We have a 2019 Mondeo and my wife doesn’t like road noise so I have to get quiet tyres.  The car came with Michelin Primacy 4’s when we bought it new. They are not cheap but quiet.  When I spoke to Ford about new tires they said that they’d had a falling out with Michelin and recommended Continental MaxContact 6 tyres which I just put on the car a couple of weeks ago (full set) and they are great (premium tyre but cheaper than Michelin). Did a road trip and they too are quiet. Unfortunately quiet generally means expensive as you are putting a premium tyre on your car. 

Size?

rookie65: I'm needing new tyres for my 2012 Mondeo. I hate road noise, anyone have recommendations on good safe tyres that are quiet?. Thanks.

Given NZ authorities' preference for obsession with chipseal I think you're better off buying earplugs.

I was quite impressed with the quietness of my Pirelli Dragon Sports I put on my old Mazda 3. Car had some Yokohama's before that and they were very noisy.

Thanks, I have been recommended the Continental MaxContact 6 as well as the Maxxis HP5.

Also the Turanza Serenity Plus or the Potenza Adrenalin RE003.

Any opinions on these?

I have the Turanza Serenity Plus on one of my cars. I don't think they are any quieter than the tyres I had on prior but they were also premium Michelins. They are however a great tyre, Good performance in the wet and dry and longer lasting than the Michelins that were on prior.

I find tire shopping hard. Tires have a huge impact on a vehicle, but you can't realistically test them, and relevant data to compare the tires available in the NZ market on the same basis is hard to find.

On top of this, many user reviews compare their new tires (full tread depth), with their old set (near legal minimum tread depth), so not really a like for like comparison.

Makes it a bit of a crapshoot really. I think most people in OP's position would simply choose a tire model that markets quietness from a major brand, and hope for the best.

One of the better sources of data, is the EU Tire labels (required to be affixed to every tire sold in the EU). Each tire gets a rolling resistance grade, a wet breaking grade, and a Noise grade (plus a number in dB).

Below is a search for UK tire in 215/50 R17 with a 95 load rating

https://www.mytyres.co.uk/search?sortCode=label_sound_asc&itemsPerPage=28&minPrice=&maxPrice=&season=&width=215&profile=50&size=17&speedRating=&loadIndex=95&brand=&priceCategory=all&clientReviewsRating=&isRunflat=&reinforced=&cTire=&rimProtection=&sealLayer=&noiseReduction=&businessReviews=false&vehicleTypes=PKW

Best tires are 67dB, worst (non winter) tires are 72db, so a 5db spread. (which will result in a much lesser difference inside the cabin, EU label test is more about noise pollution, than interior noise, but still useful for the latter purpose) 

Note very likely this data is taken on smooth seal, not the chip seal, where keeping road noise low matters in NZ. Regardless, I think anything that comes out 69db or lower would be a good choice.

Not sure if swapping the car is an option on that table, but that is something that is going to make a much bigger difference than tires.

rookie65: 215/50/17

Same size I am running on my leaf.

Reasonable range of options in this size, but for some reason comes is fairly expensive for it's size. (as en example the larger 215/55 R17 tires are typically cheaper).

They are unavailable in NZ, but my leaf is currently running on Dunlop LE Mans V silent core tires:

I find them really quiet, but lacking in wet grip (with current low tread depth). That said I haven't been able to do a comparison with another leaf, and the Leaf is a pretty quiet car to start with (EV makers often put more effort into reducing road & wind noise as there is no engine to drown this stuff out, and consumers expect EV's to be quiet). Noise level seems comparable with my lexus RX luxury SUV, which is packed with sound dreading, and sits a bit further from the road.

Personally eyeing up Michelin Primacy 4 (or perhaps the 4+ if that makes it to NZ in the next few months), when I replace my leaf tires. The Primacy 4 scores B for rolling resistance, A for wet breaking, and 68db, which are pretty good scores, and it is meant to be OK for wear life too.

I don't use that car on long trips due to range, and most high speed driving close to me is on smooth motorways, so don't really care much about road noise, so would be happy to trade 1db more noise for the even longer tread life of the Michelin Primacy 4+ if it becomes available in NZ.

rookie65:

 

Thanks, I have been recommended the Continental MaxContact 6 as well as the Maxxis HP5.

 

Also the Turanza Serenity Plus or the Potenza Adrenalin RE003.

 

Any opinions on these?

 

No experience with the first two, but they both seem well liked in the subjective reviews:

https://www.tyrereview.com.au/continental-maxcontact-mc6-reviews

https://www.tyrereview.com.au/maxxis-hp5-reviews

They both seem to be High performance tires, competing against the likes of the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 & Bridgestone Pontenza, and have subjective reviewer's prizing their quietness in that context.

Found an objective review between the Max Contact 6 and Pilot Sport 4:

https://toptirereview.com/continental-max-contact-6-vs-michelin-pilot-sport-4/#Noise

MC6 is 0.7db quieter (interior noise), more comfortable, but has a heap more rolling resistance.

