dndodd

I recently purchased an 06 A3 with 18K on it.

It came with brand new Cooper tires Sport M &S.

They howl and in general are very noisey. Any recommendations on a quiet performance tire? (I live in AL so I am not concerned about snow)

Also any instructions on how take the Engine Cover off so I can take a look at the Air cleaner would be much appreciated.

April

generally to get good cornering, you need largish shoulder blocks to keep the tire stable under stress. Those large blocks also create noise.

If you aren't interested in peak performance, but value decent handling and good wet weather control, look into the Dunlop SP9000 series. It isn't a hard core performance tire, but it's better than what you have by a long shot.

dndodd

Thanks. I am looking for a compromise here, I know. My no compromise car is the C2S.

This is a daily driver, probably 2-300 miles in a day. I need quiet, these Cooper tires are lousy.

What do you think of the Bridgestone 960'S?

April

You might want to ask the wheel and tire forum to get a wider range of choices.

For the record I'm pretty happy with my Toyo T1R for reasons of handling and price. While they are much quieter than the Pirelli tires that came on my car, they are not super-quiet.

Hesaputz

I've got RE 050's on one car, and Contisport Contact 3 on the other. Both very good. My cars came with Conti Procontact all seasons, and they were OK -Fine for wear and noise. Just not sticky enough.
If you do a search on both forums, you're likely to run into several threads discussing the merits of various tires on the A3.

PS - I come down there to run Barber occasionally - maybe see you there at a Porsche event.<ul><li><a href="http://oooo-a3.blogspot.com/2007/01/plugs-and-coils-replacement.html">http://oooo-a3.blogspot.com/2007/01/plugs-and-coils-replacement.html</a</li></ul>

dndodd

Thanks for the help. I figured out what to disconnect correctly, just wasn't sure where to pull up.

Re: Barbers PCA DE - I plan to be there but as a passenger this time.

Rub-ISH (Brandon)

Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole Position...these tires are the way to go

Eh 3 (Santa Barbara)

<center><img src="http://www.photodump.org/stored14/A3.jpg"></center><p>Lots of useful information there.

I recently replaced the Bridgestone S03 Pole Positions (hated them) on my Nissan Twin Turbo with Goodyear F1 GS-D3s. They are very quiet and, much to my surprise, ride and handle well for a street tire.

'07 Missano Red A3 S-line DD

miTTch

But that is on a TT.

Great tire, I'll quit before they do. But they don't last long though.

(I'm shopping for a A3)

mike22

I had these on my WRX also, very progressive, great rain or shine. I highly reccommend them, a bit pricy though.