Stock tire noise

[AdamD777]

Has anyone have experience with the stock Continentals making a significant amount of noise? I have 13,000 km on my car and over the last couple months the noise has become louder. Seems to be more significant from 40km - 90km. Almost a whining noise would best describe it... Its loud enough that I have to have the volume up to drown it out. I think these tires are garbage, not to mention they look undersized (stretched) on the wheel.

Thoughts or experiences?

Cheers

[SForePlayin']

Mine were very noisy also at about 7000 miles (almost 11,600 km). My situation was a lot of vibration, like the tires were out of balance. I brought it to the dealer and they immediately said that this was a known issue, and they needed to be replaced. They were really nice about it, and split the cost of four new Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3's with me. Now almost three thousand miles later, the car continues to drive/ride better than it did when it was new.

[StealthBlackA4]

Mine were very noisy also at about 7000 miles (almost 11,600 km). My situation was a lot of vibration, like the tires were out of balance. I brought it to the dealer and they immediately said that this was a known issue, and they needed to be replaced. They were really nice about it, and split the cost of four new Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3's with me. Now almost three thousand miles later, the car continues to drive/ride better than it did when it was new.

Sounds exactly like my situation, these tires are known to be trash. I'm just running them until they wear out, which shouldn't be very long the way I take corners. 3k miles on the clock...Michelins next!

[Sundowner]

they get far louder as they age.
having mine replaced today.
the fucking howl on the highway sucks all the joy out of the car.

[VenturiRS]

Cupping perhaps. I trashed mine, got Pilot Sport A/S 3s as well, loving it.

[pdqgp]

All the talk of balance issues worries me.

Mine are on the stock peelers now and balanced well. About 9/10 on my vibration scale. I'm about to take delivery of my new wheels which will mean moving the conti's over to them as my new summer daily wheels and I hope to heck they all balance out smooth. I hate messing with tires for that reason. Mine are as quiet as can be currently.

[GREYTRACK]

Cupping perhaps. I trashed mine, got Pilot Sport A/S 3s as well, loving it.

Exactly what it is. Mine did as well.

[Razoo]

Glad I read this. I'm at 10k and the noise is very annoying, going to be putting a better all season/winter tire on soon anyway.

[Tur]

Same here at about 8,000 kilometres on the Conti's. Dealer said it was drive shaft bearing and replaced it under warranty. It wasn't. The whine is still there. Snows going back on next month.

[RedSox S315]

Had the same issue. Just sucked it up at first and then got a new set of summer tires.

[djkyky]

Same issue here. Sounds like I have a flat spots on the tires. Michelins will fix the problem. I had this issue with Continentals on my previous car.

Anyone have any experience with Velox wheels sold through Costco? Yeah I know, search the threads.

[AerotusX]

Same experience here. It gets louder with higher mileage, starting at about 6-7K. The Contis does not last either. I ended up replacing mine at ~11K to Michelin PSS. Much better in all categories!

[AdamD777]

Thanks to everyone that replied. Makes me more comfortable knowing many are having the exact same problem, that it is indeed the tires. I will take it to the dealership and see if I can get some new tires out of them.

Cheers

[Gusman1]

Thanks to everyone that replied. Makes me more comfortable knowing many are having the exact same problem, that it is indeed the tires. I will take it to the dealership and see if I can get some new tires out of them.

Cheers

I would highly recommend swapping wheels. If the noise is still there then it most likely is a wheel bearing. If the noise is gone then its the tires.
I didn't do this, got new tires and the noise was still there. It started off making a really loud humming noise above 40mph
It turned out to be a defective rear left wheel bearing with about 6500 miles and was replace under warranty.

[geokend]

Having the same issue @ 5200miles which I'm attributing to the stock Conti's. It seemed to get worse after the 5k service tire rotation but this is a bit subjective. What I do know is that its now loud enough to annoy me. Looking at putting all-seasons on for winter, Goodyear Eagle Sports W speed rated in preference to the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3's. Anyone think I'm nuts? Road noise at such a low mileage just seems wrong to me and should be covered by warranty - this thread is prompting me to call my dealer.

[pdqgp]

At just under 12k on the ODO no noise, but one of my Stock Conti's has a very slight "hop" to it visible on the balancer. on a 0-10 scale of vibration it's about a 1. Could be from the first owner who had the car to 8,500k perhaps smacking a pot-hole or possibly a factory defect in the tire. Niether Audi nor Conti will replace it given my situation. IMO it was a factory issue as I could see where the original owner re balanced the tires likely trying to fix it.

Hopefully the noise doesn't come into play and perhaps next year I'll replace these tires. Although they have only dropped like 3/32nds in wear so they are holding up very well. I thought about replacing just the one but I think the AWD system allows for only 4/32nds of wear on one or two of them and that could introduce other issues. Not to mention if they do become noisy I'd hate to have put more money towards them.

Will replace with top quality Michelins later.

