When choosing a good tire for your vehicle, most drivers and car owners select a particular one depending on the brand, size, safety features, and price.
However, as tire manufacturers become more innovative, quiet tires are now an important feature to consider when shopping. If you want to replace your noisy tires with a quieter set, which brands are the best, and how do they work? Read on!
What Are Quiet Tires?
Quiet tires are specifically designed to produce less noise, even at high speeds, due to the unique design of the tire tread and specialized rubber. Brands that make quiet tires include Goodyear, Michelin, Continental, Bridgestone, and Yokohama to name a few. Additionally, quiet tires do have limitations as they don’t always reduce noise on rough asphalt.
For more details about the quietest tire, the types and brands, how to choose a quiet set, and how these tires work, keep on reading!
Do Quiet Tires Really Work?
If your recent trips have been noisy, you might be considering changing your tires but will quiet tires solve the noise issue?
While tires are now fitted with advanced technologies to reduce the noise level when driving, there are other reasons why your driving experience might be bumpy.
When driving, you should also expect exterior noise from the engine, wind, suspension, and transmission.
In addition, the road texture also matters; therefore, if your route is paved with asphalt, it will generally sound louder than the smooth freeway.
As for the tires, the noise might come from the air chamber as the tire rolls, resulting in a low-frequency hum.
Furthermore, the tread pattern also affects the amount of noise you hear; if the tread blocks are uniformly shaped, they produce a whining sound, whereas if they are differently shaped, they create noise levels in different pitches.
If your old set of tires has become too noisy and bumpy on the road, you might have to change all four tires to enjoy comfortable rides.
Therefore, as much as quiet tires work, you’ll need to consider other factors that may be causing noise when driving.
Types Of Quiet Tires
Although modern tires are made with superior technologies, some types of tires are quieter than others. Let’s take a look at how they range.
Passenger All-Season Tires
According to Les Schwab, today’s passenger cars are estimated to be 80% quieter than the ones manufactured in the ’80s.
One of the contributing features is the reduced noise that comes with all-season tires, designed to fit in compact and sub-compact cars.
Most passenger cars are fitted with all-season tires for fast driving and use throughout the warm and wet seasons.
Additionally, their smaller size and larger sidewalls make them quiet on the highway since they can function well on dry and rainy streets as well as light snow; therefore, they are one of the best tires for quiet rides.
Touring Tires
While passenger tires are good if you need to enjoy a smooth ride, touring tires are a step above them because they are ideal for compact cars, compact crossovers, and mid-size sedans.
As the same implies, they are designed for long-distance travel and drivers that cover a lot of miles annually.
An AAA Foundation survey showed that Americans tend to drive the most during summer months, an average of 30.6 miles daily, which increases the number of tire blowouts, especially when the car is not fitted with the correct tires.
Not only are touring tires ideal for such conditions, but they are also quieter, with better stability than passenger tires and excellent ride quality.
Additionally, these tires have an all-season tread compound, making them quieter as you drive around.
Although similar to touring tires, these alternatives are much larger in size with higher load ranges.
While most of them are designed specifically for trucks, larger SUVs, and crossovers, some of them are meant for commercial vehicles.
Highway tires in the market today are much quieter than what was available in the past years.
Studless Winter Tires
While shopping for winter tires, you can choose between studded and studless options, depending on the road conditions and how heavy the snow is.
Both alternatives are good if you are driving on icy or roads covered with heavy snore; however, the studded one is noisier.
Studded winter tires are fitted with metal spikes, which are permanently fixed on the tread to help the car navigate through thick layers of ice.
Although some companies add rubber or plastic studs, metal ones are more common because they easily chip the ice away; however, they can damage the road, which has led to a ban in most states.
On the other hand, studless don’t come with noisy rivets; therefore, they are quieter when driving.
How Do I Choose A Quiet Tire?
Now that we’ve discussed some of the best brands to purchase if you need a quiet tire, which factors should you consider when selecting the best option. Here are some key things to consider.
Noise Cancelling Technology
Almost every tire brand has a noise reduction or canceling technique for their tires; therefore, you should choose the best alternative that will give you the best value for your car.
Tire Tread and Patterns
Most of these quiet tire brands have the best tread wear patterns, making contact with the road much more effortless, resulting in more peaceful rides.
