I just switched from stock re-92s to 17x7.5 Rota Torques with Hankook RS-2s. My question is that I'm getting a lot more noise in the cabin. I understand that it is a larget footprint and more rubber on the road, but this just makes the stock tire noiseless. For example - it is now hard to hear the engine durring acceleration above 3k rpm.
I bought the tires/rims used and had them balanced which did quiet things down a bit. What else can be done, or is this normal?

I don't know about the Hankook's but I know the Falken Azenis St-115 is suppost to be a very quite tire. They advertise it in sound/music magazines to audiophiles. You can consider those if noisy tires are an issue for you.

RS2s are loud as it is and even louder after being worn down some. I just got the ST115 tires and they really are much quieter than any other decent tire out there.

You must have stock exhaust eh? I can't hear my RS2's at all with my catback!

The tires may be cupped

WrexT - that makes me feel a little bit better.

Driftart- What is this cupped you speak of? Doesn't sound good.

Also, my gas milage has gone to poop. I've played around with the psi too.

Driftart- What is this cupped you speak of? Doesn't sound good..

You wouldn't notice cupping until a couple of thousand miles. Do you know how many miles are on them? Does the tread look evenly worn? If it looks and feels ok then likely cupping is NOT your problem.

WrexT - that makes me feel a little bit better.

Driftart- What is this cupped you speak of? Doesn't sound good.

Also, my gas milage has gone to poop. I've played around with the psi too.

The 225/45/17 MXs I run are a tire with similar dry grip. They make noise too, especially noticable at 45 MPH. Engine and road noise will cover most of it at 55 MPH and above. Noise is expected with tires that have extremely good dry grip/big block tread pattern. For the most part, extreme dry grip and quiet running are not compatible.

If your gas mileage has crapped out: You have increased rotational mass by increasing wheel diameter and wheel & tire width. Even worse if the weight of the new wheel and/or tire is greater than stock. The lost fuel efficiency equates to lost power on the road, too. Lighter than stock wheels and/or tires help offset the rotational mass and weight penalities associated with upsizing.

The Torques are pretty light for their size, but at 18.4 lbs that's a couple of pounds over the stock 16's at 16 lbs. The RS2s are average weight for their size, I'm guessing about 24 lbs. The stock RE 92s are 21 lbs.

If the tires have altered the fuel efficiency it isn't likely to be due to rotational mass - but tires certainly do vary in terms of rolling resistance. At a steady speed the engine is doing work to keep the tire rolling along, and if the tire requires more work to roll then you'll see worse gas mileage. Generally a wider tire has more roling resistance.

Regarding cupping, that's a big source of noise on part-worn tires, caused by the large tread blocks having worn to a curved shape. This means that as they roll onto the road surface they don't smoothly meet the surface, so much more noise is generated.

Look on the bright side - they are much better than the RE-92's except in noise performance...

Look on the bright side - they are much better than the RE-92's except in noise performance...


Yea, it looks like that's what it is. The grip is incredible. I guess it is worth the penalty.