Wheel/tire question...general

Fellas, This is gonna sound dumb, so I'm sorry in advance. I just bought my first Porsche, so I have no frame of reference. It has the 19" Champion RG5 Mono-lites, with gigantic tires. The rears are 295-30-19 and the fronts are 235 35-19 Michelins. About 70% tread life left all corners. I have NEVER heard so much tire noise in my life...it's obscene how loud the front is between 35-60mph. My M3 has some meat, but nothing like this. So, my stupid question: Are Porsches' just naturally loud up front? The noise is wheelspin related...the local tire shop said it was the giant footprint of the tire. I'm a pilot, not a racecar driver, so I have a learning curve going on this one... Thanks

they're 19's so there's less cushion as well. It could be that the tires are simply old. Check date on them. If they're old, they're hard, and as such, will provide less than optimal grip and increased noise. Of course, different tire brands have varying degrees of road noise as well. Look on Tire Rack site and plug in your tires to see where they stand.

Congrats on picking the car up from Benz and Beemer. Tire noise is unfortunately a reality for 911s. I had the same reaction as yourself when I got the car. I couldn't believe it was so much louder than my Acura. Mechanics said that it was normal tires noise for the P-car.

Yes, 996s can be louder than other cars. Part of it is what makes the car feel so nimble- less isolation between the road and you. Those tire sizes aren't really that huge (I run 255 and 305 competition tires for autocross) but certain tires are louder than others and age plays a factor. I've had two sets of BFG KDW2s, and while they are inexpensive and have great wet and dry grip, they are extremely loud due to the large tread blocks. What brand/model tires do you have?

Quotes source post: 10945548

Hey!! A local guy....yay. yeah, shocker for me. It sounds like an off-road truck.

Quotes source post: 10945575

It has Michelin Super Sports on it... They are in good shape (hard? dunno) I don't know how to check the date, but I'll look into that. Thanks for the help.

I went from a set of newish but flat spotted Pirelli P Zero Rosso to Michelin PS2 and was stunned by the lessening in road noise. I shouldn't have been too surprised as there was a huge improvement in noise levels going from P Zero Rosso to Michelin Lattitude Sports on the CTT also.

Those tires and wheels are much larger than the sizes recommended by Porsche for your car. I'm not sure if that contributes to the noise issue or not, but I thought you should know. FWIW, I'm running Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 tires on my C4S and they are surprisingly quiet.

Quotes source post: 10945750

Thank you. I'm beginning to think I need a smaller package of wheel/tire. I am getting compliments everywhere, but the noise is unworkable for me. I may be selling these and "downsizing". Thank you sir

Pilot Super Sports are about as good as they come. Those wheels and tires are highly sought after so you should be able to easily downsize and pocket some change in the process.

Quotes source post: 10945781

Thanks brother... I guess we'll see. It's an early Christmas present for my wife, so I'll deal with tire noise a little later. Thank you sir.

Is there a way for you to ride/drive in another similar car to get some perspective? Might be worth it before you drop $ chasing road noise with different tires/wheels... maybe a dealership has one for sale you could drive for a few miles.

I have brand new ps2's and they very quiet

Well, I imediately noticed the roof of your care is missing and that may be a contributing factor to the road noise. Kidding aside my solution was two fold buy a car with a roof and second FisterD modded mufflers.

As someone said, tires might be old and shot. Look for the DOT label on your sidewall, you'll find some numbers within a circle next to it which would indicate the production year and month. Old tires can not only ride different but can sacrifice overall grip as well.

Super Sports have not been around long enough to be too old (5+ years) Tire noise is caused by irregular/uneven tread wear.

Quotes source post: 10945575

yeah, had a set of those on my wife's infinity and I thought the wheel bearing was shot given the horrible road noise. Changed to Falken FK452 and was much better. OP, I have a very similar set up as yours (19" RG5s and 295/30 rears), note that those rears are too tall for the car. 285/30 should be the max to stay within normal margin, but 275/30 would be even closer to the stock 285/30/18.

Here's how to read your tire date: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=11 In my opinion age is just as hard on tires as wear. On several occasions I've purchased cars with good tire tread (tires like new!) only to find that they are old and hard as a rock. Porsches are especially prone to this, because they tend to be extra cars. Pilots are normally pretty good tires and the larger than normal size shouldn't make them louder, though it can cause some other issues. I suspect that a new set of properly sized tires on your wheels would make a world of difference. Or you could sell the Champion wheels on the forums for some seriously nice coin, buy some OEM 18" wheels, and have money to spare. Technically Porsche only approves up to 18" wheels on the 996, though lots of folks go bigger.

