# Continental ContiProContact SSR run flats - UNBEARABLY LOUD road noise... thoughts?



## Gu VW (Dec 4, 2006)

I recently picked up some Continental ContiProContact SSR run flats for my Jetta (they're 17" mille miglia wheels) and they have almost HORRIFIC road noise - cold or hot, and are getting _worse_. I picked them up barely used (less than 600 miles) and they have less than 2000 miles on them. They WHIRRRRRR down the road like I'm driving some kind of monster truck! It's also sending TREMENDOUS vibration throughout the chassis and the cabin.
So is it "just" tire noise? Could it be ABS related (i.e. mechanical in the wheel hubs themselves - see below) etc? I need some more suggestions...
It's not muffler or engine (I pushed the clutch in and the noise doesn't diminish) - it's related to the wheel revolution speed - even at 20 mph it's LOUD - at 58mph it's REALLY bad - at 80 mph it kind of hits a decent harmonic and diminishes a bit.
It's probably not bearings: they were all replaced last fall and I put the car up on the jack (each corner, each wheel) today, and did a simple "spin test" - wheels all spin decent, rears will spin two or three revs on their own after a crank.
Tires are not out of round they're basically brand new - spinning and holding a "marker" to a radius point no one tire appears out of round by more than say an 1/8 of an inch, nor any wheel rim edge out of round by but the slightest amount (16th inch?) (maybe that tolerance is still too much?).
There _is_ possibly a flat spot on the rear driver's side but, again, spinning the wheel, it's negligible and doesn't seem to adversely affect the tire itself. And this noise wasn't like this with the Michelin Pilot Sport ASs I had before. But I think the problem was there before but masked when I had the previous Pilots on - I was still getting a fair bit of tire noise - which is why I'm wondering if it might be wheel/hub/mechanical related.
I noticed something yesterday though that gives a clue: Moving rather quickly (officials call it "speeding") down the curves of the downtown Baltimore express way the car leans right hard and then left hard in the next curve. When the car leaned right first - i.e. less contact pressure on the left hand side (driver's side) the tire noise - the noise diminished CONSIDERABLY. But it DIDN'T do the same on the next curve. EVEN if it was "tire noise" it should have shown on both sides as a diminished amount of noise. And the _amount_ of decrease in noise was surprising. So this suggests the "whatever" is only on the driver's side tires, and or wheels (and so I started on that side with the jack today - this is the side with the one wheel with the micro flat spot but that could be it) but the amount of noise, and the absense of any reduction in the second curve is what makes me wonder if it isn't mechanically related.
The final test it to rebalance the wheels - but I suspect that's not it (Mr. Tire did them and we're good buds, they do us good (they know I'm fussy)!)
Thoughts anyone? Particularly of the mechanical nature of the wheels and hubs that I can rule out/investigate? Oh, don't know it it matters but I'm running coilovers now (KW Variant 1s), no wheel spacers, hub centric bolts... 
here's an older pic of the car - the rear driver's side wheel is in this pic - as you can see the "flat spot" is negligible








more recent with coilovers:











_Modified by Gu VW at 3:14 AM 5-2-2008_


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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2008)

*Re: Continental ContiProContact SSR run flats - UNBEARABLY LOUD road noise... thoughts? (Gu VW)*

Your complaints mostly stem from the fact you're running run flat tires on a car that was never designed to use them. To provide run flat capability, these tires typically attach rubber inserts next to or between layers of heat-resistant cord in their sidewalls to help prevent breaking the reinforcing cords in the event of loss of air pressure. They also feature specialized beads that allow the tire to firmly grip current Original Equipment and aftermarket wheels even in the event of air loss. These reinforced sidewalls change the handling capabilities of the tire to the point that cars equipped with run flat tires from the factory have to have the suspension redesigned to compensate. Without the softer shock valving and different spring rates, you get the harsh ride.
As to the road noise, the stiffer sidewalls will contribute to that as well. You should get rid if these tires.


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## Gu VW (Dec 4, 2006)

*Re: Continental ContiProContact SSR run flats - UNBEARABLY LOUD ... ([email protected])*

Thanks for the thorough response and on the money with the info. Appreciate it. best, A.


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