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Quiet tyres make for a more enjoyable drive

On longer drives, fatigue can be a real issue. Driver tiredness and inattention is a major cause of accidents. So what are tyre manufacturers doing to minimise the risks?

Drive fatigue is primarily caused by something engineers refer to as NVH.

NVH stands for: Noise, Vibration and Harshness. Minimising NVH is a key consideration for engineers designing vehicles to be less tiring to drive.

Your vehicle will have a lot of components, materials and features designed to help minimise NVH but you can always do more.

When it comes time to replace your tyres, opt for tyres that have been designed to reduce road noise.

Avoid Driver Fatigue

Tyres can generate a low frequency droning sound that has been shown to contribute to driver fatigue, which is why many tyre manufacturers are developing quiet tyres that perform well in all conditions.

It’s not rocket science as to why drivers in high end vehicles arrive at their destination more refreshed than drivers in older economy vehicles.

Quiet tyre technology

Many tyres designed for quiet operation rely on layers of foam inside the tyre to help absorb sound waves as they reflect and bounce around while driving. This dampens the lower frequencies that easily penetrate the body of your vehicle and make their way to your ears.

Tyre tread technology such as ‘variable pitch sequencing’ stops sound waves from building at certain frequencies and while it doesn’t reduce the overall noise, it changes the tyre noise to a much more pleasant harmonic. This higher pitched sound is generally perceived as more annoying.

Bridgestone

Each and every single tyre in the Bridgestone Turanza lineup is designed for quiet driving. With a tread design that Bridgestone calls Resonance Noise Attenuated Silencer Grooves (yes, seriously), the tread is imbued with extra thin, longitudinal grooves that prevent air from being trapped under the tyre and compressed. Each groove is a slightly different width so the noise from each is cancelled out by the others.

Some of the Ecopia range have similar features, proving that cutting edge tyre technology doesn’t have to be expensive.

Continental

Every Continental tyre with ContiSilent in the name is fitted with a polyurethane foam strip fixed to the inner surface of the tyre, which Conti says is good for a 9dB reduction in tyre volume from inside the car.

9dB doesn’t seem like much, but remember that perceived volume doubles every 10dB and it’s a pretty noticeable change.

Currently, only summer sports tyres have the option for ContiSilent treatment at this stage.

Pirelli

Pirelli also have a pretty catchy name for their quiet tyre tech. ‘Pirelli Noise Cancelling System’ tyres also make use of polyurethane foam in a strip around the tyre.

Pirelli marketing states that their implementation of foam is good for around 3-5dB of noise reduction.

Michelin

Michelin tyres such as the Primacy 3 ST use what Michelin have called their ‘EvenPeak Technology’ which uses tread blocks with different lengths to break up the harsh tyre noise tone into a broader ‘white noise’ style of sound. This is basically a version of ‘variable pitch sequencing’ mentioned above, but with far more variety and range when it comes to tread block sizing.

This reduces the annoying drone into a more of a humming noise that most people find more pleasant to listen to.

Other ways to reduce driver fatigue

A deep-dive into avoiding driver fatigue is too complex to tackle in this article, but a few dot points to remember:

• Rest up before a big drive and head to bed a bit earlier than usual
• Take periodic rest stops to stretch your legs and help blood flow
• Get some fresh air, leaving your A/C on recirculate will result in stale air
• Get comfy. Adjust your mirrors, seat and steering wheel so that you are relaxed when you drive. Holding yourself in an uncomfortable position over time can be very tiring.

Donnellans are your quiet tyre experts

Donnellans the Tyremen are your local Bridgestone Select stores, servicing the greater south-east Melbourne region from our four locations in Blackburn, Collingwood, Preston and Balwyn.

Our qualified and experienced staff understand the local conditions. Since we drive the same roads as you and your family every day, we know the kinds of roads you’ll be travelling on and can give you the very best product recommendations.

Contact us today!