Quotes source post: 10947297

Thank you sir...very helpful. These were made in May of 2011...so there's that. The wheels look awesome, so I may keep them but also source some OEM 18's as well. Thank you very much for the help and advice.

Quotes source post: 10947297

I can confirm from my Cayenne experience that in the same tyre model 295/35/21 are significantly noisier than 275/45/19.

Quotes source post: 10946713

That was my thought too... I'll take a close-up of the tread on the fronts tomorrow, maybe you experts can tell me what you think. I'm fairly illiterate about wheels/tires. The local tire shop said the wear looked ok and basically suggested I just deal with it. I drove the car tonight...Godallmighty, I see why you guys love Porsches. (I thought my M3 was tight...wow, not even close) In any case, the noise is almost a dealbreaker on these wheels/tires, so I humbly ask for your opinions when I post some close-ups of the wear pattern. Best-

Quotes source post: 10946851

Thank you sir. I have a lot to learn, waiting for my Bentley manual to show up so I can read it on the transcons I'll be flying next week. I have to admit, I love the look of all that meat under the car, but dayum...the noise is deafening.

Did they check for balancing, or to see if you have a tire out of round...any vibration at the wheel? Finally, how long did the car sit for sale? You may have developed a flat spot on one or more of the tires, etc...but as the others have mentioned, it's possible it's just tread pattern/wear on your specific ride. Congrats, and welcome! DS

I have a 99 C2 with 19" champion 3 pc version of the RG5 wheels with Michelin 245-35s on the front and my tires aren't noisy at all.

Quotes source post: 10948208

Thanks man- No idea how long it sat. based on the Carfax, the dealer had it about a month, I think. I should have stated: no pull or shimmy in the steering wheel, at all. None. It drives like a slot-car, and pulls like a train...but the tire noise....ugh. I'll figure it out...my wife absolutely LOVES it, and says the noise is ok with her. It's not ok, it's horrendous...but I'm confident we'll get it sorted sooner or later. Thanks guys for all the help...sorry for the noobish questions. Embarrassing.

Quotes source post: 10948229

Hmmm...so my first bite at the apple may be some new fronts. There is no getting around the tire noise I have right now....with what looks like good treadwear and life left.

Quotes source post: 10948094

No need for that, we probably won't see anything. You may not see anything either, but if it's bad enough to hear you can feel it. Park you car & turn the steering wheel all the way to one side. Hose off the tread surface & look for uneven wear especially the inside edge. Feel the tread from side to side. If it's flat & smooth from side to side check the rear tires. I bet the inside edge is worn on 1 or more tires due to improper alignment.

We don't know how sensitive you are to noise, considering you also indicated the wife thought the noise was acceptable. Best thing to do as someone suggested is to drive another 996 with the same tire and sizes or at the least drive another 996 for apples to oranges and see if there is a big difference. I'm not really sure how much any of us can really diagnose anything from just pics.

Quotes source post: 10948327

I know...you're 100% correct. I'm not new to enthusiast sites...so I know how dumb this all looks. That, in itself, bothers me. As for my wifes' considerations of the car: she's never sat her **** in a car this nice...save for my M3. She wouldn't complain if it bit her *** off. Truth. That said, I'm not completely ignorant about cars: this is extraordinarily loud tire noise. I am plugged in to the BMW network, but not the Porsche network, so I am looking for a guy in Phoenix.

Congratulations on your purchase! The car looks great. I have extra wide RG5's myself, and know all about Michelin Pilot Super Sport noise. You can solve your noise problem with the Pirelli PZero Corsa System, but it's quite expensive. Not only the price of the tires, but the constant replacement of the rear tires due to wear. Expect 7,000 miles for rear tires, 15,000 for front tires. I stuck with the Pilot Super Sports (325/30/19 + 265/35/19) for the street and use Toyo Proxy R-888s (335/30/18 + 245/40/18) for the track (I have a wide body 2003 C4S). Getting a perfect alignment will help a lot. Recommend "guru level" alignment before making a final decision. It was enough for me to decide to stick with the Michelin Pilot Super Sports.

Quotes source post: 10948307

Thanks for all the comments guys- Not sure how I missed this one. I'll have the car for a few hours tomorrow and will investigate the tread. Alignment crossed my mind too.