On the Maxxis HP5, euro label is... Fuel: C, Wet breaking: A, sound: 70db:

https://whattyre.com/products/maxxis-premitra-hp5/23777/

On the Bridgestones,

The Turanza Serenity Plus, is a long life comfort focused touring tire. Ran a set on my corolla. Prior to that I had a set of Proformance touring tire's (discontinued now, but the won consumers wet breaking test).

Didn't really notice much of difference in noise levels, but handling was quite floaty at open road speed's, compared to the prior setup, to the extent where I was trying different pressures to fix it, before I accepted this was how it was.  (Also had alignment done with tires were changed, so that could have had an impact). Grip in the wet was noticeable down on my prior tires, but I felt acceptable, and still way better than what the economy tires that were on the same car when I brought it had.

On the topic of wear life these tires were excellent. If I recall correctly, 9.6mm tread depth when new (8mm is typical, but many performance tires, including the GT radials I replaced are 6mm). I sold that car about 20,000km later with still in excess of 8mm tread depth on every tire...

Regarding the Bridgestone Pontenza, this is a high performance tire, favoring grip and steering feel over quietness, rolling resistance etc. Likely not a good pick in your case. That said, I spent a bit of time in a falcon with them fitted, still way quieter than my corolla on the course chip.

What's the difference between the Michelin Primacy vs Pilot Sport? Is it worth paying the premium for the Pilot Sport on my CX-5, or are they really designed for performance cars?

The Primacy appears to be quite good value. 

The Pilot Sport is a performance tyre. If you drive your CX5 like a race car then it might be worth it. I put Pilot Sport's on my SUV once but only because they were on buy 3 get the 4th free special. The Primacy is Michelin's do it all tyre. It doesn't excel in any 1 criteria but it does well across them all (wet/dry handling & braking, noise, comfort, life etc....). The Primacy has a much lower rolling resistance so you should get better fuel consumption over the Pilot Sport.

alasta:

 

What's the difference between the Michelin Primacy vs Pilot Sport? Is it worth paying the premium for the Pilot Sport on my CX-5, or are they really designed for performance cars?

 

The Primacy appears to be quite good value. 

 

In the tire size of my leaf, the price of those two tires's isn't much different.

Primacy is a Premium touring tire. Generally such tires are set up as all rounder, with fairly balanced priorities over stuff like grip, wear life, acoustics, steering feel, rolling resistance etc.

Pilot Sport 4 is a Ultra high performance tire. Priority will be dry grip, steering feel, and the ability to handle high temperatures if you push the tire hard on the track. Generally this comes at the expense of other area's, especially wear life (typically a softer tread is used to get more grip), and on topic for the thread, noise.

One of the more obvious difference between the tires is that the Primacy 4 comes with 8mm of tread new, where the Pilot sport 4 comes with 7.2mm (may vary by size).

Should note that the pilot sport 4 is relatively mild as ultra high performance tires go, (Mitchilen has the Pilot Sport 4S, and Pilot Sport Cup range that sit above it on the performance spectrum), as such, it still does OK in other area's. Has a reputation of having good wear life and low rolling resistance for an ultra high performance tire. Pilot sport 4 gets fitted as OEM on a number of car's, including hotter civics's and the tesla model 3 (in this case a special version with acoustic foam inside).

If you want the best grip and steering feel, by all means put high performance tires on your CX-5, but in general I think most people who don't track their car's would be better off with something quieter, lower rolling resistance and longer lasting tire like the Michelin Primacy 4

Here is an review where an Aussie you tuber has put Pilot Sport 4 tires on a kona electric. OEM fitment on the bumpy grill version of that car was the much hated Nexen N Fera SU1, but I believe Hyundai has switched to Primacy 4 tires with the facelift.

https://www.drive.com.au/reviews/kona-electric-michelin-tyres/

Outcome was that it transformed the car's handling, but at the expense of rolling resistance, noise & likely wear life.

For reference tire test results for the two tires in question:

https://www.tyrereviews.com/Article/2022-Auto-Bild-Summer-Tyre-Test.htm

https://www.tyrereviews.com/Article/2022-AutoBild-19-Inch-Summer-UHP-Tyre-Test.htm

Note the PS4 doing better in dry breaking, handling etc, and the Primacy 4 doing better in noise & rolling resistance. don't compare the wet results between tests, they are so different that there must have been some significant difference in the test track preparation between tests.

Thanks, it sounds like the Primacy is the way to go.

My CX-5 takes 225/65 R17 but, just out of curiosity, I was having a look at what Beaurepaires have available for the fancier CX-5 variants which take 225/55 R19 and the Primacy doesn't seem to be available in that size. 

It's clearly worth checking tyre pricing and availability when you're choosing between standard vs sporty variants of a particular vehicle model. 

Thanks for the replies.

I'll make a decision this week.

On the subject of changing cars, the wife was in the market for a new car a year ago. Quietness on the open road was important to her as well. I think we test drove 21 different cars and the Mondeo was better in almost every area than all of them.