2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI: Too Much Tire Noise

Thanks for stealing my next post, Ed! ;-) I drove this a couple of days back and noticed the same thing. Cruising the freeway at 65 or 70 mph was no picnic.

These tires weren't exactly quiet from the get-go, but it has grown notably louder. The tire wear looks even enough, but the tires have worn to the point where some of the shallowest grooves have nearly disappeared.

Those look like Falkens (judging by the tread), but it's been awhile since I've been into tires so I don't really know. From my experience though, Falkens were a pretty noisy tire anyway and just got worse as the tire wore down.

New tire time. I can tell my Pirellis are due when the road noise goes up.

Same problem with my '06 WRX. The tire noise will drive you nuts.

The new-generation WRX is a bit quieter than mine, but not that much quieter.

One thing I've learned during the summer: just open all the windows and moonroof, and the tire noise disappears. It's more fun too.:) Oh... and just turn off the radio, as it's impossible to hear with all the wonderful wind blowing throughout the cockpit.

Dan, what do think the tire life will be on this car? 10,000 miles? I know it has super-sticky summer tires, which wear pretty quickly.

They're Brigestones.

They're Dunlop SP Sport 600 tires (although the current Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) STI wears Bridgestone Potenza RE050A tires). The previous generation STi/STI was shod with Bridgestone Potenza RE070 tires, which had some of the stiffest sidewalls of any DOT-legal street tire. We should also keep in mind that the Nissan GT-R has Bridgestone Potenza RE070R run-flat tires.

What are you guys thinking about replacing these tires with? Same brand?

Those tires don't look like they would be too good in the dirt. I thought this was supposed to be a rally car??

Looks like this car eats tires as quickly as my BMW 540i. All my summer performance tires have been relatively loud and gotten louder with wear. I think it's the price one pays for stiffer performance shoes.

"Looks like the wear bars are showing pretty well. Perhaps new tires are up and coming and that's to blame? I kind of expect that kind of noise from high performance tires. The BFG KDW-2's that I had on my SRT-4 had excessive road noise from the time they were brand new to 10,000 miles later when they were worn out."

I replaced my original Michelins on my 03 with the BFG's at around 40K miles as they were the new "factory" tire. They were loud, and something that makes an SRT-4 louder inside is significant. Thankfully they wore quickly and were replaced in less than a year with BFG g-Force sports which were quieter, gripped just as well, and lasted longer. The C230 I got had Bridgestone Potenza RE-01R's on it when I got it, they have been grippy yet pretty quiet. But seeing that tread make me think of the KDW-2's and how obnoxious sounding they were with no big benefit in performance (though they looked cool).

Yeah, I drove the STI last night and noticed how bad the tire noise has become.

stingray454, Max Performance Summer tires aren't intended for much use on dirt/gravel/mud.

citronc, I love the RE-01Rs I have. At the track, they're more consistent than the S-03 Pole Positions and are stickier, too. They also seem to be quieter and just as comfortable as the craptacular factory-supplied all-season RE92s.

Thanks for the welcom subtrojan. I have been searching for good places to learn about the STI.

My tire noise is ok right now, depending on the surface. I notice concrete is louder than blacktop on the highway. I only have 1500 miles so far, but I don't see these tires lasting very long.

The hard part with OEM tires is getting the credit for tire warranty that supposedly comes with them. I had to negotiate with Michelin when I replaced my MDX tires at 30K because they were worn down. It was worth the 45 minutes on the phone explaining that I had a brochure that read "50K warranty"...etc. I am actually looking forward to replacing these summer tires with really good all-seasons at some point.

I was hoping to burn them up at a track as an excuse to get new ones...perhaps Edmunds could sponsor a track event...

There is no mileage warranty with those tires. You'd probably be better off with a summer/track tire set and a separate snow tire set. All-season tires--even "good" ones--will decrease a lot of your car's handling ability.