Valvefloat991

Just remember that you are replacing worn tires with full tread-depth new ones. Of course the new ones will be better in the rain. The difference will have nothing to do with the relative rain performance of the two tires.

kwikit356

I have no great love for the Pirelli P Zero N0 tires on my '15 GTS and plan to switch to Michelin PS4S when they're done, which will be very soon. But, I now have 10K miles on them. They are indeed loud, and have been since the beginning (but, of course louder and less round now).

The other thing I discovered is that in high 40's F. temperatures in rain/wet conditions the Pirellis are scary even with every nanny system fully engaged. Having said that, I was stunned on the last weekend in April when I spent the day on a wet track with the temp at about 60 F. The grip was far better than I had any right to expect, both cornering and braking. This on a car with 10K miles on its tires, 8 track days and on the second set of brake pads (and melted pad sensors when I replaced the OE pads).

I have Conti Extreme Contact DW on my 993: very quiet, but not even great grip in dry conditions; hold well in wet conditions and are even surprisingly good when the temperature drops below 40 F. Good thing I guess because all that car has for help is ABS.

I should say, to be clear, that I have no experience with the PSS, PS4S or the new Continental, which replaces the Extreme Contact DW.

kayjh

This is extremely helpful. I'm not sure what category asphalt I'm driving on, I'd describe it as old, but high porosity type and I get 93 db @ 60 mph. If quieter tires are available and I can get rid of the low frequency sound from the PSE, this car is brilliant for me.

I have a meeting with my dealer today at 12:30. Please update your results when you get your new tires. A 1db sound difference isn't helpful to me, but if I can get the noise level down to the low 80s with a different tire manufacturer, nothing would make me happier.

911sTO

thanks for the updates and please keep them coming. Sorry you're having these issues - I know how excited you were waiting for the car. I'd like to know how you resolve it - my wife found the Cayman loud but the 911 quiet - not sure what tires we had though and I think we were more pleased by the relative noise compared to the Cayman.

Have you tried the comfort PSI?

BTW, what are you using to measure dB? I found a couple of iPhone apps but have no real way of telling if it's true

kayjh

Actually, I have 2 noise issues with this car. The first is what I consider excessive tire roar and the second is the low frequency resonance from the exhaust system (PSE). It occurs around 2200 RPM, but sadly that is where the engine likes to hang out until higher road speeds. The dealer will plug the symposer tube a week this Thursday to see if can eliminate some of the noise. If not, I'll sell the car back to the dealer and move on.

The sad result of shopping in my small market, is with a new model (2017) last summer the dealer had no used cars on the lot and I was only able to test drive a new car for about 15 to 20 minutes - primarily to research ride quality (which is excellent).

I had test driven a 2015 991.1 over a day and overnight. I determined after this longer test drive that the ride and induction noise were too much for me and I dismissed the car. I have no doubt that had I had similar time in a. 991.2 with PSE I'd have configured my car with stock exhaust and 19" wheels for a quieter ride.

Everyone is a bit different and when you read posts on this forum, you have to remember that you are trading information with Porsche enthusiasts, many of who feel that the louder the car the better. I'm sure my point of view (with respect to noise) is in the minority which is why these cars are as loud as they are.

I spent countless hours reading about options and in particular the Burmeister sound system vs Bose, which many say is a "must". Based on my experience, if you are travelling on the highway, interior noise on an average road with some wear will be around 94 db. if you want to hear sound above that, you'll push the interior volume to 98db+. That is painfully loud for most ears, whether you realize it or not.

With respect to exhaust tone comparison, the dealer now has a 2017 C4 coupe with 12,000 kms on it and I drove that car (non PSE, non SC) back to back with my car and found that car at idle to be about 15% quieter and in sport mode, the exhaust was also about 20% quieter.

I've read about droning on this forum with people saying the problem is solved with the symposer plugged. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

PS I'm using an iPhone with a db meter app. I'm not saying that it is scientifically accurate, but I used the same app in my BMW 535 on the same stretch of highway at the same speed and it measured 83 - 4 db. The Porsche on that same stretch was 94. So that is the same meter measuring 2 different cars and showing the result. Keeping in mind that each 1 db is a doubling of the sound pressure and you can see how much louder the 991.2 with PSE and 20" wheels is, on the road.

StormRune

I'm using "Decibel 10: Noise dB Meter" by Skypaw Co, Ltd. There is another with a similar name. I ended up paying the $1.99 upgrade to get the "A" filtering that claims to mimic the response of the human ear.
As I mentioned earlier, I don't know how accurate it is, but I figure using it to test both the old "before" tires and the new "after" tires will at least tell me what the relative change is.

asia

kayjh, sorry to hear of your trouble.

