Continental Airline Tickets

Why does tire noise increase with wear?

It seems like my tires make more noise the more they wear. Does this have something to do with shallower tread? I don't notice any cupping or unusual wear. These are Continental tires on a BMW with 25K on them.

Public Comments

1. I would imagine it has to do with surface area in contact with the road. The less tread, the more rubber is touching the road - and therefore can make noise.
2. as a tire wears, the grooves become shallower, and there is less room for air to escape. it is the air being compressed, and decompressed that you hear.
3. I am not an expert in tires, but I have been in the car business for over 30 years. I really have never noticed any extra noise on cars when proper inflation and rotation has been done to the tires. This is especially true on performance/ luxury cars like the BMW, unless the tires have been abused by lack of care or driving the car too hard. You should check the inflation level and you should have rotated the tires at about every 10K miles. If you are in the U.S. I would take your car to a good tire dealer like Discount Tires. They will check the proper inflation and give you an expert opinion on the condition of the tires for free. I would also consider having the "sipe" process that they offer done to the tires. This process increases tire performance and will check the tires to insure that they are in "round". Don't laugh, tires can get out of round very easily. Here is a link to their web site which has a store locate link on it: www.DiscountTire.com. Good Luck - Gary