A quieter cabin - different tires did the trick

[Passfeller109 50]

Having disliked the road noise in the cabin of my Prelude since the day I got it (especially on longer road trips/highway speeds), I finally got rid of the Continental PremiumContact 6 tires it came on. Swapped to Hankook ION Flexclimate All Season tires - and it's a difference like day and night! Not only is the drive comfort way better now, the road noise is subjectively reduced by around 30%. Although their ads praise their built-in sound absorbing technique (a layer of foam on the inside of the tire), I would not have expected the difference to be this audible. Finally the Prelude lives up to act like a true GT car - quiet, smooth & relaxing, even on long trips. (It drives nearly as quiet now as did my Lexus ES 300h.) Highly recommended!

 

[GoZoner95 94]

Looking at tirerack.com the Prelude stock 'Continental Premium Contact 6' are noted as having 'noise reduction technology' and, surprisingly to me, are 280 TW (nearly autocross race tires, the minimum being 200 TW).

The other Prelude stock tires, 'Goodyear Eagle Touring' do not have noise reduction technology and are 500 TW. I have these - they are noticeably quieter than the autocross race tires I had on for 6 weeks.

I don't see your Hankook ION Flexclimiate AS tires on that site; but they list Hankook ION EVO AS as having noise reduction technology. And a tire rack.com search prioritizing 'ride comfort' lists the ION EVO AS in the top three! (Note: they are 600 TW, much less sticky than the Continentals)

Is it just hit-and-miss; how did you know those tires would be quiet/comfortable?

 

[PR76UDE130 71]

Does this drop the hiss? It's the one thing I quickly noticed about the prelude, lots of road hiss at 30mph+ and also the sound of pebbles hitting the wheel arch or underbody comes straight in. Otherwise it's very quiet, just a couple weak points.

 

[Passfeller109 50]

Is it just hit-and-miss; how did you know those tires would be quiet/comfortable?

I did extensive online research looking for 245/40 19 tires with the lowest running noise, measured in decibel (db). The Hankook ION Flexclimate have 70db whereas the Continentals have 72db. There was only one tire model of those exact dimensions (dimensions are very important when comparing running noise) by BF Goodrich which was registered as even quieter, but my dealer could not get it for me. As I understand, a noise difference of 2db equals a difference of 1 toward 1.6, and that you can clearly hear. The improvement in comfort is a result of the softer rubber all-season tires use.

 

[Passfeller109 50]

Does this drop the hiss? It's the one thing I quickly noticed about the prelude, lots of road hiss at 30mph+ and also the sound of pebbles hitting the wheel arch or underbody comes straight in. Otherwise it's very quiet, just a couple weak points.

I did not recognize any hissing sound in particular, but the noise rolling slowly over coarsely grouted surfaces is way less than before.

 

[PR76UDE130 71]

I did extensive online research looking for 245/40 19 tires with the lowest running noise, measured in decibel (db). The Hankook ION Flexclimate have 70db whereas the Continentals have 72db. There was only one tire model of those exact dimensions (dimensions are very important when comparing running noise) by BF Goodrich which was registered as even quieter, but my dealer could not get it for me. As I understand, a noise difference of 2db equals a difference of 1 toward 1.6, and that you can clearly hear. The improvement in comfort is a result of the softer rubber all-season tires use.

FYI the EU label noise readings are exterior driveby noise so aren't always directly representative of the cabin noise difference.

 

[Passfeller109 50]

FYI the EU label noise readings are exterior driveby noise so aren't always directly representative of the cabin noise difference.

Know that. Nevertheless it is always the first thing I look at when buying new tires for whatever car I have. A tire that is loud externally will almost always be louder on the inside, too.

The Hankooks I bought are explicitely optimized to reduce cabin noise. They have a layer of foam mounted on the inside to reduce the resonance chamber. My dealer, who installed them for me, said he'd never seen anything like that before.

 

[PR76UDE130 71]

Know that. Nevertheless it is always the first thing I look at when buying new tires for whatever car I have. A tire that is loud externally will almost always be louder on the inside, too.

The Hankooks I bought are explicitely optimized to reduce cabin noise. They have a layer of foam mounted on the inside to reduce the resonance chamber. My dealer, who installed them for me, said he'd never seen anything like that before.

Do the Prelude's stock wheels have these thingies too? Supposed to make a big difference, combined with foam lined tyres.

 

[Passfeller109 50]

Do the Prelude's stock wheels have these thingies too? Supposed to make a big difference, combined with foam lined tyres.

Interesting! Don't think I saw something like that when they took off the old tires.