In a recent post, "Best Tire Brands for Long Treadwear", some of the longest wearing tires were discussed and how treadlife is one of the most important factors that consumers consider when deciding which tires to buy. In addition to treadlife, tire noise is a major factor to most drivers when selecting a new set of tires. Who wants to listen to the drone of a loud tire during a daily commute or road trip. Besides being a nuisance, loud tire noise can keep a driver from hearing other sounds that can affect vehicle maintenance and safety.
Tires that generally make the least amount of noise typically come from the following performance categories:
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Standard Touring All-Season
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Passenger All-Sean
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Grand Touring All-Season
Many years ago, summer tires were the quietest tires available while all-season tires were louder due to their more aggressive tread patterns. Tire technology has come a long way and the market has changed. Newer summer tires are now primarily focused on high levels of grip, handling and quick steering response, with less focus on road noise. All-season tires are now the best choice for those after a quiet ride. The following tires are some of the top picks for low road noise in three of the quietest categories:
Stop putting up with loud tires!
Shop by vehicle to find a quiet set of tires for your car, truck or crossover.
Not too long ago, finding a tire with a 60,000-mile treadwear warranty was not easy. Modern construction methods, advanced tread compounds and other technology has lead to tires that can wear for even longer. With treadwear warranties on some replacement tires approaching 100,000 miles, they may even outlast your car!
Achieving long treadlife requires more work than simply installing the tires and driving. Proper maintenance of the tires' inflation pressures, tire rotation and keeping your vehicle aligned all play a role. In fact, manufacturers require that the tires are worn down evenly in order to qualify for treadwear warranty coverage. Find more information about this by reading "The Good, the Bad and the Impossible Regarding Treadlife Warranties."
Here are some of my top picks for tires that feature a long treadwear warranty, while still maintaining acceptable levels of grip and ride quality:
90,000-Mile Treadlife Warranty or Longer
80,000-85,000-Mile Treadlife Warranty
70,000-75,000-Mile Treadlife Warranty
To see if these tires are available for your car, SUV or crossover, shop by vehicle.
With spring h
ere, many drivers are getting ready to purchase tires for roadrace or autocross use.
For those who want tires they'll use mostly on the street, but want to do some racing, the Extreme Performance Summer category offers some good options. Tires in this performance category won't give you the fastest lap times compared to competition tires, however they are a good choice for the less serious racer. If this sounds like what you're looking for, consider the following options:
For the more serious race enthusiast, take a look at our selection of Track & Competition DOT tires. These are options that shouldn't be driven on the street and are for the track only. If you are looking for a tire for your roadrace event, consider the Hoosier R6. If autocross is your event, take a look at the A6 from Hoosier.
Hoosier's set-up process to maximize treadwear and handling is more involved than other tires, however their tires are hard to beat! For those that want a good competition tire at a lower price point, the Hankook Ventus Z214 is available in both a roadrace and autocross compound.
Will your new set of tires need to be saved? If so, how far should they be shaved? Read "Shaving Tires for Autocross / Track Use / Competition" to see how this service can help you maximize your tire's performance capabilities early in their life.
Han
kook has introduced a new Ultra High Performance All-Season tire with the Ventus S1 noble2. It appears it'll be a superior option to the Ventus V4 ES H105.
The Ventus S1 noble2 has an asymmetric tread design compared to the directional design of the V4 ES H105. This offers you the ability to fully rotate the tires on the vehicle to maximize treadlife. In addition, asymmetric tires tend to stay quieter as they wear. Hankook uses a hybrid tread compound technology silica that offers lower rolling resistance, improved treadlife and enhanced wet traction.
Ventus S1 noble 2 tires are offered with a 50,000-mile treadlife warranty and a road hazard warranty for the first year or 2/32" of treadwear. This is an improvement over the Ventus V4 ES H104's treadlife warranty, which only extends to tires with a 40-series sidewall and up.
Kontrol Technology is a Hankook philosophy, as well as a set of proprietary innovations applied during tire research, development and production to ensure controlled driving experiences. The "K" denotes "kinetic" to show that the interaction of this tire with the road lies at the heart of driving control. This technology provides a range of benefits across four areas that drivers identify as key when choosing quality tires: performance, safety, comfort and environmental impact. And just as with other Hankook tires, this new option is priced as a great value for the performance it offers.
When you purchase a set of four Hankook Ventus S1 noble2 tires before June 30, 2013, you can receive an American Express® Reward Card valued at $60 by mail-in rebate. View details here.
Depending on where you live, race season will soon be upon us or is now in full swing for many SCCA racers and other racing organizations. We carry a variety of street legal race tires from Hoosier, BFGoodrich, Michelin, Kumho, Hankook and Toyo. If you know Hoosier is the brand for you, take a look at "Hoosier A6 and R6 Race Tires."
While Tire Rack offers an easy-to-use shop by vehicle feature, many racers use wider, non-standard sizes in order to maximize track performance. Since racecars often have more flexibility in sizes that can be used, it's often helpful to see a list of sizes that a given tire is available in. Therefore, shopping by size is a more efficient way to find the race tire you're looking for.
However, if you already know which specific race tire you want and would simply like to know what sizes are available and how that tire compares to its competitors, follow these steps:
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Visit our Tire Survey Results
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Select the tire that interests you
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Click on the 'Sizes" tab
Now that you've found your tires, it may be a good idea to have them heat cycled. Heat cycling actually makes Track & Competition DOT tread compounds more consistent in strength and more resistant to losing their strength the next time they're used. For more information, read "Competition Tire Heat Cycling Service."
2006 Dodge Magnum SRT8
2010 Jeep Liberty Sport
