Hi All,

I have booked a Mazda 3 2018 SP25 variant. It comes with 18 inch alloy wheels which look good but have thin tyre profile. Does it mean they will produce annoying road noise? How bad it can get? I am surprised to see that this topic is not discussed much here in the forum. Does it mean the problem is not that big?

Thanks,
Amit

 

First advice: Test drive the model you have on order on various road conditions and decide for yourself.

I don't know how your models match to the US models. I drive a 2015 Mazda 3 2.5 touring with 18 inch wheels in the summer and 16 inch winter tires and wheels in the winter. I have heard that they have made changes since 2015 to reduce road noise. That said, I have no complaint about road noise in my car. It is louder than the Civics and Corollas of the word, however, I did not want to drive a Civic or Corolla. I think a little road noise is part of feeling connected to the vehicle. I have not noticed any significant difference between the road noise between the 18 and 17 inch standard wheels or between my 18 and 16 inch wheels.

If you enjoy driving, I am willing to bet that you will enjoy the Mazda 3 with the 2.5 engine with the 18 inch wheels.

 

Just to be clear, the size of the wheels has very little to do with road noise, that said, tire design and tread patterns have a lot to do with it. As a general rule as long as the sidewall height is at least 4", there should be no difference in noise when compared to a tire with say 5" if sidewall height; as you start getting thinner than 4", yes, there can be an increase.

FWIW, we have a 2016 Mazda3 s GT with the 18" wheels wrapped in 215/45 R18 tires and there is virtually zero road noise.

 

Hi Buddy,

Thanks for your reply. I loved the looks of it so much, that I purchased it without a test drive... ....but the deal is sealed and I will make full payment in few days and pickup the car. So keeping my fingers crossed. Hope I like driving it, more than any noise it MAY produce. Cheers!

 

Yes. It's the not the SIZE that matters. It's the sidewall. In Mazda 3, 18 inch wheels actually mean, a much thinner sidewall. I think it is less than 4 inches. Didn't measure it and not sure if it's available online to check. Is there a way I can check online which tyres I am going to get in my new Mazda 3?

The best reason for my question was to understand from owners of Mazda 3 18 inch wheels as to what they feel about road noise in the car and how much of it is because of bigger wheels (and hence, thinner sidewall).

 

I have a US market 2018 Mazda3 GT with 18" wheels. As others have noted, more acoustic insulation was added to the Mazda3 in the last couple of model years to reduce road noise. I do not find the tire noise to be objectionable. For what it is worth, the 215/45R18 tires have a sidewall height of about 3.8 inches (96.75 mm).

The OEM tires in the US for the Mazda 3 with 18 inch wheels are Dunlop Sport 5000 tires. These are not the quietest tires due to the design. TireRack.com in its survey gives these Dunlop tires a 4.8 out of 10 for noise. For comparison, the top rated Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 Plus received a 8.6 rating for noise and several other tires performed even better in the noise category. If you find the noise from the OEM tires objectionable, you may be able to address this by changing the tires in the future.

Looks like you may get Dunlop SP Sport Maxx TT tires on your Mazda3 in Australia. You may read some reviews at the link below.

https://www.productreview.com.au/p/d...t-maxx-tt.html

 

Very nice response. Thanks a lot! Love this forum!

 

Hey mike! I have a naive question...not sure if I should have googled it :-) - When you say, I can change the tyres...Does it mean I have to change the RIMs as well or just the tyres? Sorry for being silly :-)

 

You just put new tyres on the original rims.

As I added to my post above, it appears you likely will have a different Dunlop OEM tire in Australia. You may have Dunlop SP Sport Maxx TT tires on your Mazda3. You may read some reviews of these tires at the link below. These tires may be better than the US OEM tires.

https://www.productreview.com.au/p/d...t-maxx-tt.html

 

Hmmm, our Mazda3 with 18" wheels isn't home right now, but I'm pretty sure it came with Pirelli tires; they're nice and quiet.