Snow tires cause a whine

[Laurel]

We had the Nokian Nordman snow tires with aluminum rims put on our C-Max this afternoon.  Boy there sure is a sound change compared to the original tires.  It is a steady whine and I hate it!  Hubby said it doesn't bother him and he measured the decibels inside the car, and there was not a significant increase i.e. 52 while idling and 58 while driven at 70 kilometers per hour.  However, I find it very annoying as before when in EV it was so silent on the road and now I hear the whine.  Is this typical?

[RaPieR]

We had the Nokian Nordman snow tires with aluminum rims put on our C-Max this afternoon.  Boy there sure is a sound change compared to the original tires.  It is a steady whine and I hate it!  Hubby said it doesn't bother him and he measured the decibels inside the car, and there was not a significant increase i.e. 52 while idling and 58 while driven at 70 kilometers per hour.  However, I find it very annoying as before when in EV it was so silent on the road and now I hear the whine.  Is this typical?

Just depends on the type of winter tire but generally are going to be louder because of the tread.

 

The General Artic winter set on my Speed3 is quieter than the Hankook set on my C-Max but that could just be that the C-Max is a lot quieter in the cabin compared to the Mazda.

[Laurel]

Thanks.  I feel better.

[Bill-N]

Is this typical?

 

Generally, yes.

[Laurel]

Forgot to say the big tire place I went to today had never seen a C-Max before.  They liked it and commented on its pep when they took it out to test the tires after putting them on. They commented on how quiet it was  (and that was with the whine so they will be impressed with the regular tires next Spring).

[fbov]

Whine is a function of tread design, and snow tires couldn't be more different from the OEMs in that regard.

 

Take a look at the (now removed) OEM tires. It's sublte, but note the size/spacing of the tread blocks, and how their size varies as you move around the circumference. Varying block size and spacing varies the natural resonance frequencies of one part of the tread relative to the rest of the tire. By spreading out the resonant frequencies, no single frequency is favored and tread noise is reduced. I would wager the Nordman's tread pattern has lots less variation in tread design dimensions around the tire.

 

Next, look at the actual tread blocks. The OEM tire tread blocks are parallelograms, with perhaps 1 sipe across each. The Nordman tread blocks are smaller, with a sipe every couple millimeters. As the Wiki link will tell you, sipes are where you get ice and packed-snow traction, but they also hurt dry-road behavior. When turning, siped tread blocks will "squirm," as you can see by pushing a tread block with your thumb. That squirm opens the sipes, allowing their edges to bite into the snow or ice surface. On dry roads, they feel like little springs between you and the road, degrading turn-in and road feel compared with the larger, squarer blocks OEM tire.

 

In return for these seemingly undesirable characteristics, the snow tire delivers something the OEM can't - grip on snow and ice. Just wait until you drive down your first road covered with wind-blown snow - and the car doesn't notice the snow.

 

HAve fun,

Frank

 

PS please don't have a dealer sipe your tires (common in Pac NW?) unless you're ice racing or something that needs it. Buy the right tires, says the guy who owned a tire shaver (for pavement racing).

Edited October 8, 2013 by fbov

[Laurel]

Frank I am getting used to the sound and feel of the snow tires.  Makes the C-Max drive a bit like a Jeep which is okay for winter.  Hubby thought the sound deadening might kick in, but that doesn't seem to be happening.  One quirky thing I am noticing is that EV+ is coming on at random moments--not at any spots that I frequent.  Also this seems a little weird too my cold engine mileages are not as bad as they were before getting the snow tires.  I go to swim every morning and normally I get about 16-19 L per 100 kilometers on the way and about 11 L coming back (only about 8 kilometers to the pool).  Today I got 11 L going and 6.4 L coming home, and temperature was lower today with fog --about 4-5 C.

 

PS What does sipe my tires mean?  We take Tip in next Wednesday for all the recalls so do I have to leave a sign on my car seat saying "do not sipe my tires" ? LOL

 

PPS I did look up sipe.  Interesting, but sounds primitive and dicey thing to do.  I won't let them sipe my tires!

Edited October 11, 2013 by Laurel