I have 16'' SSR Schumacher rims on my car with Yokohama AVS ES 100 tires. (205/45Z/R16) When i go past 20 mph it starts making a lot of noise. Is it my tires? My friend said 215's would help eliminate the road noise.

 

Some tires are just noisy. I heard the ES100's were a pretty noisy tire.

 

yeah they are very noisy. but on tire rack they said the noise comfort was excellent. ahaha

 

wadup is correct. Some tires are just noisy. I have heard that the ES100 is noisier when it's worn than when it's new. I don't know if that's true; I've got a set on a '94 GS-R, and I've been using them for about 20K miles (still have a ways to go) and I haven't found the noise to be overly loud or annoying at all.

I highly doubt that getting a tire that is 10 mm wider will make any difference. Next time you might want to ask your tire dealer (the Tire Rack folks are particularly knowledgeable) if they can recommend a tire that's not as noisy.

 

what do u think about the Falken Sport Azenis tires? P215/45r16? I know a lot of people that have those tires mounted on their 16's. What do u think? But u recommend getting 215'2 instead of 205 rite?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by krazyk &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">what do u think about the Falken Sport Azenis tires? P215/45r16? I know a lot of people that have those tires mounted on their 16's.</TD></TR></TABLE>

First of all, you need to distinguish between the two models of Falken Azenis tires. The Falken Azenis RT-215 is being replaced by the Falken Azenis RT-615. Both tires are very very sticky and offer great handling on dry pavement. A lot of folks like them for autocross use. The RT-215 is not very good on wet pavement (like any tire, you have to slow down in rain, but the RT-215 is worse than almost any other street tire) but this is something that they improved with the RT-615. The RT-215 was also very inexpensive, but the RT-615 costs significantly more money. Both tires wear very fast; for example, people using the RT-215 on the Integra Type R typically get around 9-12K miles to a set, compared with 15-20K miles on the OEM tires and even more miles on some other tires (e.g. Yokohama ES100). When you take the rapid wear into account, these tires are very expensive on a cost-per-mile basis. Bottom line: If you are only using the tires for autocross, or if you are looking for a super-sticky tire and you don't mind buying a set a whole lot more often than with most other tires, this might be the tire for you. But for most folks, who use tires for daily driving and care about how often they need to buy tires, there are better tires on the market.

Incidentally, the RT-615 only comes in 205/40-16, no other 16" sizes. The RT-215 came in 215/45-16 but do you really want to get a tire that's discontinued, so if you need to replace one, you're stuck replacing all four? Not a good idea.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by krazyk &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">But u recommend getting 215'2 instead of 205 rite?</TD></TR></TABLE>

No. There are a lot of good tires in 205/45-16, as I noted in that other topic. In fact, there are more 205/45-16 tires than 215/45-16 tires. Furthermore, the 205/45-16 is the best 16" size for the Civic because the outer diameter is closest to stock. So if you're getting tires for a Civic, you're better off sticking with 205/45-16.

If you want to try something similar to the Yokohama ES100 - meaning, the same price range, with decent performance for a very good price - other tires you might try include the Kumho Ecsta SPT and the Fuzion ZRi. If you're interested in spending more for a better-performing tire, the Goodyear F1 GS-D3 is one of the very best street tires on the market, and comes in that size.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by krazyk &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> My friend said 215's would help eliminate the road noise.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah...215's will help...cause they'll be new tires!

ES100's have a high potential for irregular wear in the shoulder areas as the miles add up. If you have a chance...run your hand along the tread of your tires...opposite the direction the tread hits the pavement. Is it smooth, or can you feel where each tread block in the shoulder begins?? If so, there is your noise problem.

If it's only one shoulder that has that irregular texture...consider getting your tires re-mounted on your rims. For instance, if your inside shoulders are irregular but the outside shoulders are smooth, swap the tires around so the irregular part is on the outside. My friend just did this on his WRX w/ES100's after 20k of use. We're hoping this helps him out cause he can barely stand them anymore.



Matt