I've been making the switch myself for a couple of years now, as I have a set of 17" rims and snow tires that I ordered from Tire Rack back in Dec 03.

Just switched the winter rims off for the summer ones this afternoon. My RX-8 has just under 50K miles and I noticed that I'm going to need to buy new summer tires this season as the treads are pretty worn.

Anyway, when I put the summer tires back on I was shocked at how different the ride felt and sounded. I've never noticed this before when I've made the switch. The car felt so different that I was afraid I had a flat tire or didn't fully tighten one of the rims. First stop (as always) was to check the tire pressures and the lowest one was only 29PSI. Topped them all of at 32PSI but the road noise is still there.

Anyone else notice this phenomenon? Do worn tires sound noisier than new ones?

 

Yes worn tires are noisier than new ones.

 

This is normal. Worn tires get noisier, so what you are experiencing is common. Naturally you got used to any sounds you heard before you removed them, then you throw on higher tread, and possibly quieter winter tires, and the difference and feel is gonna be there. It will slowly get louder as the tires wear more as well.

 

Thanks guys. I'm surprised no one asked me if I accidentally installed the tires in the wrong direction. But I checked and doublechecked and they are definitely facing in the correct direction!

 

My RE040s are screaming like a banshee as well. I have about 38,900 miles on the car, and I also switched my winter's for summer's about a month ago, and I also noticed the loud, loud noise, but I expected that. Older tires generally make more noise than newer ones as the tread blocks wear down to the carcass leaving less material to absorb the vibration that causes road noise. The thing that I have been surprised at is that, now my tires are at about 4/32, they still have good wet road grip. Usually tires this old and worn are pretty worthless in the wet, but these are still sticky enough, even in deep puddles, that I don't feel the need to replace them immediately. I have been far more disappointed with other tires that I have owned than these, even though the wear has been quicker than I would have liked.

 

I've made an appointment to have my Bridgestone Potenzas replaced with Toyo Proxes 4's. It's a high-performance all-season tire. Being a Clevelander, unseasonal snowfalls are not unheard of (we had a heavy snow last May) so I appreciate having this peace of mind. Plus the tire should be much quieter.

I'm just shocked at how loud my ride is right now. When I put my winter Pirelli's on last November I don't remember noticing a demonstrably quieter ride.

 

I don't know the Toyos personally, but I am sure that they are very good. I have had good luck with All season Kuhmo Esctas on my mother in law's mercedes.

I don't know what I am going to so about replacement tires when I get there. I was thinking about Vredestiens, but I haven't really made a decision yet, although I will continue with the Summer only tires. If I still lived in Central New York, much like Cleveland, I think that I would probably go with All seasons as well. The weather can be a little crazy.

 

I know the OEM Pontenzas get really noisy with age. The OEM Dunlops don't have that problem (thank goodness).

 

The Proxes 4s have a stiffer sidewall than the Ecstas so they're better for performance cars, they're also not much more expensive.

 

Well, I don't know the Toyos personally so I am willing to accept that they have stiffer sidewalls, however, the Ecstas are W rated (168MPH), and I am running them on a CLK 55 AMG. All that I know for comparison purposes is that they blow the doors off the stock Michelin Pilots for cornering and stickiness in both wet and dry. I had thought about Pirelli NeroZeros for the car, but the price of the Kumhos won me over, and I have yet to find a performance failing for them. That isn't to say that the Toyos wouldn't be better. I just haven't tried them.

 

Not to hijack, but since the question has been answered, I had a somewhat related question. Has anyone else noticed when it gets really warm that their all season tires slide more? Since I got my 8, it's felt like it was on rails...I've had trouble finding curves where I had to use the brakes. However, starting on the really hot days, my car's handling has felt slushy... much closer to a *shock* NORMAL car. Is this normal? If I switched to summer tires, would the problem be cured? I have Proxes 4's also. The pressure looks pretty good in the tires. Thanks.

 

It's normal for an all season to get greasy feeling once the tires get really warm. It's due to the compound they use for all seasons and summer tire would cure it.

 

Thanks Ike. I had suspected this, but I'm a noob and sometimes it just helps to hear it from someone else

 

I was just thinking the same thing about my Avon AS tires. On hot days they slide more, glad it's not just me.

 

My snows feel a tad mushy compared to the Potenza's. Then again I bought my car in February and the Potenzas are rocks at <30 degrees. I like my snows alot but it's still fun to change them out for summer. Spreads the wear around a bit also. Had 3000 miles on the car and 100miles on the potenzas

 

The biggest thing that you might notice with directional tires being put on the wrong way is that the traction suffers in the wet or the snow. They are fractionally louder, but not by much.

The most interesting thing about tire threads is that people often squawk about the price of tires. But think about it: tires are the interface between your car and the road; why would you want to go cheap on something like that? Unless you eat through tires like toilet paper, it's not like you're shelling out for tires every year.