checked to see if maybe I got them on the wrong direction but they're rotating the right way.

I know that lower profile and wider tires would be stiffer and a little louder but this is crazy. Is this a problem with the S-03's or will they get better as I break them in on my car?

Maybe this is why the guy wanted to sell them

 

it will get worse as you wear them down. I have the SO3's on my car too, but I find them quieter than the Roaring Michelin Pilot Sports. You also have to consider the fact that there is size change in your rims and tires, it plays a big role in tire noise.

 

My stock pilots have around 15k miles on them and they don't sound anything like the S-03's. I can't believe that this amount of noise is normal and is going to get worse.

Are there tires that are less noisy that I might want to put on?

 

I have the dunlop sp9000 tires which i bought used as well.. and the tire noise was so loud that it gave me headaches... what I did was I switched the front two rims/tires so they're facing the same way and the noise reduced significantly. The noise is still there tho. So if u were to get new tires, i would not recommend the dunlops. But my guess is that all new tires will eventually have noise? But maybe not as bad as mine as I would rather not drive then to suffer w/ the noise!

 

Not exactly sure what you mean? The tires are directional so they can only go one way. Did you just swap them to even out the tread wear, in case they had not worn evenly from side to side? In other words, did you take the right front and put it on the left front and vice versa?

 

hehehehe. It does get pretty loud after a while...just part of the game.
I drive with the window open (not a sterephile guy) so doesn't bother me though.

The set I had on my rex sounded like I had bad wheel bearings. hahahaha.

 

yes that is what I did. And yes the tires are directional so you would have to completely unmount them from the wheel..and switch the tires from the left and right wheels. It helped a lot on the noise though. It also helped on the uneven tread wear

 

Thanks imalazeeass,
I'm hoping it'll get a little better as the tires break in on my car. If they don't I'll see about swapping them from side to side like you did.
I'll probably swap them out next year, so I will just have to get used to it for this summer. Think I'll get some Toyo's, since they're a good value and other's have said they're a little quieter.

Gizmo

 

I have the S-03's and I don't have any road noise problems.

 

I went through two sets of S03's on the Supra and while they were fairly loud, they weren't loud enough to really bother me... I think Michelins are actually louder than S03's... but I guess it varies from one person to another as loudness is purely subjective.

 

People are saying that the Michelins were loud, but I didn't think they were that bad.

These S-03's are really, really loud. I'm hoping that it's just because they came off another car and that they'll get down to a reasonable level as they break in.

I don't think that it's inherit to the design, just that the tread blocks are worn in a way that doesn't match my alignment.

Wish me luck!

 

My S03's are loud as hell on my brand new 05. I'm going to try some GoodyearEagle F1 GS-D3's . . . hopefully it quiets down a bit.

 

Just wait until it's worn down a little more.


Jahan- GS-D3's.
It is quite a bit quieter than the S03's. The sidewalls are much softer than the S03's though. They are comfy perf tires.

 

One of the strange things about the noise is that it's speed dependent.

Between 35 and 45 is when they are the loudest. It's also a bit weird because I notice it more when I'm decellerating. As I get to about 45 the noise really increases and then by about 35 it quites down. At highway speeds it's not that bad for a high perf. tire.

I'm wondering if maybe my front toe is out of alignment or is different enough from the previous owner that the tires are just scrubbing along.

Another strange anomoly is that my gas mileage has dramatically gone down. I'm only on my first tank, but I'm guessing that I'll be lucky to get 250 miles instead of the 300 that I usually get. Very strange.......

 

my brand new KDW2's have the same 35-40mph resonance. and decel roar.

You know, if its below 50F there, thats gonna make it a bit worse.