Thanks Be To God and Continental Tire
 

Since the day I took delivery on my 2009 Z, I've been really unhappy with its heavy ride and road noise. I felt like I was the engineer of an Amtrack locomotive! It was so bad, I was thinking of selling and test driving a Boxster and other alternatives. Yeah, yeah, I know---it's a sports car and it's supposed to be hot and rough like sex, blah, blah, blah. But even sex is no fun when the room is so loud the wife has to shout to be heard. So rather than getting into Dynamat, etc, I read the responses to my complaint on this forum and bought a new set of Continental Extreme Contact DWS tires. The moment I drove away from the tire shop, a big smile covered by face. Wow!!! The car feels way lighter and the ride is no longer rough (by sports car standards). The damned road noise is reduced by at least 50% and my wife and I can talk without having to shout.
Don't get me wrong. The car still drives, feels and sounds like a hot sports car but now she is a joy to drive. My scowl is gone forever and my smile is here to stay. Now my Z stays with me forever.
Thanks be to God, Continental Tire Company and this forum.

I do not like the road noise either. Has anyone tried the Michelin Pilot Super Sports and Hankook Ventus V12 Evo K110? Are they able to minimize road noise while improving grip?

Good to read your review. Mine is a dd and I feel the same way about the potenzas. I'm about to go nuts with the dynamat and my next tires will be quieter. Aside from my own fatigue, most passengers are not car guys, and they almost always comment t on the tire noise.

I'm interested to know also.

I bought long tube headers and exhaust to drown out the tire noise. :tup:

Old Guy, not knocking you, but are you sure it's just that brand? When tires wear out, the road noise gets worse. Any new tire is an improvement over an older tire where that is concerned. You'll have to let us know if the contis still stay quiet when they get close to the end of their tread life.

And I hope they do, for that matter, if it increases your enjoyment of the vehicle.

Just got MPSS two days ago so I can't say for sure since they aren't broken in yet. I did notice improved handling and a slight drop in road noise while leaving the shop though. Previous tires were Yoko Advan Sports that were pretty worn out. I'm in love with the MPSS so far though, definitely the best $$ I've spent to date.

Thanks for sharing, I've been looking at the same tire, not the grippiest, but a decent all season tire and that's what I drive:)

Road Noise ?

My 370Z sounds like a Cadillac compared to the Z/28..

But as far as Tires, when the RE050's are done, i may go with the Michelins..

But glad to hear you love your Z now that it is quieter...:tup:

I really don't see why people complain that they can't speak in the car. There's some tire noise but I speak to my wife fine. It may be age related hearing loss. The only time my tires are unbearable is on those black tar/embedded gravel country roads. That's when I'm like lord help me. But even then. I understand what I bought. I have the choice of taking the quiet azz altima with the conti's or my Z. The 11's are a little quieter than the 09, but I had the 09 and though it was a little louder. Neither car was unbearable... just FM roads are annoying. If road noise was an issue? I would have bought the camaro with the supersoft luxury like pirelli's. :ugh2:

I have to say though, the Continental DWS tires are AMAZINGLY quiet. You dont hear ANYTHING from those tires.
Have them on my DD, they are like riding on clouds

I can't speak for the Yokohama Advans, but the Bridgestone Potenza RE050A that come on the Sport 19s are pretty loud. Just picked up a set of the Michelin PSS and will mount em this weekend. Will provide feedback after the fact.

I have Michelin Pilot Super Sports on my rear now and the car is quieter.

You mixed tire brands? :confused:

I have the hankooks and I find the road noise very manageable

I had Hankook V12's on my 370Z that were wider and lower profile than stock (20", 255/305), and I found they were much quieter than the stock RE050's. I've heard a lot of good things about Michelin PSS's too, including them being quieter than stock. When it comes time for me to replace the stock Dunlop runflats on my GT-R, I will replace with PSS.

for me personally it depends on what road i drive on..... there are some local roads that the pavement is rougher than the regular roads thus resulting in higher road noise, but once im off of those, it sounds like a sports car. Quiet if you ask me (course im not flooring it either)

Nonsense. The stock tires had only 8050 miles on them. In fact, tire guy refused to throw them away. He said they were way too good for that made me take them home as a future buyer of my Z may want them. Those stock tires were noisy and harsh from day 1.

No "age related hearing loss." Just checked it a few months ago as part of annual physical---just much better replacement tires.

i'm running michelin pilot sport a/s (due to it being my dd and wanting the most mileage) and they are the quietest best riding tires i've had on the car. grip loss was minimal since these have a higher treadwear rating but like i said it was minimal and as a dd and not a track car it wasn't a show stopper. i've had the potenza's and nitto invos but these michelins are going to be the last brand of tire i will ever buy again.

I have had the Pilot Super Sports for a year and about 11,000 miles. They are the best tire I have ever used. Grip, wear and wet handling are unmatched.

I've been running the RE760's for a little over 1K miles and they are a good step up from the stock sport package tires. Stickier and quieter with twice the tread life. I opted for them over the PSS because the price point seemed to make it a better value especially for a daily driver.

I migt be interested in your stockers. How far are you from matamoras.?

We made the switch to the PSS's in the G37 about a month ago, and although the ride was already much quieter than the Z's to begin with, it seemed to help a bit on noise. Grip was substantially better though. Driving the G, I had much more confidence to carry speed into turns, even in the rain.
Can't wait to get them on the Z once the Potenzas wear out.

