hottoddyg37

I have had sevral issues with my 2009 G37 Sedan Journey, and have worked through most of them. One big issue which remains is excessive road noise. The car came with Goodyear RSA tires which cupped almost immediately at 1,800 miles. The Infiniti dealer blamed the excessive road noise of my car on the cupped tires.

So, at 16,000 miles, I got rid of the Goodyear tires and installed Michelin Primacy MXM4 tires. The Michelins are excellent in every respect, except that they are loud on many road surfaces. The dealer and one of his best technicians and I went for a long ride last week, and there is almost no doubt that the excessive road noise is coming from the tires. The newer the road surface, the more road noise I have. When I brake, the road noise gets even louder. Roadhandling, cornering, braking, wet weather handling are all great with the Michelin Primacies.

Any advice on where I go from here? The good news is that the new tires will be with me for a long time as the wear rating on the Michelin Primacy is pretty good. The bad news is that these tires and the road noise will be with me for a long time unless I find some other solution or change tires again. I inquired about undercoating, but the tech siad that it would not help much if at all. Sometimes the road noise is so loud that it is hard to hear the stereo unless you really step on it.

The tire pressures are correct. Maybe I should just "drive on", but it seems pitiful for a luxury brand to have this much road noise.

Hot Toddy 2009 G37 Sedan Journey (Fosgate amp., subwoofer)

sniper27

iTrader: (2)

My Goodyear Eagle RS-As were not that noisy. No cupping or anything at 3000 miles. I recently put on OEM sport wheels with the Bridgestone Potenza RE050A and those are way noisier than the Goodyears. I say aside from getting quieter tires, there's not much you can do.

Silver37

It's hard to win the noise game. My RE050s were pretty quiet, but rode too stiff for me in winter, so I just switched to the RE960s. Ride is much more comfortable, but there is also more noise. It's a steady noise and noticeable. Try riding in a new Accord..even worse. It's going to take a while to get used to it, but I do like the tire otherwise. I think you definitely get harder rubber with the high mileage tires, but they do tend to make some noise. i have the Michelin Primacy MXV4s on my old Maxima and they are very quiet, but also make some noise on certain roads.

sniper27

iTrader: (2)

RE050A are pretty low mileage tires, compared to the Goodyear RS-A. I don't know if the RE050A are considered a "noisy" tire, but it is definitely noisier than the Goodyear RS-A.

hadokenuh

You could trade in the Michelin tires for something quieter like Continental DWS or Bridgestone Serenity. My RSAs were not that noisy, but road surfaces make big difference.

I don't think Infinitis are quiet to begin with.

hottoddyg37

My original RS-A tires were not that noisy when I bought the car. Apparently, the car was out of alignment and this caused the tires to begin cupping at 1,800 miles. Once that began, they just got worse and worse. I am realizing that the RS-A's were not that bad, although several tire and auto repair shops have told me that they are bad about cupping.

I am glad to know about the quieter tire options from Continental and Bridgestone. I think that the car has to share in some of the blame for excessive road noise, and I agree with hadokenuh that the G37 is just not a quiet car to begin with. I enjoy hearing the exhaust noise and can tolerate some wind noise, but I have never had a car with this much tire and road noise. By the way, I tried a set of Michelin Primacy MXV4's and they were very noisy also. I was hoping that a magic bullet like more insulation or undercoating would solve it, but I don't have any experience with either of those for cars.

Hot Toddy

zoner

I have these Michelins on my Honda and it is not your tires. Unfortunately, the G transmits a lot of road noise on certain types of pavement.

financeman

+1 The road noise is my primary complaint about the car...I think the aluminum suspension compenents transmit alot of noise into the car.

hadokenuh

I also enjoy hearing the exhaust and engine noise but hate the road noise. I know it's better than the 1st gen G but there are still a lot of room to be improved.

If the next gen Lexus IS is more fun to drive and still as quiet, I'll seriously consider to make the switch.

Or the BMW 335 gets more reliable ...

madmax2k1

I switched from the Bridgestone RE050 to the Bridgestone Potenza RE760 Sport and the noise was reduced dramatically.

Harley'sG

iTrader: (7)

I switched from RE050 to RE760 and there was a dramatic difference. Had them for a while now (somewhere around 10k) and still way better than the 050's. Wife has the 960's on her car and they seem to be a little noisy but not anywhere near as bad as the 050's. Also have heard, no personal experience, good things about the Hankook V12's. Good luck man!

15951

Did you switch while the RE050s still had a lot of tread left? Otherwise, the dramatic difference was probably influenced by the fact that you went from worn to new tires.

hottoddyg37

I think that you guys have it figured out. Namely, that the G37 car is just very noisy with certain tires on certain types of pavement. It is a little bit of good news to hear about some potentially quieter tires. I suspect that lots of G owners have been caught out on this issue.

Then again, maybe Infiniti is smarter than I think and they make sure that the OEM tires are quiet enough to sell the cars. Only later do the owners realize that the OEM tires wear poorly and the car starts getting all of this road noise. Maybe I should have stayed with the Goodyear RS-A's and just changed them out every 12,000 miles, but I did not want to do that. I thought that me and the car deserved some better tires. Sometimes things just don't work out like you hoped.

Maybe I will join hadokenoh in the Lexus or BMW line. Maybe I will try to stay with the G37 and get some quieter tires.

I haven't even talked about the brake rotors having to be resurfaced on my car at 12,000 miles. I think that I am feeling them begin to judder again at 19,000 miles. I have not solved that issue yet. Does anyone have a suggestion for better brakes than come standard on the G37 Journey model? For instance, are the G37 sport brakes a simple switch or do you have to switch wheels also?

Hot Toddy

sniper27

iTrader: (2)

I believe it's the brake pads they use that is causing the problem. just don't use OEM brake pads when you change them. They wear out quick and squeeks.

Herkypilot

For reference on the Michelin Primacys - I had them on my VW Jetta and I noticed right away the increased noise. I don't intend to make that mistake again. I like the Michelin brand, but not the Primacys. My OEM GY RS-A's currently have 31K miles on them and I still have about 5K to go before changing. The wear has been even and I've been happy with them so far. Lots of Hwy miles. Not sure what I'll replace them with, but I insist on quiet tires.

HP