2012 Passat road noise

VeeDubTDI

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Jul 2, 2000
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Springfield, VA
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‘18 Tesla Model 3D+, ‘14 Cadillac ELR, ‘13 Fiat 500e
I've noticed that the Hankooks aren't too bad on the good roads around here, but as soon as the road changes to older pavement or concrete, it's LOUD. Concrete is the worst for road noise with the Hankooks.
 

Niner

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Jun 3, 2011
I've noticed that the Hankooks aren't too bad on the good roads around here, but as soon as the road changes to older pavement or concrete, it's LOUD. Concrete is the worst for road noise with the Hankooks.
Interesting comment about concrete... what type of surface finish do they use on the concrete streets near you?

Out west here, all the major interstates have what is called a "polished" finish on the concrete interstates. It's basically ground down and cut perfectly flat with a huge diamond bit roller drum, or polished, and it is as nice and quiet a surface as can be on our interstates, very, very quiet on the Hankooks. Uber low rolling resistance to drive on also.
 

VeeDubTDI

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We don't have concrete streets around here except for a few in DC. Almost everything is smooth asphalt. Overpasses and bridges are concrete.

Compare that to Michigan, which uses concrete almost exclusively.

Regarding the finish on concrete, your smooth surfaces sound like most garage floors, compared to a rough surface like a driveway. Our concrete is rough because we get rain. Rain + smooth = death. ;)
 
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Niner

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We don't have concrete streets around here except for a few in DC. Almost everything is smooth asphalt. Overpasses and bridges are concrete.

Compare that to Michigan, which uses concrete almost exclusively.

Regarding the finish on concrete, your smooth surfaces sound like most garage floors, compared to a rough surface like a driveway. Our concrete is rough because we get rain. Rain + smooth = death. ;)
Not smooth at all, more like ridges like you get from a mortar trowel spreading mastic under tile. Very fine ridges, parallel to the direction the tire rolls. Plenty rough, and we do get flash floods and mudslides and rain here.

Nothing like concrete in the garage, which is polished that way more as a sealer for spills, to prevent them from soaking in to the concrete if cleaned up soon enough and discoloring it.
 

VeeDubTDI

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Gotcha. Our concrete may have ridges, but they're perpendicular to the direction of travel.
 

Rajpatel1969

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May 12, 2012
Location
Suburban chicago
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2012 tdi passat sel
I loved my bridgestone turanza serenity (Seinfeld -serenity now) on my old Acura TL. Great tires. Bot at Costco. Quiet, grippy even in wet weather, which is the real test for most drivers. Snow melts right.
 

big_ole_truck

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May 23, 2010
Location
NW FL
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2015 VW Passat TDI SEL
I have those dreaded Hankook tires. Definitely not what I consider acceptable. Loud as heck over rough surfaced pavement but quiet over new/smooth surfaces.
 

usarmy132

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May 12, 2012
Location
NW subs Chicago
TDI
2012 Passat
I agree Hankook are loud. But for me they feel safe. I feel as I glued to the road. That said I will change them to other brand as soon I loose a feeling of safety on the road
 

LagunaVeedub

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Jun 19, 2012
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92677
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2012 Passat TDi SEL Premium
I'll just add my two cents and echo what others have said many times:

The Hankook's are nice enough on good, smooth, surfaces but get loud as hell when the surface is a bit rough
 

VeeDubTDI

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I'll just add my two cents and echo what others have said many times:

The Hankook's are nice enough on good, smooth, surfaces but get loud as hell when the surface is a bit rough
Exactly what you said, as we experienced for ourselves on last weekend's 1400 mile road trip. They seem to grip pretty well in dry conditions.
 

IXLR8

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Mar 9, 2003
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Cushing, ME
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I have the noisy Hankooks on my TDI SE. I emailed my sales guy compaining about them and asked about getting something different. He passed me off to somebody in the service group who called and left me a message saying they had called VW and the regional VW rep. They claimed there were no reports of any issues with the Hankook tires. I needed to bring my car in for a tech to look at as there must be something wrong with the car. I think I will see if I can send the dealer links to all the threads here, and on Vortex, about these noisy POS tires.
 

VeeDubTDI

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Aside from the noise on some road surfaces, I haven't had any complaints about the Hankook's performance.
 

compu_85

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Sep 29, 2003
Location
La Conner, WA
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... None :S
I also think they got a bit quieter now that they are a touch worn in. But, as has been said many times I do find them quite noisy.

They aren't as bad as the cupped Toyo's on my Jetta.

