I have recently purchased a new Fiat 500, 1.4 sport, with the option of 16" alloys fitted with Bridgestone Potenze 195. I have experienced a lot of intrusive road noise. Has anybody else come across this and found a solution?

Antonio M said:

I have recently purchased a new Fiat 500, 1.4 sport, with the option of 16" alloys fitted with Bridgestone Potenze 195. I have experienced a lot of intrusive road noise. Has anybody else come across this and found a solution?

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yes turn up the stereo

That's 16 " wheels for you, although the Abarth I drove on the 17"s was far quieter, so could be the tyres.

Have a look in here: https://www.fiatforum.com/500-guides/

I've recently changed to Eagle F1s which are much quieter than the Continental Premium Contact 2's - but comment on the Potenzas as I've not tried them.

HTH

Mark Elvin said:

That's 16 " wheels for you, although the Abarth I drove on the 17"s was far quieter, so could be the tyres.

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Yes i wondered what all this talk about tyre noise was on about, some people religiously rave on about "bigger wheels more noise" but i've never found the tyres loud on the A500 (only when they squeal ) Guess they have more grip requirements so they're a bit softer?

(oh look another tyre thread, i'm chuffed)

we have a 500c with 16" bridgestone combo and yes they're very noisy (especially in the back). look great though

I only have the 14" steel wheels with hubcaps and in my opinion - road noise has never been a problem. I actually find the ride pretty good

I have read threads on this forum stating that generally the larger alloy wheels cause more noise, and a poorer ride. I have not experienced this myself as I have not been in a 500 with alloys.

I have 16" Conti contacts and have no issues with noise. But then compared to my other car anything is quiet

When I pick mine up, I shall be gutted if it has Bridgestones fitted. I had them on my Seat Altea and they are the noisiest tyre I've ever had. Grip was fine though.

Thanks everyone for the feedback
I'll try a softer tyre, hope that does the trick...

Much of the blame lies with the UKs truly awful surface dressed roads. The size of the so called dressing now resembles small bolders and with the frosts, the recently done roads round here ( Hampshire ) are breaking up rapidly. £16 grand a mile to put that **** down. Both my Panda and 500 are very noisy on such surfaces and it must wear tyres out much more rapidly. Just got back from Christmas in Holland and the roads are just so smooth and perfect that none of these handling/noise issues would exist there.
I think there is some new Euro law in 2012 that means tyres will have to be 50% quieter than now. That could be difficult.

YouKnowWho said:

I only have the 14" steel wheels with hubcaps and in my opinion - road noise has never been a problem. I actually find the ride pretty good

I have read threads on this forum stating that generally the larger alloy wheels cause more noise, and a poorer ride. I have not experienced this myself as I have not been in a 500 with alloys.

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I have to agree with you 100% regarding the steel wheels. I put my name to a 500 that was already being processed and didn't think to change any of the order so when it arrived without any I was a little disappointed but after driving without them, i'm kind of glad that I didn't get them because they would only get damaged anyway. The tyres on my 500 are continentals if that means anything.