Bridgestone Potenza S001 on W205 C250

[gigdesigns]

I recently took delivery of my new W205 C250 saloon and drove out to the airport for holiday, which meant driving a stretch of the M25 between the A3 and M23. A large portion of the motorway is concrete instead of the normal black tarmac.

Boy oh boy do I get a lot of tyre roar on the concrete bits, it's truly awful. Not sure I could stand much more than about 30 mins of it. I used to drive a '98 Golf which had Michelin tyres and have done the same trip many times and never noticed that much tyre roar, so I am guessing much of the noise is down to the tyre and sizing.

On the black tarmac things are much quieter, which is to be expected, but man the whine/roar on that concrete is flat out unbearable.

The C250 has factory fitted 18" Bridgestone Potenza tyres.
Anybody else getting the same tyre roar with these tyres?

Any recommendations for something quieter?

Looking on Blackcircles the Goodyear Eagle F1 A3's have an advertised noise rating of 68dB whilst the Potenza's are louder at 73dB. Will a 5dB difference be noticeably quieter?

Why do they even use concrete anyway? If you've ever driven on these concrete stretches after it's just rained and the sun's back out, you'll know how bad visibility can get. The water thrown up in the air gets lit up from the lighter road surface and almost looks like heavy fog. Whoever said yes to the use of concrete is an idiot!

Save
Save
Save​

 

[Brabus1408]

Any recommendations for something quieter?

Looking on Blackcircles the Goodyear Eagle F1 A3's have an advertised noise rating of 68dB whilst the Potenza's are louder at 73dB. Will a 5dB difference be noticeably quieter?

Yup, Bridgestones aren't the best tyres for noise, or even grip, but the Goodyears you mention are excellent in that respect - in fact superb all-rounders.

However, go for A2s, as in my experience they're superior to A3s. I use very low-profile tyres on my 19" alloy rims, and the F1 A2s are great at achieving low-noise levels on the type of surfaces you mention

Plus they wear well, aren't too expensive, have superb grip, in the dry or wet, and the rim protection is useful sometimes, too! A no-brainer choice, IME.

Marco.

 

[magpiemalemerc]

I wouldn't think you could get the 2's anymore unless you searched as the 3's took over from the 2's on Goodyear.

 

[flowrider]

I have the S001's on the rear of my SL, they are noisy and will be replaced soon. The Goodyear A3's are well regarded, i doubt you will get A2's and even if you can they are now usually more expensive than the A3's.

 

[Brabus1408]

Guys, I just had a brand new set of A2s fitted to my car only last month, so they are available.

They were supplied by the garage I have my car serviced at, so not sure where they bought them from, but I can find out

Marco.

 

[flowrider]

Guys, I just had a brand new set of A2s fitted to my car only last month, so they are available.

They were supplied by the garage I have my car serviced at, so not sure where they bought them from, but I can find out

Marco.

Camskill have AS2's and AS3's in the size i need at the rear but the 2's are £239.40 each and the 3's are £188.10 each so i know which ones i would buy.