Potenza low profile tyre noise - fixed

[MikeB]

I have a Mk7 GTI with 225/40 R18 Bridgestone Potenza 92Ys with 30,000km; and have had annoying tyre drone in the 50 - 70km range for some time. Also worn fronts; and plenty of tread on the back.

I finally got sick of it; and this is how I investigated it and mostly fixed it (without buying new tyres). In short, rotate your tyres left/right and back front. This advice applies to these tyres which are able to rotate each direction. I suspect it is fairly applicable to other situations like this.

The problem:
- I had this droning noise, but wasn't sure of the cause. It was annoying. Particularly bad at common speeds of travel 55 - 70km/h
- Went to VW mechanic who chuckled; confirmed it was the tyres and nothing else, and suggested I could live with it; or buy new tyres. Said they didn't rotate tyres any more unless customer requested (no reason why). This is despite the owners manual recommending front to back rotation of tyres
- I have a friend with a Mark 7 GTI whose GTI has exactly the same noise. Confirming this was nothing special with my GTI.
- Internet research showed that tyre drone is relatively common with low profile tyres, and the the reason is the tread blocks wear unevenly front to back. as the block lifts off it wears more; and a sawtooth shape creates noise. How does this create noise? # of tyre blocks x wheel rotation per second @ 60km/h is about 8.6 revolutions/sec; and with 66 tyre blocks (about), this equates to about 560Hz; and harmonics of 3 x this, 5 x this etc. Obviously with speed it varies; but it is low frequency noise and not blocked by noise insulation; at higher speeds road noise is more significant and it is not heard.

Looking for the fix:
- I started looking at new tyres (it was that annoying) and rang up a couple of tyre places. When I described the problem; one the places recommended I talk to Bridgestone as they couldn't answer if this was going to happen again. I got onto an excellent tyre tech who I had a good chat to who was quite familiar with this problem. In short, he said rotate the tyres; and the problem will settle down as the tread blocks wear pattern sorts out. He thought right away there might be a benefit. He assured me there was no issue with rotating all the tyres as he indicated.
- I changed the tyres around myself. An immediate very slight improvement; but minimal. Mainly, there were slightly different noise patterns - for example as one passed through around 35km/h there was a different noise pattern (this wasn't a problem as one doesn't spend much time at this speed).
- However, after about 6 weeks, I would say about 80% of the original noise is gone. Much settled down; not really of note. I am very happy with it; also have tyres with plenty of tread on the front; the more worn tyres on the rear.

One of the rare outcomes where for a couple of hours work by myself; a problem is fixed. Hopefully they are worn out till they wear to much the other way!

suspect this thread is a similiar issue:
Tyre Noise - Not Wheel Bearing Noise

[Splashalot]

Great info, thanks for sharing.

[nat225]

i am not surprised why the noise developed as they were not rotated until 30,000 km

prudent tyres maintenance would involve rotating every 5,000 km or at least 10,000 km + monthly tyre pressure check + annual wheel alignment + regular visual check (for any puncture, crack, etc). BUT most people don't do these....

[brad]

i've been telling people to cross rotate their tyres for years. People keep telling me I'm wrong.... meh

[bobcrusader]

Just a warning: You shouldn't cross-rotate asymmetrical tyres. Something like Potenza RE050A ('A' meaning Asymmetrical) should only be rotated front-back on the same side.

[brad]

Just a warning: You shouldn't cross-rotate asymmetrical tyres. Something like Potenza RE050A ('A' meaning Asymmetrical) should only be rotated front-back on the same side.

That would be incorrect. There are no direction of rotation arrows on an RE050A, they are marked inside / outside.

The RE050 has direction of rotation arrows but no inside / outside markings.

You shouldn't cross-rotate directional tyres.

Asymmetric tyres have an inside & an outside. There is no specific direction of rotation, nor is there a left & right side tyre like some of the Pirelli Pzero Corsa (??) which are both asymmetric and directional.

[nat225]

Just a warning: You shouldn't cross-rotate asymmetrical tyres. Something like Potenza RE050A ('A' meaning Asymmetrical) should only be rotated front-back on the same side.

as Brad said. that is incorrect.

it the tyre has "inside" and "outside" printed on the sideway, i would do cross rotation.