G70 road noise

[Gurbz19]

Hey everyone I’m new to here so hopefully I’m using this right. I had a question does anyone else have a lot of road noise especially in the freeway/highway? I do have 19inch rims and sport tires could that be the case? And if so how can I reduce the sound? I hear a lot of wind as well.

 

[Slip_Angle]

Assume you have the PS4s? Are they worn? If so, there would be more road noise and especially with the low aspect ratio on the tires. There should be little to no wind noise though.

I noticed this year ( 4th year) that my car has more road noise with my winter wheels and tires. Bumps sound more "hollow" and loud. I also have some rattle in the back that I can't seem to track down.

 

[Gurbz19]

Assume you have the PS4s? Are they worn? If so, there would be more road noise and especially with the low aspect ratio on the tires. There should be little to no wind noise though.

I noticed this year ( 4th year) that my car has more road noise with my winter wheels and tires. Bumps sound more "hollow" and loud. I also have some rattle in the back that I can't seem to track down.

I just got the car I don’t know much sorry but I’m not sure if it’s wind noise or if I’m confusing it with road noise from the tires. I use to drive a Mazda cx-5 so big difference in car and never experienced the road noise

 

[Husky]

I've never noticed any undue road noise in mine. I have the 18" wheels and AS tires, so that helps.
Check your tread depth and tire pressures. Also, make sure all the doors are closing properly and the windows are up all the way (sounds stupid but you never know).
We have a CX-5 also, and I can't say I've ever noticed a difference in road noise between the two vehicles.

 

[Gurbz19]

I've never noticed any undue road noise in mine. I have the 18" wheels and AS tires, so that helps.
Check your tread depth and tire pressures. Also, make sure all the doors are closing properly and the windows are up all the way (sounds stupid but you never know).
We have a CX-5 also, and I can't say I've ever noticed a difference in road noise between the two vehicles.

Oh okay thank you till check on the tire pressure, I remember they are at 32 or 36 can’t remember exactly but I’ll check. And windows always up doors closed probably I end up checking multiple times while I’m driving always trying to put up the windows

 

[JCtx]

My '23 even has dual-pane front windows (not sure when they were fitted; I think 2022), BUT on a small car like that, my ears are basically on the rear window, which does NOT have dual-pane windows, so wind noise is probably just as bad as on earlier G70s. And yes, road noise is ridiculously bad in rough asphalt with the summer PS4 tires. I expected better of an almost $50K vehicle, and one trying to compete with European ones. Oh well. I'm going to replace those useless tires (to us) with the Primacy Tours AWD vehicles come with, and hope that helps bringing down road noise to a tolerable level, maybe on par with wind noise. Koreans are really bad at isolating road noise; maybe Korea only has smooth streets, but not here. At least not where I live (desert southwest). And yes, I've owned several more expensive luxury vehicles in the past, so I'm probably more critical than those who haven't .

 

[Slip_Angle]

My '23 even has dual-pane front windows (not sure when they were fitted; I think 2022), BUT on a small car like that, my ears are basically on the rear window, which does NOT have dual-pane windows, so wind noise is probably just as bad as on earlier G70s. And yes, road noise is ridiculously bad in rough asphalt with the summer PS4 tires. I expected better of an almost $50K vehicle, and one trying to compete with European ones. Oh well. I'm going to replace those useless tires (to us) with the Primacy Tours AWD vehicles come with, and hope that helps bringing down road noise to a tolerable level, maybe on par with wind noise. Koreans are really bad at isolating road noise; maybe Korea only has smooth streets, but not here. At least not where I live (desert southwest). And yes, I've owned several more expensive luxury vehicles in the past, so I'm probably more critical than those who haven't .

All of my Honda's and Acura's were terrible for road noise as well.

