FlashG

Lately my 04 6MT at 46,000 miles has been extremely noisy over most road services. I’ve taken it to the dealer a couple of times and they blame the aggressive tread of the Michelin pilots. Originally I thought the noise was bearing related but now I’m not so sure. They also mentioned that the tires tend to dart but I don’t find that a problem. The tires are a couple of years old and have good tread after about 15,000 miles. They have also been routinely rotated and inspected.

One final note: I can also feel minor vibration in the accelerator peddle. They checked and road tested this as well and said everything was OK.

Anyone have other suggestions?

SporkLover

I've noticed that Michelin Pilots ( on a previous car) tended to get pretty noisy as the tread life went down.

FlashG

Do you remember experiencing any minor gas peddle vibration as well?

Actually I'm more concerned about possible mechanical problems. If the tires really tend to get louder over time that’s OK. I tend to keep my vehicles for a long time and I want to get anything fixed under warranty before it expires.

Bearcat94

If you haven't already, double scheck to be sure you don't have a bent rim.

My front passenger side is bent (slightly/small) and vibrates throughthe gas pedal.

Kracker

New tires will do wonders... Do some research. I got BFG KDW2. After I got them I learned that they can be loud (at least the KDW (1st gen)). They arnt bad, but it could be better.

If I had the money at the time I would have gotten Goodyear F1 GS-D3.

Dont replace the tires with stock type tires.

csmeance

the stock michelin tires are very noisy, and the bridgestone EL42's were even worse. For the vibration, I would suggest that you have them check out the motor mounts and neutralize them. This can get rid of a lot of vibrations at the motor mounts can easily bind on the TL.

Brettg

Road noise is almost always tires, as is any vibration.
I always look on tire rack at their ratings, and got one of their hi rated tires, quiet, smooth, long lasting, much better traction than the EL42s!
They were inexpensive, at least compaired to most other tires.
I forget what brand they are though, Avons I think.

Tire rack rates the EL42 as a REALLY bad tire!

There are really only a few brands of tire I would get for any car, Continental, Michilen, Dunlop maybe, and Avons.
Many of the other brands have belt problems, balance problems, just poor quality control...

Brett

Baronpilot

Girlfriend’s car is a 06 AT Acura TL. It had the Bridgestone EL-42s and road noise was TERRIBLE on many California highways. I've ridden in the car from 20K miles to 48K miles and the noise was always bad. After some reading and talking to service reps, I decided it was likely that the 17" OEM rims Acura put on the car, combined with the Bridgestone tires, probably contributed if not outright caused the trouble.

While in for warranty service we got a 07 TL with Michelins. They were better than the Bridgestone, much better I would say. However, they still had worse noise than the solution I describe below.

I found a set of Acura RSX 16" OEM wheels used. They had an almost new set of Michelins, and I paid $325 for the set.

Road noise is almost gone. This is a totally different car. The tires are 205/60 and the diameter is almost perfect compared to stock tires. When these are used up, I plan to replace with 195/65. Mileage is usually 30 MPG on highway at 75-80 and 25 around town.

We lost the TPMS function. I suppose I could take the sensors out of the stock rims and install them on the RSX rims. Or I can check the tires weekly and push the arrow key whenever the instrument cluster bell rings.

We're early 50's, and not interested in street racing. I'm sure lots of people would not have made this decision because of the change in the appearance. My Girlfriend didn't care how the wheels looked. I think they were from a 06 RSX, they look OK.

New tires to replace the Bridgestones are around $200 a piece, and we were getting to that point. When we need new tires for these rims, I expect Michelins to cost about 105-110 ea.

As I understand it, the 3G TL is based on the European accord, and I assume it was developed with 16-inch wheels. When the styling girls brought it over to the US, they decided to move to 17-inch wheels (initially to accommodate larger brake calipers on the MT, then switched all the cars to 17" wheels). Anyway, I assume the original design team would not have configured the car to make that level of noise (IE the 17" wheels and Bridgestone tires) and sent it out to production.

Talking to service people from Acura was a disappointment. It became clear they knew there was a problem and the dodged it like a matador dodging a bull.

Acura introduced an active noise canceling system on later models. Nothing says "We really screwed up the noise on THIS one..." like an active noise canceling system, IMHO.

Although this problem is fixed, this is very likely the LAST Acura we will buy. I don't think Toyota would have ever put the Toyota/Lexus brand on a >30K sedan that made this kind of noise. Basically, I think Acura really screwed the pooch on this one. The design team leader was sent to Honda racing in Calif, from the design center in Ohio. Who designs luxury cars in Ohio?

There is a bright spot. You can pick up a 06 TL really cheap on the used market. Find yourself a set of RSX rims, and you've got a decent sedan.

Baronpilot

FlashG, just noticed you have the Manual so you're not going to be able to do what we did. You're larger break calipers were the reason they switched to 17" wheels in the first place.

Like I said, the Michelins (that car had 23 K miles) were much quieter than the Bridge Tones.

Brettg

Well, noise isolation costs money and adds weight, so an active system is attractive I guess.

The brand and type of tire can have a big impact on ride quality, and some tires are known to get very noisy as they wear.

I am quite happy with the avons, but they would have made a much bigger improvement in ride quality and noise on 16 inch rims.

I have the 6MT, so that is not going to happen...

I did undercoat one side, never got around to the other side yet, and you can hear the difference.
I used about 3 cans of the thick rubberized stuff.
You can also pull up the rugs and install more soundproofing there.

But its all about the test drive, you DO get to test drive a car before you buy it, and I dont see the point in complaining about the car after you test drove it and got to sample the noise and ride quality.

I test drove 4 cars, 3 manual trans cars, 1 auto trans car, at speed on the hiway, on concrete, and found it acceptable.

Brett

vinnier6

iTrader: (1)

exactly.....i have had this problem with previous accords with michelin tires....i am half temped to get rid of the oem michelins on my type s just so the car will be a little quieter.....

Tripnbeats

my favorites are pirelli pzero all seasons.....no noise great contact.