When looking at the importance of the tread, you also need to check all the vital elements, including grooves, tread blocks, tread voids, wear bar, rain grooves, and siping, which help in braking, accelerating, and steering.
Are All-Season Tires Quieter Than Summer and Winter Tires?
According to customer reviews, all-season tires were pretty noisy in the past due to the advanced tread patterns; however, because of the new technologies, they are much quieter now than summer tires.
All-season tires are better equipped for softer and quieter rides than their counterparts while also offering a longer tread life and the best fuel economy.
Summer and winter tires tend to be noisier once they contact the road because of their specific designs and tread patterns.
Despite these factors, keep in mind that the all-season tires should not be used during extremely cold winter conditions, and therefore, you might have to go for the studless winter tires that are less noisy.
What Brands of Tires Are The Quietest?
As mentioned above, most tire brands now have quiet tires thanks to science and advanced technologies. Here are some of the quietest brands in the market.
Michelin Defender All-Season Radial Tire
As an all-season tire, the Michelin Defender is one of the quietest brands in the market, designed with a high-quality tread pattern for comfort and smooth rides.
With a 90,000 mile warranty, this tire has high amounts of silica-infused in the tread to increase the traction on wet roads, as well as biting edges to increase your vehicle’s traction on snow and ice.
Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus Radial Tire
If you are looking for a tire brand fitted with the best technologies, you should consider the Bridgestone Turanza.
Manufactured by Bridgestone, this tire is designed using Resonance Noise Attenuated Silencer grooves in the tread blocks, which help reduce trapped air sound.
Additionally, the continuous shoulder and center ribs help reduce noise and improve road contact and stability.
Goodyear Wrangler Radial
If you have an SUV or a truck, the Goodyear Wrangler tire is the best option if you need a quiet and smooth ride.
Unlike other brands in the market, it has rugged treads to help with grip in mud, sand, gravel, or snow, especially when towing heavy loads.
Since it’s an all-terrain tire, the tread is excellent for both off-road and highway terrains as well as different weather conditions.
Continental Extreme Contact DWS06
As a product of Continental tire manufacturers, this alternative is an all-season tire that performs well in good conditions.
DWS in the brand name stands for dry, wet, and snow, which means it’s ideal for these different weather conditions.
Fitted with a criss-cross tread pattern and lateral grooves, this tire offers a zero-noise experience for a smooth driving experience.
Continental Extreme Contact tires are responsive and comfortable; however, they don’t hold well on rough patches.
Yokohama ENVigor All-Season Tire
Yokohama ENVigor All-Season Tires provide a quiet driving experience at high speeds; therefore, they are ideal for car owners who drive fast on expressways.
To improve their grip, these tires have asymmetrical tread construction and angled grooves, which are ideal for driving in wet conditions.
While these features help with increasing fuel efficiency, you can enjoy a smooth, quiet ride while driving at high speeds.
Michelin Energy Saver A/S All-Season Radial Tire
Michelin manufactures these tires for drivers who prefer alternatives that are good for the environment.
Apart from taking care of the environment, these tires are relatively quiet, making it easier to drive peacefully without any noise.
As energy savers, they have excellent tread, which helps in improving fuel efficiency.
Bridgestone Potenza RE980AS
If you need ultra-high-performance all-season tires, this brand is the best option because it’s super responsive and has high levels of grip and traction.
Compared to other brands, the Potenza is optimized with a noise-reducing tread pattern that makes it the quietest tire in the category.
Among all other ultra-high-performance tires, this tire has the highest guaranteed tire warranty at 50,000-miles.
To know more about tires, you can also read our posts on how long do Toyo tires last, how long do spare tires last, and why tires are made of rubber.
Conclusion
Quiet tires have become a priority for most drivers as a means to enjoy smooth and comfortable rides.
Noisy tires are a major distraction and affect the quality of your drives due to the instability and vibrations.
Traveling with a set of quiet tires is much better; therefore, you shouldn’t only focus on the price and size of the tire when shopping.
Once you decide to get quiet tires, you are assured of quality since most reputable brands in the tire market have invested in noise-canceling or reducing technology in their models.
Quiet tires work if you select the best brands for comfort, depending on your car type.