 

[rbres]

I noticed immediately after purchasing that there is considerable wind noise when traveling at higher speeds. ‘19 3.3T

 

[JCtx]

The 2022 update brought double-pane windows up front, but it's hardly any better for normally sized adults, since our ears are basically pointing to the rear windows. But I have to say the road noise is much more annoying. Maybe quieter A/S tires will make wind noise the prevalent one, where rear double-pane windows would help, but I really doubt it. It's so awful it cannot get day and night better with just the tires. And yes, I got spoiled by much quieter luxury vehicles in the past, so probably a bit more critical than most folks here.

 

[WilcoJunoHotel]

My '22 on a good smooth road has hardly any road noise but on a bad road, it can be quite loud in the cabin. Grooved roads are the worst. I don't notice any wind noise.

A friend has a Lexus LC500 and it is the same way. Another friend has a Panamera with hardly any noise getting into the cabin. Low profile tires and poor soundproofing I guess are the main culprits.

I will say that not everyone notices road noise: Some of us are a lot more sensitive to it than others. I have owned a lot of vehicles over the years and one of the quietest was a GMC Yukon - it was quieter than a Merc ML350 that I traded. I also had a Pilot, 2 Muranos and a Highlander and they all exhibited some degree of road noise that I didn't like. I have a 2020 Honda Ridgeline as my daily driver now and it is almost as quiet as the Yukon.

I just enjoy driving the G70 so much that I am willing to tolerate the road noise. I keep a pair of ear plugs handy for those bad roads.

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[jetrep]

Which tires do you have? When I was shopping for my car I drove non-sport models. I bought a sport model that came with Pilot Sport 4S tires. I'm pretty sure these tires are louder than whatever was equipped on the non sport models.

I replaced my tires a couple weeks ago with new PS 4S. Road noise did not change with the new tires. I was hoping it would considering how shot my front tires were. If road noise is a concern I'd consider different tires when it's replacement time.

 

[WilcoJunoHotel]

Which tires do you have? When I was shopping for my car I drove non-sport models. I bought a sport model that came with Pilot Sport 4S tires. I'm pretty sure these tires are louder than whatever was equipped on the non sport models.

I replaced my tires a couple weeks ago with new PS 4S. Road noise did not change with the new tires. I was hoping it would considering how shot my front tires were. If road noise is a concern I'd consider different tires when it's replacement time.

Pilot Sport 4S - stock tires with about 9K on them.

I can remember when most cars had 15" wheels/tires - road noise was not an issue. We now have 18"-22" wheels/tires with much lower profiles. If the trend continues, we will be riding on fork lift tires.

 

[Volfy]

Pilot Sport 4S - stock tires with about 9K on them.

I can remember when most cars had 15" wheels/tires - road noise was not an issue. We now have 18"-22" wheels/tires with much lower profiles. If the trend continues, we will be riding on fork lift tires.

These days, too many folks get too hung up on the donk looks, regardless of whether it actually works best for the performance of the car. Unfortunately, too many mfrs are often too happy to cater to that demand.

For optimum performance, the wheel size should be the smallest diameter that would fit the brakes size selected for the expected performance level of car. If you look at the Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing, GM managed to squeeze 15" rotor with 6-piston Brembo caliper inside OEM 18" wheel. They do this so they can still spec ultra high-performance tires that still have reasonably sized sidewalls for road riding. This keeps the unsprung weight and rotational inertia as low as possible, again, for best performance, without sacrificing ride and NVH.

Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing, CT5-V Blackwing Get Standard Brembo Brakes

The 2022 Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing and CT5-V Blackwing will both wear standard Brembo brakes with cast-iron rotors and high-performance aluminum calipers.

cadillacsociety.com

Contrast this with the 13.8" front rotor with 4-pot Brembo on the G70, which easily fit inside 18" wheels, maybe even 17" if they designed it right. Instead, they chose heavy 19" OEM wheels instead.

That was the very first mod I did on our G70 6MT. In fact, we took the stock wheels/tires off the car even before we drove it off the lot. Replaced them with 18x8.5 Enkei TFRs that are 14-14.5 lbs lighter than OEM per wheel. Don't miss those stock wheels one bit.

 

[Slip_Angle]

These days, too many folks get too hung up on the donk looks, regardless of whether it actually works best for the performance of the car. Unfortunately, too many mfrs are often too happy to cater to that demand.

