Is our Contisport tires just loud?
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Super Member
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 600
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From: Northern California
09' E350 AMG Sport, 09' C300, 03' Honda S2K
Is our Contisport tires just loud?
Hey guys I realized today that the OEM tires that come with our car Continental Contisport are very loud tires. I was in my C W204 that are equipped with Michelins OEM, on the freeway I think my C is quieter than my E. Is the new W204 just insulated better or is it just the Conti tires being poorly loud.
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Joined: Jan 2008
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From: Orange County, CA
E350
Hey guys I realized today that the OEM tires that come with our car Continental Contisport are very loud tires. I was in my C W204 that are equipped with Michelins OEM, on the freeway I think my C is quieter than my E. Is the new W204 just insulated better or is it just the Conti tires being poorly loud.
I have two 2009 E350's, one with Continental ContiSport 2 and one with Michelin MXM4. Inflated to the same PSI, the Michelin has louder road noise (especially on the freeway) and a firmer ride (and better handling IMHO). When it's time to change my tires, I'm going to stick with Michelins (preferably PS2 if I can find them cheap enough).
Of course, different factors play different roles in cabin noise. The more PSI you inflate your tires, the more road noise you're going to have (in general... of course if you have a completely flat tire that's a different story). Increasing wheel diameter also generally increases road noise (ie: 18" vs. 17"). Having a Panoramic Roof increases cabin noise (glass doesn't insulate as well against noise as a regular roof). Different mirror styles affect road noise (ie: old W204 mirror style vs. new one). And of course, different CARS will have different cabin noise qualities (some may be better insulated than others... or maybe it's just a matter of different material and different body design).
Thread Starter
Super Member
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 600
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From: Northern California
09' E350 AMG Sport, 09' C300, 03' Honda S2K
I would always thought that an E-class would be and should have one of the quietest cabin noise out of all cars. Do you think their new design are having more and better insualtion than the older design. I wonder if this could be also be due to the fact that my dealers nitrofills all tires 4 psi more than the recommendation????
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From: Albuquerque
'10 CL550, '12 GL550
Looking at your details it appears your E may have low profile, "performance" tires and that a C300 usually comes with higher profile, more everyday tires. The E's tires are wider, too. All of this suggests more noise from the E and it's maybe really an apples/oranges comparison. Noise increases with age and treadwear, too.
Super Member
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 518
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From: Orange County, CA
E350
I would always thought that an E-class would be and should have one of the quietest cabin noise out of all cars. Do you think their new design are having more and better insualtion than the older design. I wonder if this could be also be due to the fact that my dealers nitrofills all tires 4 psi more than the recommendation????
In my experience, the 2009 W211 E-Class cabin is noticeably more quiet (compared to the 2009 C350 I test drove last year). Both had sport package tires.
Thread Starter
Super Member
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 600
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From: Northern California
09' E350 AMG Sport, 09' C300, 03' Honda S2K
I remember when I had a C300 loaner with 18" amg rims on with the contisport tires, the road noise wad difinitely much more noticeable than my C with 17" Michelins. Again it is probably just the fact it is 18"s and probably more of a lower profile tire or is it just Continental tires, Ill check exactly what tires I have on in a bit.
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2007 E350; 2018 GLE350
Just one person's experience with the Continentals: terribly noisy tire as tread depth wore down. The only other tires I've had that got noisy were Pirellis on the '92 Infiniti Q45 we had. Terrific car. Terrific ride. But as the Pirellis wore down, they sounded like mud tires. The Pirellis could be rotated to reverse the tire direction, but it made no difference ... they just got noisier and noisier. As my Continentals began making more and more noise, I decided "screw this" and replaced them with Michelins. How will the Michelins do?--stay tuned.
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Thread Starter
Super Member
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 600
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From: Northern California
09' E350 AMG Sport, 09' C300, 03' Honda S2K
I check last night and my tires are Continentals ContiProContact, which has a really low rating as far as Tirerack says. How many of you have a really slight wind noise coming from the passenger side when all sounds are off and driving on the freeway? I check all my mouldings and everything looks great. Maybe I am just hearining things as a car could never be sound proof, not even a MB.
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Joined: Dec 2005
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From: Irvine, CA
2008 E550, 2012 GL450, 2014 GLK350, 2015 S550, 2020 GLC350e
+1 on the Michelin PS2's ..
I had the Conti's that came with the car.. wore out in 15k miles .. had horrible traction w/ my E550 .. they couldn't handle the power
I've taken a 25mph on ramp to the freeway at 85 and not a chirp out of them .. good traction, smooth and quiet ride .. i'm not playing around and switching to another brand just to save a couple hundred bux .. I also got the PS2's locally at a price lower than even TireRack and from a MB dealer ..
I had the Conti's that came with the car.. wore out in 15k miles .. had horrible traction w/ my E550 .. they couldn't handle the power
I've taken a 25mph on ramp to the freeway at 85 and not a chirp out of them .. good traction, smooth and quiet ride .. i'm not playing around and switching to another brand just to save a couple hundred bux .. I also got the PS2's locally at a price lower than even TireRack and from a MB dealer ..
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Dec 2005
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From: Irvine, CA
2008 E550, 2012 GL450, 2014 GLK350, 2015 S550, 2020 GLC350e
I mean its not significantly quieter but probably a few dB's quieter .. but its a better tire as far as traction and ride. I find the ride to be a lot smoother. They seem to not be wearing down as fast either.
