It’s no Goodyear but I know Marcus would love to see Guido live in action.
Concrete, asphalt, potholed, slippery, and a combination of these road conditions had me nothing but praises for my car’s new tires. Other than the confidence of having deep-treaded tires during this rainy season, I am starting to get the impression that Goodyear Duraplus tire offers quieter ride compared to my old Bridgestone tires.
I got our car out of the dealer’s shop with Bridgestone 185/80R13 as its stock tires and just days after that I began accepting that what I’ve heard and read about the Honda City 2008 model are true – that road noise penetrating the interior is one of its design flaws. I never knew though that friends and people in the forums could be wrong. Now it seems clear that it is not the car’s design that is the culprit but rather the factory installed tires. And why do I think so?
You will know that my car remains almost stock until now, no modification whatsoever except for the DIYed front speakers upgrade. Budget has stopped me from soundproofing by using sound deadeners
that most car enthusiasts would recommend for a quieter ride. Of course I have read about replacing (or experimenting with) tires as a solution to road noise but I’ve been skeptic about it because I have this notion that any tire would emit the same level of road noise anyway. Well, I was wrong. I recently learned that one of the cheapest Goodyear 175/70R13 size in the market is capable of lessening road noise to a noticeable level even if a quieter ride isn’t among those benefits explicitly stated on Goodyear’s website.
So now that I am free of that rumbling sound that I’ve gotten used to in the past four years, I can now put to good use my sense of hearing while driving. I can now focus more on incoming traffic, identify the sound of motorcycles approaching my blind spots, and hear pedestrians rushing to cross the road. Similarly, I will now be less distracted when I have people inside the car talking such as one little boy blabbering about almost every- thing that comes to mind while he is in the backseat. And yes, when all alone, I may now fully enjoy any music from the car stereo and sing along with it in the process. Well, there are annoying sounds that are even a good car tire just can’t handle. Ti abi.
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Mood: 3/10 Honks! (Hot Saturday morning!)
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