A large part of the noise is indeed the tires. They are the OEM contintental touring 235/45-17 and they were inflated to 38lbs. I dropped them to the recommended 35 and the noise and ride improved. I am now realizing that 50% of the sound I'm hearing that is objectionable is indeed these tires.
I had the Continental CrossContact LX installed today. So far fantastic, but, I would expect that any brand new tire would feel great. I am excited not to hear the wamp wamp wamp anymore from the old Pirelli Scorpion STRs.
I just installed 4 General Ultramax HP for $480 total. The price was excellent and the ratings on Tirerack were pretty good so I gave it a shot. I've had it on for about 1 week and it's been great. Very quiet.
I've had great luck with the Conti LX on my V6. Excellent smooth & quiet road tire, and long wearing as well. My original Dunlops lasted 30K, the Conti LXs over 50K. This second set of LXs looks barely worn with the car at 100K.
I've happily used UHP 235/45R17 tires on my Passat and Beetle 18T convertible with nothing but smooth cruising. I tried 38 psi but backed off, the slightly tauter steering wasn't worth the harshness on SoCal's crumbling surface streets. Mine were all German origin.
The Continental Contisport Contact2s I've got on my Vette have been excellent tires
I just moved back to the northeast and purchased a set of General Altimax Artic. Apparently they are Gislaved NF3's which is a Scandinavian tire rebranded by their parent company (Continental) and sold as Generals in the US. So far they have been good but no major snow storms but some ice and slush. I got them studded. Once the warm up they are fairly quite. Not to mention they are pretty inexpensive ($99 each). I got wheels, tires with studs, mounted/balanced and shipped for under $1K from Tire Rack. Pretty good if you ask me. -Ron
From what I have read these are great tires.
If you're looking for cheap performance summer tires I'd recomment the General Exclaim UHP or the Sumitomo HTRZ III, you'd be VERY surprised they handle and grip about 90% as well as a tire double it's cost, VERY well worth the money at about $80-$100/tire. I bought a set of the Exclaims and was very surprised, and 3 of my friends are running the HTRZ's and both tires are amazing for that pricepoint.
The conti's stretch pretty hard, and I liked them when I ran em on the ginster.
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