-J
 

tdiatlast

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Jan 21, 2009
Location
Fort Worth, Texas
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2009 Sportwagen (boughtback); 2014 Passat TDI SEL (boughtback)
I have the noisy Hankooks on my TDI SE. I emailed my sales guy compaining about them and asked about getting something different. He passed me off to somebody in the service group who called and left me a message saying they had called VW and the regional VW rep. They claimed there were no reports of any issues with the Hankook tires. I needed to bring my car in for a tech to look at as there must be something wrong with the car. I think I will see if I can send the dealer links to all the threads here, and on Vortex, about these noisy POS tires.
Quite frankly, I think you're only going to annoy the dealer with too much information. The tires are noisy on anything but smooth surfaces, and they probably already know that. They dealer may offer to swap them out, depending on their mileage, etc, and their generosity. It will cost you something, but maybe not the cost of new tires.

Good luck.
 

taitnielsen

New member
Joined
Oct 16, 2013
Location
Arizona
TDI
2012 Passat tdi SE
Replaced Hancooks with Michelin

My 2012 Passat tdi SE had horrible road noise on all but the smoothest roads with the factory Hancook tires. I just replaced them with Michelin Primacy MXM4 tires and the difference is amazing! The car went from uncomfortable/unpleasant to very nice and quiet. Granted, it's not the quietest car I've ever been in, but that obnoxious constant rumble was instantly gone. It's well worth the change. Also, my dealer did the swap for me and the cost was lower than tire rack or discount and included the road hazard that is often a big up charge.
 

nord

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Mar 5, 2010
Location
Southern Tier NY
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All turned back to VW. Now a 2017 Hundai Tuscon. Not a single squalk in 10k miles.
FYI -

Tried a SE with Hankooks before we purchased the SEL Premium. Rejected the SE mostly because of the tires. Fast forward to the end of July when I decided to sell my A5 in favor of a Passat. (Yes! We were that pleased with our Passat and I wanted a standard diesel.)

This SE with the Hankooks is totally different than the one I drove previously. Fact is, I'm not sure that the Hankooks aren't quieter than the Conti's. I'm beginning to think that it may well be that all Hankooks (even the same models) are not necessarily the same.

Just my personal experience. By the way, I like my SE better than the SEL. The DSG is great but the standard is just better. I really don't miss the extra bells and whistles and this car gets better economy than the SEL.
 

splitpile

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Joined
Sep 4, 2010
Location
Lake Havasu
TDI
2012 TDI Passat SE/nav
My 2012 had Hankooks, POS. I called the dealer and VW customer care and they said you get what you get, sorry. So I just put new wheels and tirs on my car (19,000 miles) and tried the Pirrelli P7's 235/45/18s and they were noisier then the Hankooks even though Tire Racks rating on those was the quietest of all tires that size. Drove a 350 mile r/t and almost went nuts with the noise. On a perfect newly paved section of highway they were quiet as could be and the cornering was awesome. Called Discount Tire, told them I didn't like them so they are switching it to Mich MXM4's
 

cevans

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The only upside to POS tires is that they last forever :)
 

psd1

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Aug 4, 2011
Location
OR
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2006 Jetta 2013 Passat SE 6Man
The only upside to POS tires is that they last forever :)
Maybe, maybe not. My buddy replaced the Hankook's on his 2013 NMS with just under 37K on them. Belts were showing. Tires were rotated at every delaership visit.

My Continentals at 34K should last at least another 10K.
 

TheGrove

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May 17, 2006
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S Central PA (Breezewood)
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Maybe, maybe not. My buddy replaced the Hankook's on his 2013 NMS with just under 37K on them. Belts were showing. Tires were rotated at every delaership visit.

My Continentals at 34K should last at least another 10K.
Same here, had to replace mine at the 40K service. Replaced them with MXM4's and they lasted 70K before I had to replace them. On my 2nd set of MXM4's and at 136K still have life in them.
 

bobthefarmer

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Aug 11, 2013
Location
Indianapolis
TDI
2006.5 Jetta Mk 5 192K miles; 2012 Car of the Year, Passat Tdi SE+Nav in blue nightgown, shod in 18 inch heels
My Hankooks Optimo H426 on 18" rims are great! At 40K they have 7/32" remaining. I have fairly uniform tread wear and can expect another winter with them. After my last rotation I experienced a little higher noise, but they still seem aggressive enough to me. They are a handling wonder. I must have received superior tires to most on this thread. no problems for me. Would I buy them again? The quiet MXV4 is probably my next choice, but I'm just not in the market for them, yet. I have the michelins on my 2006.5 Jetta.
 
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