Each 10dB increase corresponds to about a doubling of perceived loudness (psychoacoustics).

5dB ~1.4x louder
10dB ~2x louder
15dB ~2.8x louder
20dB ~4x louder
30dB ~8x louder
40dB ~16x louder

and so on.

Another good (free) IOS app is NIOSH SLM. (National Institude for Occupational Safety and Health).

A prior P car of mine had a cruising drone problem with straight pipes. I guess I was asking for trouble with that modification. Sound was fine on the back roads and track, but drone unbearable on the highway.

kayjh

Thanks for the correction, but even 2X as loud isn't ideal. I'd be happy to have a highway drone problem. Mine does it at 35 - 45 mph, commuting speeds.

Gary JR

I think it's a bit like what they say about depression. If you think you are bothered by too much road noise you are bothered by too much road noise.

sanjeev

Hello
I am also interested in this topic, since I too have been concerned about the high interior noise levels at highway speeds. FWIW, I have settled on using the stock 19" wheel sizes, new Yokohama advan sport A/S tires, and comfort tire pressure settings, and am happy with the result. Generally, in and around the Boston area I have measured a 70 mph cruise on I-95 and I-93 to be between 68-69 dbA (newly surfaced) and 78-80 dbA (old, worn asphalt) depending on the surface condition. Concrete surfaces can be louder, but thankfully we don't have many of those around here.

I've used both AudioTools iPhone app, as well as a dedicated sound level meter. (A weighted) Also these measurements are consistent with published interior sound levels for the 991 series by other sources I've seen, including the manufacturer. Porsche has a document which lists the 19" Goodyear tires as the quietest tire option at 69 dbA in their tests. Porsche lists the 20" P Zeros at 2-3 dbA louder in their tests.

I am a bit surprised by the high db levels reported in this thread. Are you calibrating the app properly? Are you using flat or C weighting? For reference, many sources ( including OSHA) state that extended exposure to constant SPLs above 80 dbA to lead to long term hearing damage.

I find that my 991S with these Yokohama 19" tires is reasonably comfortable on good condition asphalt surfaces. In general 69-73 dbA is what I experience at 70 mph cruise, which is generally within 3-5 dbA of the average modern sedan.

Ultimately each person is going to have different sensitivities. My suggestion is to try the stock 19" wheels with the Porsche spec Goodyear tires as the quietest option that is N spec. Sounds like the Michelin 4S may also be a great option.

Good luck.. let us know what you find.

Sanjeev

sanjeev

Also, you may want to review www.auto-decibel-db.com for published interior sound level tests. That source lists the 2013 Carrera S at 68.2 dbA at 70 mph.

Alan C.

I recently installed a set of of PS4S on my GT4 prior to the Smokies GT event. After 2000 miles they are petty quiet.

LTP

some continentals has insulation layer.

ralt12

I changed to the Continental Extreme Contact's when you couldn't get the Michelins a while back, and the noise difference was amazing. I would guess that a lot of that was old tire vs new tire, but the Michelins were never a quiet tire on the car. It went from having to shout at 70+ to having a normal conversation. The sidewall isn't as stiff, (305's) but you get acclimated pretty quickly, and they are unbelievable in the wet. Nice tire.

kayjh

Good information, thanks for the post. I'm not sure what my iPhone app is set up for, but as I may have posted, my BMW on the same stretch of road with the same app and the same speed registered 85 db and the Porsche 93 - 94 db. This is worn asphalt, but most of the roads around here are. I've read the Car & Driver test that reports ~70 db at 70 mph. that would be significantly quieter than my BMW, so either my iPhone app is wrong or our roads are so bad that no tire is going to make an appreciable difference.

Sadly budget doesn't allow me to become a test bed for different tires and wheels, but now that 2017's are starting to appear used on my dealer's lot, I'll be on the lookout for a car with 19's on it for me to test drive.

As to hearing damage, the information I've read is that 85 db is OK as long as it is followed by at least 7 hours of quiet (40 - 50 db) in each 24 hour period. Higher db levels require shorter exposure with the same rest period. Given my tinnitus, I seek to avoid sound levels above 70 db for any period of time and have used foam ear plugs (cut in half) and wedged partly in each ear to make sure I can control the amount of sound reaching my ear drums. It has worked fine. If I take longer highway trips I plan to use Bose in ear noise cancelling ear buds that have unique feature allowing you to dial up or down the amount of active noise cancellation. That way you can reduce the noise reaching your ears to 60 - 70 db while still being able to to hear your passenger and/or music.

Like a friend of mine said "these are great cars, but they are made for young people"