Is tyre noise a myth?

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Ibanez4020

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Today I've procrastinated from working by reading up on, and watching videos on car tyres.

I kept on reading about how certain tyres are built to reduce noise bla bla bla. Came across an interesting article that compared tyre noise inside the cabin using a fairly extensive microphone setup. What was striking is the fact that the difference between the loudest and most quiet tyre was less than 2db. Generally speaking, the minimum threshold for humans to perceive volume differences is considered to be between 3 and 5db. Is this evidence that tyre noise is waaaaay overhyped, since the average person won't be able to discern changes in noise levels inside the cabin resulting from a change in tyre?Untitled.png
 
I can hear the difference in tyre noise and it annoys me to no end.. the dunlops I had on my car before I got contis were loud af..
 
I notice tyre noise, even my friend noticed and his not car guy. Was really noticed when I moved from runflats(very noisy) to normal tyres.
 
Ibanez4020 said:
Today I've procrastinated from working by reading up on, and watching videos on car tyres.

I kept on reading about how certain tyres are built to reduce noise bla bla bla. Came across an interesting article that compared tyre noise inside the cabin using a fairly extensive microphone setup. What was striking is the fact that the difference between the loudest and most quiet tyre was less than 2db. Generally speaking, the minimum threshold for humans to perceive volume differences is considered to be between 3 and 5db. Is this evidence that tyre noise is waaaaay overhyped, since the average person won't be able to discern changes in noise levels inside the cabin resulting from a change in tyre?View attachment 925907
Click to expand...
Not sure where you got your 3 - 5dB number from. According to this guy the rule of thumb is that 1dB is a perceived difference in volume. Also remember that dB is logarithmic, so change from 10dB to 11dB is a lot less than from 60dB to 61dB.

conradaskland.com

Decibel Levels and Perceived Volume Change

Here is information about decibel levels and perceived volume change. Here’s the quick read info, with supporting documentation below. 3dB = twice the power 6dB = twice the amplitude ~10dB = …
conradaskland.com
 
An increase of 3dB doubles the sound intensity but a 10dB increase is required before a sound is perceived to be twice as loud. Therefore a small increase in decibels represents a large increase in intensity. For example - 10dB is 10 times more intense than 1dB, while 20dB is 100 times more intense than 1dB.
 
Speedster said:
Not sure where you got your 3 - 5dB number from. According to this guy the rule of thumb is that 1dB is a perceived difference in volume. Also remember that dB is logarithmic, so change from 10dB to 11dB is a lot less than from 60dB to 61dB.

conradaskland.com

Decibel Levels and Perceived Volume Change

Here is information about decibel levels and perceived volume change. Here’s the quick read info, with supporting documentation below. 3dB = twice the power 6dB = twice the amplitude ~10dB = …
conradaskland.com
Click to expand...
My psychophysics is probably a bit rusty and I may have conflated some stuff here. A 3db increase means there is a doubling of the energy, but that doesn't translate into a doubling of the perceived loudness. Due to the physiology of the ear structure, there isn't a linear increase in percieved loudness as we increase decibels, since the human ear also respond to increases in sound pressure in a logarithmic way.

The just noticeable difference (jnd) for the human ear to recognize differences in loudness is somewhere in the 0.8 to 1.2 decibel range for sounds around 60db.

Meaning for us to even register a difference in volume in a controlled environment where we listen carefully, we need to increase a sound by ~1db. But in ambient environments and real-world conditions, there needs to be an increase of about 3db for people to report that a sound is obviously louder (I' going from memory from my undergrad classes here but I'll double check this).

An increase of a single decibel produces an increase loudness of ~7%, a difference that mostly gets drowned out in ambient environments and we can't really differentiate between the volume levels.

In order to double the loudness, you'd have to increase the level by about 10db.

I'll set up a little blind experiment this week where I'll record the ambient noise in my car and increase the sound in 0.5 or 1db increments in my DAW to see if we can actually notice a difference. Should be fun :D
 
Different tyres make different noises. You get so use to the noise of one tyre that it becomes like white noise in the background and your brain essentially blocks it out. Then when you get a new tyre it makes a new noise and as your brain does not know this new sounds some people perceive new tyres as being louder.
 
As stated earlier decibel is logarithmic so louder noise has more effect on the increase. A lot of audio amplifiers actually work in dB's where volume is increased in 1 or two db increment's. And that is almost always perceivable.
 
My guess would be... Most probably not the tyre make that makes the big difference but the balancing and/or alignment. Take the tyres off completely, drive it for a while, replace it with the exact same make and model. The noise will differ...

Anyways, I'm tired now. Good night.
 
WollieVerstege said:
Different tyres make different noises. You get so use to the noise of one tyre that it becomes like white noise in the background and your brain essentially blocks it out. Then when you get a new tyre it makes a new noise and as your brain does not know this new sounds some people perceive new tyres as being louder.
Click to expand...
They will sound maybe a bit different if you replace them every week with a different make. But people generally only replace tyres a couple of years later. They forgot what new tyres sound like. Put the same model tyres on and it will sound different.
 
tyre pressure and load plays a role in the sound as well...
 
RedViking said:
Probably not the tyres. Alignment and balancing.
Click to expand...
Definitely the tyres.. I bought the car and part of the agreement was that they fit new tyres, as the existing tyres were past wear mark.. they were brand new and noisy from the start.. before I spent the 10k replacing them, I made sure alignment and balancing was all good, as I was not impressed that I may need to replace 8 month old tyres.. a month later they got even more noisy and turns out that three of the tyres developed high spots..

I also had some velocity's fitted to my previous car and they were just as bad with road noise..
 
Ibanez4020 said:
Today I've procrastinated from working by reading up on, and watching videos on car tyres.

I kept on reading about how certain tyres are built to reduce noise bla bla bla. Came across an interesting article that compared tyre noise inside the cabin using a fairly extensive microphone setup. What was striking is the fact that the difference between the loudest and most quiet tyre was less than 2db. Generally speaking, the minimum threshold for humans to perceive volume differences is considered to be between 3 and 5db. Is this evidence that tyre noise is waaaaay overhyped, since the average person won't be able to discern changes in noise levels inside the cabin resulting from a change in tyre?View attachment 925907
Click to expand...
Fit some Dunlop SP Sport tyres to your car, I guarantee that you won't only hear the noise, but you feel it as well.
 
My friend changed from Michelin Energy Saver to Falken to save money. Big mistake. 5 years of whining on the highway. It was like being married.
 
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