Have A Noisy Car? Here's How Tread Patterns Affect The Sound Your Tires Make

Have you ever been annoyed by the tire noise in your car and wondered what could be the reason? There are several reasons why the tires in your car are making a noise, but most of it is down to the construction of the tire. Every tire is made to be able to handle a lot of different types of surfaces, and that is why there are different types of tires for different purposes. 

A tire's tread pattern plays a very important role in the amount of noise the tire produces, amongst other things like how much life your tires have left and the road surface you are driving on. This is one of the reasons why off-road tires with big blocks and patterns make a lot of noise, while road tires with smaller and tightly placed tires on regular road cars produce a lot less noise while driving on the road.

Now, there are several reasons how the tread pattern of the tire can dictate the amount of noise it produces. This is mainly down to the design of the tread pattern. The tread pattern consists of blocks which serve different purposes depending on the type of the tire, but the spacing, sizing and the design of these blocks affect the amount of sound they produce as well.

The tire tread pattern solves different purposes on different tires, and it is one of the major reasons the amount of tire noise your tire will produce. The size of the block, the spacing between the block, and the pitch of the tread all dictate the amount of noise a tire will produce.

To understand further, we also need to know what exactly we mean by the pitch of the tire tread. It is the repetition of the tread blocks around the circumference of the tire. It plays an important role in deciding the amount of noise the tire will produce. 

The larger tread blocks and fewer pitch will help reduce tire noise, mainly due to the lack of air pockets, thus creating less noise. It is also important to vary the pitch frequency as having the same pitch will create an exactly same sound while rolling on the road and collectively become one monotonous hum which can be annoying.

To achieve less noise from the tire, manufacturers employ a multi-pitch tread design which varies the size, shape and positioning of the tread block to create a randomized noise sequence which is more of a white noise in the background.

Other ways to decrease the noise of the tire is by aligning the lateral grooves with adjacent tread blocks, again, to reduce the amount of air pockets. Modern advancements in tire technology and their design means that engineers can very easily vary the pitch and the sizes of the blocks and their placement to alter and create a tire which has very low noise.

That being said, designing a tire is almost always a compromise between functionality and the amount of noise it is going to make. All-Terrain tires have larger blocks and chunky tread patterns which makes them great off-road, but that creates larger air pockets which in turn generates more noise while rolling down the road. Similarly, in the case of winter tires, the tread patterns have smaller blocks and more pitch which increases grip in slippery conditions but again, compromises with the noise. There is nothing like a perfect tire, and one has to weigh down their use case while shopping.