what psi do you run yours @? I try to keep mine @ 32-33psi.

 

kurvhugr, which tires do you have; the KDW or the KDW-2 (which has the large tread seen here http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....ce+T%2FA+KDW+2 )? The large tread is what makes the noise...like a mud truck tire.

 

RUN – do not walk – away from these tires. There is absolutely no excuse for a tire made today to be as noisy as these are. I absolutely hate them. There are certain RPMs where they are louder than my exhaust.

 

I have the KDW-2s. I'm also sensitive to noise.....as a few exhaust system vendors will attest. I don't have the mud truck tire sound and for some reason mine aren't noisy at all.

 

I think the overly loud exhaust systems have damaged your hearing. I say sue!

 

We've rotated, etc and nothing has improved these tires, they have remained annoyingly noisey at times since day 1 Can't explain why some people don't think they are loud, aside from hearing differences, perhaps a different, slower, driving style?

 

Not in my case!

I dunno, maybe XAlfa got it right.

 

mine are noisy under 25 miles per hour but they grip great, handle great, hook up really nice off the line rain or snow i had the goodyear run flats and these are just much better performing tires i would reccomend them if you arent noise sensitive

 

Yep, there are lots of tires that provide better performance then the Goodyear RFs I'm sure (I had the Dunlops "sport" RFs fwiw) - thing is I'm also sure that other options do not howl and hum like the KDW2s do under various conditions (going fast and slower; can't say I've noticed under 25mph tho).

 

Exactly.....

 

Mine are very noisy and between 40 and 50mph they "sing". Cant hear much at that speed...hmmm safety hazard?

Okay my car is not lowered nor do I have camber plates (yet). Might this make a diff?

ALEX, where are you?

 

Ok, so I'll be crossing the KDW2's off my list.

 

Amazing tires , I am on my third set. Rotate them more frequently that one would expect and they will be fine . My tire pressures are 36 ft and 34 rear.

Randy
M7 Tuning

 

Or, maybe not... :impatient

 

i really do not understand this. the noise increase i noticed (and i had VERY quiet tires previous to these) was mainly slowing down between 30mph and 15 mph, i can hear the tread blocks SLIGHTLY, barely louder than the power slot rotors. i can also hear a hum between 30mph and 45mph, IF i pay a attention, on very smooth surfaces. on rougher/worn asphalt i can't hear anything.

if you want quiet tires, get some toyo proxes 4s. these were great all around tires. if you want all out performance, you will need to sacrifice a little on the comfort side, there is no way around that. to me the slight increase in noise (which BTW is not even noticeable with the radio on) is a very small price to pay for the performance increase. just rotate the tires more often and the noise will be kept in check.

i guess bottom line is some people are more sensitive to, or bothered by, tire noise. if you are that type of person, perhaps you should consider another tire. if you are not bothered by a small aural intrusion into your cocoon-like driving environment, i can assure you you will enjoy the increased performance from these tires.

 

Exactly. My hearing is still quite acute (dispite the overly loud exhausts XAlfa ), and I only hear these tires under certain conditions, and usually only if I'm actually trying to hear them. Makes me think it's not just about "sensitivity" to noise.

I would say there must be some inconsistency in the tires, but then we have folks like Randy (maxmini) who've been through more than one set with consistent results. I would say it's because people are running these directional tires the wrong direction but we're smarter than that.....right? So that leaves me with only three more theories (so far, I'm sure I'll come up with more later): 1-differences in inflation, 2-differences in alignment, and 3-differences in tolerance vice sensitivity.

Oh well, I'm happy enough with them to definitely leave them on my list when I consider replacements.

 

I still think that some of you guys are just simply rather hard of hearing and/or they make the tires inconsistently, the sound these tires make is literally a loud howling not a "small aural intrusion". As I've said, we've rotated, had different pressure, and had them on the car since the car was almost new, so I don't think alignment is an issue (and it doesn't seems to effect the runflats that way).

Seriously, we've experienced other so called loud tires that droned (some Toyos I had on a BMW were annoying after the tread wore in) but we both have found these to be in another league of loud. Next tires will likely be Goodyear F1s or Pilot PS2s which are both great grippy tires without that level of noise.

 

Hard of hearing? Try telling that to my students.

When I mention alignment, I don't mean simple adjustments, but extremes like effects of lowering and/or adding camber plates and adjustable control arms. I'm on coilovers and have adjusted camber, caster and toe. Maybe it's all the neg camber.....who knows?

Bottom line though is it shouldn't make a difference, and there shouldn't be so many disgruntled customers. There must be something wrong with these things if they please so few of us, and (as eVal wrote) there are other options.....

 

Seconded.

 

I agree it could be dif inflation, alignment, or camber. I have a stock suspension and I just had my alignment checked (my car does pull more to the right with these tires) and I do live in Italy so the roads may be a little dif. To tell the truth there are other people, like Randy M7, that have more experience with them and if you want to buy them talk to somone that has had them longer that me. I only have about 1K miles so far and I havn't rotated them yet. No I don't have them in reverse, no I am not sensitive to hearing. The fact is they drone/hum on my car and they are the loudest of the 4 sets of tires I have had on my car. I like the tread which is the reason I bought them and I trusted BFG. For me I am disappointed, with all the tech out there, this is the best they could do? I may change my mind after I rotate them but I feel that I should not have to break in a tire for noise. True you have to make some sacrifice for performance but there are other tires that perform very well without the noise. It comes down to personal choice and what you want from a tire. I am not saying they are a bad tire, just noisy on my car. Time will tell,

Frodo

 

one thing no one is talking about is how loud their mini is without the tire noise. i have exhaust, an alta style intake, power slot rotors (which i can hear a bit when braking), and the harmon kardon system, which i tend to crank up the volume on pretty often. maybe since my car is a bit louder than stock i just didn't really notice the tires so much. perhaps if i had a bone stock mini and put these tires on, the difference would be more noticeable. maybe this can account for the disparity of opinions?

 

the fact that people need to argue about how loud these tires are is proof enough that they're a lot louder than other tires. i've never heard anyone else complain so much about road noise

for those that don't believe it, check tirerack's survey's. kdw-2's are great for grip, bad for noise

http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=EZ3&url=/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp&type=UHP&VT=null&sortValue=12

 

Im looking at these tires but am concerned about how long they last. Any input from anyone on how many miles to expect?

 

Got um love um

 

Amen Chris, I just put a set of KDW'2 on my car, yes they sound diff. but what do people expect when they start modifing their cars .There is another forum where people are complaining about the sound of there CAI's. What do they expect to happen. Guess they should just leave them stock.