[Fourcircle]

Having the same issue @ 5200miles which I'm attributing to the stock Conti's. It seemed to get worse after the 5k service tire rotation but this is a bit subjective. What I do know is that its now loud enough to annoy me. Looking at putting all-seasons on for winter, Goodyear Eagle Sports W speed rated in preference to the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3's. Anyone think I'm nuts? Road noise at such a low mileage just seems wrong to me and should be covered by warranty - this thread is prompting me to call my dealer.

I'm with you geokend. I put the Goodyear Eagle Sports W speed rated tires on my 13 V6 Mustang and gotta say, for a set of $800 tires, they are extremely good. I'm very tempted to try them on my S4. But first, like you, gotta talk to the dealer about these Contis! To be making this kind of noise in just 5500 miles on a $58,000 car I've had now just 3 months is, well, unfortunate.

Let us know how your dealer visit goes, and I say go for the Goodyears. They get good reviews, run quiet, handle well, ride comfortably and don't cost an arm and a leg. Why not?

[AdamD777]

I did take my car into the dealership. They did their tests and listened to the bearings which helped determine that indeed the tires are cupping. All four of them. And wearing badly.... The dealership said they can't do anything for me so I have taken it up with Continental. I have yet to hear back from them and likely won't get anywhere. I still think these are garbage tires.

[Reckon]

Mine make a little bit of noise but nothing harsh...a 1 on a 10 scale. They do wear quickly, fronts more so than the rear. I just rotated them last week so I probably only have about 3-4k miles left on them. Do not plan on purchasing them again.

[Sundowner]

mine were unbearable by 17k miles.
they howl and warble just like a bad wheel bearing, but the tires were just shitty.
fucking tires just sucked all the joy out of the car

put new Michelin A/S3's on it and way better.

[Elderan]

Mine have 19.5k miles and they are terrible. Still plenty of tread on them as most of my driving is highway. The noise is loud and any road with any standing water are major problems. Honestly I did not think it was a tire problem until I came here.

I am putting on new Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 tires this week. I would go with the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 but apparently they are a little louder and much worse in snow than the DWS.

[Fourcircle]

Mine have 19.5k miles and they are terrible. Still plenty of tread on them as most of my driving is highway. The noise is loud and any road with any standing water are major problems. Honestly I did not think it was a tire problem until I came here.

I am putting on new Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 tires this week. I would go with the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 but apparently they are a little louder and much worse in snow than the DWS.

I'm interested in the DWS06 as well. Please be sure to give us a review once you've given them the paces. I tried the original DWS and they handled horribly (as in downright dangerous at speed). Hope the 06 is much improved. As for the AS3s, I installed an early production set on my A5 a couple of years ago and returned them inside of 2 weeks; handled great but were very, very noisy. Then went to the Super Sport and absolutely loved those tires. Only downside... lasted just 25K. Still good for a summer, but pretty expensive to replace every 25K. Need a good all season. Maybe the 06 is it?

[14S4GWM]

I just installed the DWS 06's in the factory size this weekend. I haven't put them through the paces yet. It was raining pretty good after the install and the highway I was on was full of puddles. My first impression in the rain was they handled very well and didn't have any issues. On the way to work this morning with the windows up and radio off they were extremely quiet compared to the stock Conti's. I might go out for some twisty's this weekend.

[pdqgp]

Pilot Super Sport or go home.

[14S4GWM]

^Buy me the set of rims I want and i'll throw those on for summers.

[Fourcircle]

I just installed the DWS 06's in the factory size this weekend. I haven't put them through the paces yet. It was raining pretty good after the install and the highway I was on was full of puddles. My first impression in the rain was they handled very well and didn't have any issues. On the way to work this morning with the windows up and radio off they were extremely quiet compared to the stock Conti's. I might go out for some twisty's this weekend.

If they handle well and last a long time, this might become the gold standard of all season tires.

Pilot Super Sport or go home.

Agreed... Super Sport is the bomb. If only Michelin's AS3 was quieter, and a bit more compliant too, it would undoubtedly be a great all season tire. It handles like the Super Sport and has a 45,000 mile tread life warranty! Unfortunately, it's noisy like the Contis, and that's simply unacceptable in my book.

Anyone try Bridgestone's AS RE970? Supposedly another good one worth considering. A bit hard riding, but handles good and lasts long.

[Elderan]

If they handle well and last a long time, this might become the gold standard of all season tires.



Agreed... Super Sport is the bomb. If only Michelin's AS3 was quieter, and a bit more compliant too, it would undoubtedly be a great all season tire. It handles like the Super Sport and has a 45,000 mile tread life warranty! Unfortunately, it's noisy like the Contis, and that's simply unacceptable in my book.

Anyone try Bridgestone's AS RE970? Supposedly another good one worth considering. A bit hard riding, but handles good and lasts long.

I read some articles on the DWS 06 and their primary focus was to improve their dry performance without compromising the wet/snow performance. A lot of previewers of the tires on the test track said they had done just that, but time will tell I guess.