The Secret to a Quiet Ride

Want to know a secret about making your vehicle ride quiet and smooth? Watch this video!

Tires contribute so much to the ride quality of your vehicle, including how noisy it is. In this video I explore that aspect of tires by changing out 2 different types of tires on my 2001 Acura Integra GSR. I measure the db of both tires and you might be surprised at the difference a set of tires makes.

There's also an added bonus in this video about tire temperatures that I think you'll find interesting as well.

Thanks for watching!

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[daynevickers]

THANK YOU!!! I've been looking at all kinds of videos to reduce tire noise, and NO one has had the brains you did to test the car on the same road under the same conditions to compare the before and after results, leaving me to rely on their 'opinion' alone. You seem to be the only one with common sense. Much appreciated!

[charliewolf]

Decibels are a logarithmic scale, with 6 DBA increace equating to doubling of the sound pressure. Hence going fom 72dBA to 66dBA is half as loud and a significant difference. Thankyou for the video Eric.

[mshannon]

The most honest mechanic I've seen in my life time. Wish this guy live in my area. He's the truth....ERIC

[ronsmate]

Congratulations Eric, for producing a meaningful and pertinent video. Most content on Youtube is BS, people put all manner of meaningless crap to big-note themselves. You've hit the nail on the head with one of the most underrated aspects of motoring. People religiously change their motor oil every 2000 miles but put on the cheap tyres ? Go and ride a motorbike and you learn a lot about adhesion and impact of surface area. And in my old age, I've learnt to appreciate comfort in it's various forms, including reducing / elimination of unnecessary background noise. So well done bringing this into the spotlight.

[devodar]

Eric does a great job once again. I have had great looking tires with good tread and they are noisy and ride rough over bumps. Put new tires on and it's almost like buying a new car for two years. Great points made Eric and thank you.

[krugerblue]

I am a tire fanatic myself. I learned it the hard way, when I was young I preferred to put my money into car speakers and shit, and drove on second hand tires. People just do not realize that it is just as important as having good shoes. Does not matter if you wear crappy jeans and shirts, but shoes are the most important piece of clothing you wear, with tires is the same.

[InsertusernamehereO]

If you can hear your tyres while driving, your exhaust isn't loud enough.

[ChrisStithPersonal]

You're absolutely right. about new tires and less road noise. One observation about your noise level measurement. In test one the sunroof cover was open and in test 2 it is closed. This will make a difference in your measurements. In my car it's quieter with it closed.

[ikon]

When I bought my TL, the previous owner recently installed Michelin tires. I never had that brand before and was blown away by how good they were.

[josefweber]

If you really want it even quieter, coating areas of the under body with a dynamat type material help significantly. Usually most of the sound comes in from the shift tunnel area

[enjoisk]

I install tires daily and I must say, Michelin's are good tires. They have siping that goes all the way through the tread so they still preform good after they wear past 50%. Great video Eric, very good information to know 👍

[timraber]

New tires on my 06 Saturn Vue made all the difference several years ago. I made a 200 mile trip on the old ones to find they was so noisy and out of balance I could barely drive 70 mph. They didn't look bad for being 4 years old with 45, 000 miles. The new ones was so quiet and no problem driving at 75 mph. I think one had a broken belt. I'm now running Goodyear tires.
I have a family member that worked for Goodyear corporate. He says tires are good for 4 year and or 40, 000 miles. After that the tires tend to start break down.
I enjoy your repair videos. They always help me trouble shoot problems. Even the farimount videos has helped me decide I can not afford a project car.
Thanks

[aserta]

Whomever has the idea that tires don't make a difference should get a bicycle and ride it from time to time. Man oh man do tires affect everything in cars. Ride, sound, performance both on road, and statistics. And it's funny that a simple bicycle can teach you so much about them.

[bonearete]

thank you for the effort of making this video.
I agree with you 100%. I am very sensitive to noisy tyres myself.
Ideally, when budget allows, I have them changed every 1.5 -2yrs, even though I don't put in too much miles in them.
The ride and sound of driving with new tyres are just so satisfying, which I can also see in your face after the changed.
It is like I was there with you.
👍👍

[MrFaniaros]

As a viewer, with the old tires fitted I can hear the tire noise easily! In the second part, with the new tires, I can't hear the tires, but the engine, so this is where 67dbs come from, which means the improvement is way larger than what the meter shows! Great video!

[garyaanderson]

My Father was a auto mechanic for over 50 years.Front wheel drive unibody cars are a unique challenge for decreasing road noise.I put those same tires on my 2012 corolla and agree completely.

[NuNuRokd]

Does anyone else get goosebumps when you see that iconic 8k redline tach?.... Be still my heart

[marianlech]

Now that's what I call a valid point. Thank you, sir, great video.

[s]

The secret to a quiet ride? Leave the wife and kids at home!

[sheepdog]

A little late to seeing this video but still worth commenting on. The basic conclusions you came to are spot on. I have a 2003 BMW X5 that originally came with Michelin tires when new. For the first 100K miles at about 10 years, I stayed true to replacing them with the same tires when needed. Little did I know that on my AWD SUV that if one tire when bad you had to replace all 4 at the same time. Do that a couple of times and it gets quite expensive. I decided to switch to Cooper tires which were about half the price of the Michelins. Right off the bat there was a huge difference in the way the vehicle handled and the amount of noise coming inside. It has not been a pleasant experience. As you probably know, BMW's quickly become money pits after several years. In the last 2 years I've sunk over $12K in repairs: oil leaks, rebuilt transmission, new brakes rotors, etc etc etc. I'm trapped into keeping it as I'll never get any of my money back if I sold it. With 175K miles now on it, I've decided to keep it until the wheels fall off. As such I intend to switch back to the original Michelins when the time comes. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.