For optimum performance, the wheel size should be the smallest diameter that would fit the brakes size selected for the expected performance level of car. If you look at the Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing, GM managed to squeeze 15" rotor with 6-piston Brembo caliper inside OEM 18" wheel. They do this so they can still spec ultra high-performance tires that still have reasonably sized sidewalls for road riding. This keeps the unsprung weight and rotational inertia as low as possible, again, for best performance, without sacrificing ride and NVH.

Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing, CT5-V Blackwing Get Standard Brembo Brakes

The 2022 Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing and CT5-V Blackwing will both wear standard Brembo brakes with cast-iron rotors and high-performance aluminum calipers.

cadillacsociety.com

Contrast this with the 13.8" front rotor with 4-pot Brembo on the G70, which easily fit inside 18" wheels, maybe even 17" if they designed it right. Instead, they chose heavy 19" OEM wheels instead.

That was the very first mod I did on our G70 6MT. In fact, we took the stock wheels/tires off the car even before we drove it off the lot. Replaced them with 18x8.5 Enkei TFRs that are 14-14.5 lbs lighter than OEM per wheel. Don't miss those stock wheels one bit.

I have the stock 18s and don't plan an upgrade. 45 sidewall is pretty much the lowest I'll go for the reasons you mentioned. I'll need to replace the OEM 225/45/18 Michelins AS tires soon. So likely go with 235/45/18.. A tad wider and slightly taller. I suppose I could go much wider and do a 245/40/18 - would the wider tire offset the lower profile and even out the ride comfort equation?

 

[jetrep]

I don't understand at all the fixation with large wheels. For some reason the car buying public seems to always think bigger is better (big rims, big satnav screen, big moonroof, etc).

I drive on pretty good roads so I don't worry about damaging rims but I'd still be happier if my car came equipped with 18" wheels.

 

[Volfy]

I have the stock 18s and don't plan an upgrade. 45 sidewall is pretty much the lowest I'll go for the reasons you mentioned. I'll need to replace the OEM 225/45/18 Michelins AS tires soon. So likely go with 235/45/18.. A tad wider and slightly taller. I suppose I could go much wider and do a 245/40/18 - would the wider tire offset the lower profile and even out the ride comfort equation?

Typically, the wider the tire, the contact patch change from a long oval to a wide oval. This means:
1. Tire makes noise when the tread element strikes the pavement. It cannot make noise when it stay in full contact with the road surface; neither can it make noise after it leaves road contact and is just whirling around in the air.
2. The wider oval the contact patch, the more tread elements strikes the pavement on each rotation, the more noise it can potentially generate.
3. The longer oval the contact patch, the less tread elements strikes the pavement on each rotation, and the longer the residence time the tread elements stays quietly in contact with the road surface.

Obviously, tread pattern/compound make a big difference, but all things being equal, wider tires tend to be louder.

That said, the rim size a particular tire is mounted on, also make an NVH difference. I actually have a set of A/S 235/45R18 mounted on 18x8 Stinger OEM rims, and another set of A/S 235/45R18 mounted on 18x7.5 old OEM Genesis sedan rims. Now, they are different brand/model tires, so naturally they will behave differently, but the fact that the 18x7.5 set rides very noticeably smoother cannot be all be due to the different brand/model. Narrow rims tend to allow the tire sidewall to be more compliant... that is, more able to flex and yield to the various forces acted upon the tire - be it lateral forces while cornering, or compression forces due to hitting road irregularities. This is, of course, good for ride quality, but it does compromise on steering sharpness. For everyday commuting and street driving, I much prefer having a good amount of tire compliance. For track, it'd typically be the opposite.

Also, the shorter the tire sidewall, the less the NVH generated by the tire tread striking the pavement gets attenuated by the rubber sidewall, therefore more of that NVH gets transmitted up through the wheel and the suspension into the cabin.

So, everything is a compromise.

