Are there alternative tyres we can fit to our Golf and Jetta to reduce road noise?

We have a problem with what I consider to be excessive tyre noise inside our two cars. One is a two-year-old 1.4 TSI Golf running on Dunlop 205/55R16 SP Sport Fastresponse tyres. The other is a four-year-old 1.4 TSI Jetta running on the original Continental Sportcontact 2 205/55 R16 91v tyres. Is this a fault in the design of the car’s suspension, or lack of sound insulation within the cars, or a combination of both? Or is it purely down to the tyres.

On some roads the drumming inside the cars is so bad you can't have a conversation with a passenger or listen to the radio. ‘Which?’ magazine rated the Continental ContiSportContact as one of the noisiest tyres it has tested. I don't know about the Dunlop. Any help you can give me on this matter, such as different tyres or anything that I can do to lesson this terrible drumming will be very much appreciated.

Asked on 13 July 2013 by GL, via email

Answered by Honest John
These tyres are not excessively wide or low profile, in fact they are basically the default size. I can tell you that you will find Toyo J48s this size fantastically grippy but you may find them a bit noisy. Toyo Proxes CF1s are noisier. CF2s should be less so. Least noisy will probably be Michelin Primacy 3. For the most comprehensive compilation of tyre reviews go to www.tyrereviews.co.uk
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