These will probably be my next tire, a friend has them and the feel and sound great. The have a pretty decent tread life as well.


Sent from my iPizzle using magic and new fangled science stuff.

On my G35 that I use to have (2 cars ago) the original tires were Bridgestone Potenza RE050A and I replaced those with the BF Goodrich KDW NT and those were freaken awesome tires. I thought that the KDW's were by far a lot better than the Potenza.

Now on my last car which was the G37S I had not replaced the stock Potenza tires. I had 20,800 miles on the car right before I traded it in for the Nismo. Those tires were still in very very good condition. I could have probably put another 10K more miles on them.

The Nismo that I have now came with the Yokohama Advan Sports. So far no complaints on my end with the tires. I only have 130 miles on them so far. It is all about how you drive and how aggressive you drive on the freeway. The faster & the harder you drive the quicker the tires will go out.

No need to be so rude. Just sayin, new tires are always quieter. Please keep us posted after 15-20k mi, to see how quiet your contis are. I am genuinely curious if that brand is quieter, as I need some all-seasons for the winter months, and Continental makes some nice ones.

The 370Z is pure sex! It is hot, loud, and rough!

I ran ps A/S's on my G35 and they will surprise you on a track. Michelin just make awesome tires.

i am the one that started the thread "Cabin Noise" and I know exactly what you are talking about..in fact if you search that thread you will find one posting in which I quote several major car reviewers all saying the same thing...ITS TOO DAMN LOUD. especially the Sports Package edition..( Read Car and Driver and the same thing is said about the Nissan R".. I think its the March edition where they compared the R to a Corvette and a Porsche turbo and said the Porsche was quiet compared to the R)..Honestly I thought i had made a huge mistake the second day I had the car,.,.i was sick..especially since my wife was against buying it in the first place..You cant imagine how awful I felt having spent all that money, including paying to get out of a 6 month old lease on a Honda, only to discover I hated the car when i took it for a long drive.....:(

It was sickening when someone would say. "What a beautiful car..,.bet you love it" and I am secretly thinking "This is a horrible mistake" Like being married to a beautiful woman who was a real bitch and you hated..

i found this site and posted my problem and got good advice especially from Guard Dad.. I put dynamat in the hatch and doors and got contis DWS..and its so much better...;)

I real purist that wanted to race on a track might not like the slightly more cushy ride and not care about the lower noise but for me its great...I am not racing this on the Indi 500 and I just wanted to go for rides with my wife and actually enjoy the ride and not cringe every time the road was not brand new and perfectly paved..

I knew this was a sports car and I expected some noise..I never thought it should sound like a Mercedes sedan but I didnt expect it to sound like a cement mixer either! The crowning touch was when I read one reviewer who said he refused to drive the car because his ears would bleed!! (Exaggeration to be sure but the point was made) Another said the noise was "damn near a deal breaker"

To me I think Nissan has made a major mistake in not correcting this problem..so many people both amateurs and professionals complain about (check the reviews I posted about this under Cabin Noise)...perhaps because they want to differentiate between the Z and the Infinity..

Well in any event I just wanted to share this with you and tell you that this is a problem that can be corrected...and now I just love my car,,.,.in fact my wife and I went for a nice ride today and noise and rough ride were never problems...

All's well that ends well! Glad you are happy!:driving:

How can you say that people who complain about tire noise drowning out passengers are suffering from hearing loss??

i replaced the bridgestones with the v12's and noticed a difference.
but not a drop dead damn this is what it's is suppose to sound like...

i haven't rode in a new camaro or mustang so i have nothing to compare it to...
i wonder what the c6 road noise sounds like....

handling and a smooth ride is more important to me than tire noise...
and the z delivers on the first two..

i have hearing loss from serving in iraq and can speak just fine in the car :tup:

Yep. After 31k miles, my rear OEM RE050As were down to 2/32"s while my fronts still had 5/32"s.

Now at 32.5k miles and my Michelin Pilot Super Sports are down to 8/32"s (from 10.5/32s") and my fronts are down to 4/32"s

Does a Quieter ride = less road feel?

I do autocross on occasion and want to know what the road conditions are - so would a quieter tire just mean it's not giving me as much feedback? (stock Bridgestones are almost toast, I'll need to get tires at the end of the summer maybe)

You should never drive new tires hard. You are lucky you didn't wind up in a ditch after leaving the shop.

Are you saying Old Guy is old?

Are you saying hearing loss makes the tire noise LOUDER?

:icon14:

I was doing the speed limit, 80mph. :confused:

My previous ones were bald and couldn't grip at just 40mph.

Speed limit is 80mph....... Where is this at. All I effen see is 60, 65 & 70 here in TX. I would liek to get 80....:tiphat:

The Bridgestone Potenza that come stock on the G & Z are ok. Bridgestone Potenza are not the best, but maybe not the worst. I was able to get 19,750 on those tires for my G35 before I switched to BF Goodrich KDW NT (have the flame look to them). BF Goodrich KDW NT tires are awesome & they grip the road (dry or wet) like a mofo. Now on my G37S I had 20,800 & could have went another 5-10K miles more. I have never had Continental Tire's before. The Continental Tire's don't really appeal to me that much. I would rather go with the Michelin Pilot Super Sport before Continental Tire's.

i only got 13k out of the stock Potenzas... switched to the Super Sports, and loving them so far.