GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I was expecting more tire noise than I had before after getting a set of Goodyear Nordics, as it's an aggressive snow tire, but the amount of noise was far more than I was expecting. At highway speed it's just as noisy as riding in my brother's 4 wheel drive pickup truck.

I'm hoping to hear from other Vibe owners who have mounted aggressive snowtires like Goodyear Nordics or Ultra-Grips and if you had the same experience? Also, is there any advice or rule of thumb for when to rule the noise out as just aggressive snow tires and when to start thinking about taking it back into the shop to have them look at the suspension?

Hi there:
My General Altimax Arctic tires on 15" wheels are not too bad in regards of tire noise. Crescendo starts at about 40 mph but does not increase a whole lot beyond that.

It should be rather obvious what is tire noise and what is suspension noise. Suspension noise only happens when the suspension reacts to bumps and dips; tire noise will be there even at the smoothest surface. With those winter tires you could go on a soft dirt road and drive rather slow. Tire noise should be almost gone and suspension noise will occur when you hit bumps and dips.

I got some Firestone Winterforce tires and they were pretty noisy, but also grippy. I think it's probably just the new treads, since they're meant for snow grip rather than something less aggressive and more quiet.

I used studded firestone winterforce when I had my Vibe, they were noisier but not too bad.

You may want to have your wheel alignment checked. That sounds like too much noise for any Vibe that is in alignment.