I hear noises (and it's not just in my head!)
 

My girlfriend was telling me the other day that she thought the right rear tire was low - she keeps hearing a "whup whup" noise from the right rear (2002 S)

I drive the car - hear nothing. Then she suggests driving it with the top UP (I know, a heretic - but I love her anyway)

Noise actually exists, and it's not a low tire (36 just like I left it). My _guess_ is that the tire is just wearing unevenly, but until I can get it into the dealer in Long Beach - is there any history of "noises of this nature"?

Noise is speed dependant, not rpm.

Jeff

Sounds like you've got it. The softer, performance tires seem to make more noise as you get mileage on them. The tire dealer I use said you can go with harder rubber for less noise, but performance suffers. Catch 22. :rolleyes:

I'll check and see what tires are on the car now - don't have it with me today - and we'll see if they qualify as "performance". Car will never see the track - more of a touring sports car for us, so if I need to replace the rear tires I might go with a harder compound.

That's what I did. I put bi-directional tires on the rear that are a harder compound. They still have AA traction, A heat, 410 wear ratings and a W speed rating. If you're not tracking, and it's not modified, you can't reach the 168mph limit.

Make sure you have your tires balanced often on the Boxster (every 3K miles was recommended by my tire dealer). Since they can't be rotated they have a higher tendency to cup or feather making a lot of noise. Most places have free lifetime balancing with the tires now. Also, try flipping your rear tires side-to-side if you get bi-directional tread. It will help with uneven wear too.

Btw, don't expect perfect silence back there. It's nearly impossible as the tires wear. The balancing will just help keep it down.

John,

"Cupping" is almost a perfect experssion for what Milady seems to be hearing. I'll have a rebalance done ASAP

Out of curiosity, what tires did you put on the rear? BiDirectional sounds like a good idea for me.

Jeff

I put the Kumho Ecsta ASX on the rear w/ Kumho Ecsta 712 on front. I still have noise, though. Mostly because it's the wife's DD and she does not take it in for balancing very often if at all. Usually I'll get in it and hear noise and take it in, but then it's too late.

Search this forum for tires. I think some others have said they get road noise from the Kumho tires, but I don't know if they had the ASX tires or the softer 712s. I'm looking at Fazio's for the 928 because they are rated better for performance. You may want to look at ratings on http://www.tirerack.com for noise too.

Ok, managed to get a look at the tires - Yokohama 265/35ZR18 AVS Sports are what's on there now. Starting to show the wear bars too - so I won't feel like i'm getting rid of "new" tires.

Looking at the Kumho's - any particular reason you didn't go with 712's or ASX's on all 4 corners?

Jeff

I have the AVS with 5k on them and no balancing yet. And I have cupped tire noise also. Goes with the grippy tires. I daily drive and never seem to have time to balance them.

Can't hear them with the top down though:)

The 712s are higher performance so they went on front. It's recommended by Perelli to go with bi-directional on the rear and uni-directional on the front if you have wider rear tires and cannot rotate them. It's for handling/response and wear.

I was going to put ASX on the front and see how it was, but it takes 1-2 weeks for them to get that one in and we were taking a trip that weekend in the Boxster. That's what we'll probably do next time.