So far, based on my experiences, I'd say on the stock 18x8, 235/45R18 works well, if the emphasis is on ride quality. Handling remains excellent though. BTW, excellent winter tire size. For better all-around street performance in warmer weather, 255/40R18 would be an excellent choice, particularly for the 3.3T. Just know that road noise will be a tad higher, especially after the tires have worn some. 245 would also work, but that size is kinda stuck in the middle. 245/45R18 has a rolling diameter that is a bit too large compared to the stock 225/45R18, while 245/40R18's rolling diameter would be a bit smaller. They will still work just fine, but your speedometer would be off either way. Some folks might not care.

For track, square 255/35R18 would be an excellent choice. That's what I'd be mounting on the 18x8.5s once the current 245/40R18 Ecsta V730 are toast later this year. The rolling diameter would be smaller than stock, but for track that's actually a plus. Ride height will be a tad lower, which is good, and it would give the car effectively a shorter final drive ratio, so slightly quicker accel in the lower gears. The short sidewall would yield excellent lateral stability and steering sharpness, while still maintaining adequate tire compliance for handling the rougher sections of the track.

 

[JCtx]

I bought a sport model that came with Pilot Sport 4S tires. I'm pretty sure these tires are louder than whatever was equipped on the non sport models.

Yep, same tires here, and that's the problem; summer tires are louder. AWD models come with Primacy Tour A/Ss, but I didn't want AWD, nor was such car available. This was the only one available for months, so took it. Had to wait 4 weeks after returning the 3.3T SP, and the next one was coming until this year (I bought mine in July). And other out-of-town dealers wanted at least $2K over MSRP, so no thanks. Anyway, not sure how much of a difference in cabin noise will the Michelin Primacy Tour tires make, but I'll find out soon.

 

[Slip_Angle]

Assume you have the PS4s? Are they worn? If so, there would be more road noise and especially with the low aspect ratio on the tires. There should be little to no wind noise though.

I noticed this year ( 4th year) that my car has more road noise with my winter wheels and tires. Bumps sound more "hollow" and loud. I also have some rattle in the back that I can't seem to track down.

Update on the rattle!

I went on a road test with a Genesis tech a couple weeks ago. He sat in the back seat and in short order heard the noise. He said it was coming from the driver rear. After inspection, he determined the left rear shock lower bushing had split. The shock was replaced under warranty and the noise is gone.

+10 for Genesis service in Canada again. They do seem to be on the ball. Super glad this is resolved because it was driving me mad!!

 

[CobraBob]

@Gurbz19, I have a brand new 2023 G70 3.3T Sport Prestige with all-season tires, and the interior is as quiet as my 2022 GV70 was. Even on the freeway. No wind noise and really no road noise. Maybe just a tad, as expected.

 

[ICEGenesis70]

So, I took delivery of my Sport Prestige 3.3T last Thursday, Feb. 23, and after I got the car home, took it out for a 27 mile night drive on surface streets. I noticed that I kept hearing pebbles, small rocks or other hard road debris pinging the bottom of the car. It did not happen on every street we were on, but it was happening fairly frequently. My passenger noticed it also. Took the car out for a 72 mile afternoon drive yesterday, again on surface streets between Long Beach and Chino, and would notice the same thing occasionally, especially in any areas where there was any road construction completed recently, or otherwise rough asphalt. This is not something I have ever noticed in my 2013 Accord, or in the 2020 Civic Si that I traded in when I bought the G70. I thought it was a case of the wheel wells not having a liner installed, but that was not the case. I went by the service dept. at my dealer this afternoon to schedule an appointment for this weekend, then took the car out for another 25 mile drive on surface streets. Again, got the same pebble/rock sound coming into the cabin occasionally, seemingly from the bottom of the front doors. My theory at this point is that the sound is being channeled into the cabin by the side air vents in the front fenders. There is probably a sound-tube effect from the opening in the fenders into the cabin. I don't think it is coming from the front wheel wells. If this is what it is, it is a design flaw, and I am hopeful that Genesis will come up with an after-sale fix. Pebbles pinging the bottom of your car is not what you want to hear in a car at this price point.