[jonjonbear]

Hello all and happy Sunday!
Thought I would pop back in to see if there has been any activity about the noisy rough tires. Factory 20" wheel package with the stock Bridgestones. I am at a dilemma trying to decide whether I want to risk spending a lot of money for the same size tire I in a different brand, or putting smaller rims and new tires. Seems like this car comes with 17s, 18s and the 20s. My BIL has a Charger with 245/45/20 tires(mine are 245/40/20). Parked side by side it's obvious he has more rubber between the rim and tread. I physically measured his tires against my wheel wells and I'm afraid it might be a problem with clearance. Was wondering if anyone has tried this size or any other? I know a fella here changed his to Pirelli and liked them better. Been thinking also of ditching these wheels and tires and buying a refurbished set of LTZ wheels in a smaller size. I love the midnight edition wheels but they are over double the price. I'm just tired of the rough ride and noise. Less concerned about the handling. Figure I should be able to Craigslist these 20s just turned 28k mostly Highway miles. Any suggestions or stories most appreciated.
Cheers,
John
PS, anyone know how much of a big deal it is to have the car re-progammed to a different tire size?

 

[2016 Impala LTZ]

I also have a 2016 LTZ with the 20 inch tires and I hate the noise they make. My car, when driving on certain roads, makes a thump, thump sound from the tires. At first I thought I had a problem with the car but the noise goes away on most roads, it seems very smooth road cause more tire noise. I only have 20K on my tires but I might replace them early as the noise drives me crazy. I have had the tires rotated and that helped a little. How can they make such loud tires today, did GM not test these before approving them for the car?

John

 

[jmaotto]

I have a 2014 LTZ with 19 inch tires. It has Goodyear tires and they are also noisy. When I replace these, I will be looking for something more quiet also.

 

[Angus576]

Replace the tires with Grand touring tires instead of the performance and high performance All season. All High Performance A/S tires are loud

 

[jboyers]

I fell in love with the Impala by renting them from National through work (many times in Austin!). The ride was outstanding (because they typically had the smaller wheels with more rubber). The power was phenomenal. The pricing last year was perfect with over 20% off. So I bought a new LTZ last year.

I only have 9,000 miles on it now and each time I swear it's either out of balance, has taken on a flat spot inside of 24 hours on at least one wheel or there are issues with the tires and when they're in sync, it's a POS.

When I was in the Chevy dealership last week, I mentioned it to the tech. He said he'd check with GM and let me know. Shockingly, nothing back yet. I just called and he's waiting on the rep to circle back with him. It might be tomorrow or next week.

I too was considering downgrading the expensive OEM wheels on my new car to accommodate for the awful ride quality, but I haven't yet. I've owned cars with similar sidewall height and ratings, but nothing as wagon-like as this one.

 

[jonjonbear]

I fell in love with the Impala by renting them from National through work (many times in Austin!).


We too fell in love with the car by renting one. We rented an LTZ but it had the standard wheel package. I could not believe how much different the car was with these 20" wheels and tires. I also have to battle the tire people to rotate the damn things correctly. They all have beat in their heads to do front/back rotations which is WRONG..That will wear the tires faster and will cause wear patterns..Even the chevy guys look at me with a blank stare.

 

[jonjonbear]

Replace the tires with Grand touring tires instead of the performance and high performance All season. All High Performance A/S tires are loud

Thanks Angus, I was thinking about that. Sure don't need a high speed tire on this car, or at least how I drive. I guess the tires could be rated on the top speed the car is capable of which I have no idea what that is. I've not had it over 100.

 

[jboyers]

Update: I got a call back from my Service Advisor, who just heard back from GM. According to GM, these 20" tires on the Impalas are performance tires and it's "NORMAL" that they will maintain a flat spot in them for (wait for it) 10-12 MILES until the tires warm up. WTF? He suggested I call GM, (800-222-1020) which I did. Any minute now, a Sr Advisor will call with some options.

No other car that I know of has this issue. My 2003 Z06 with Z-rated tires didn't do this. Heck, my 1976 Jeep I had in high school didn't do this. Why in 2017 would a new car do this?

They know they have an issue with these sub-par BF's but haven't dealt with it yet. Fingers crossed they do the right thing for those impacted.

 

[Angus576]

I changed my tires at 38k miles to Michelins

 

[jonjonbear]

Update: I got a call back from my Service Advisor, who just heard back from GM. According to GM, these 20" tires on the Impalas are performance tires and it's "NORMAL" that they will maintain a flat spot in them for (wait for it) 10-12 MILES until the tires warm up. WTF? He suggested I call GM, (800-222-1020) which I did. Any minute now, a Sr Advisor will call with some options.

No other car that I know of has this issue. My 2003 Z06 with Z-rated tires didn't do this. Heck, my 1976 Jeep I had in high school didn't do this. Why in 2017 would a new car do this?

They know they have an issue with these sub-par BF's but haven't dealt with it yet. Fingers crossed they do the right thing for those impacted.

Our Mustang GT has HP tires on it that do that too, but it usually sits for many weeks at a time between drives. VERY annoying. I've not experienced this on the Impala though.

 

[jonjonbear]

I changed my tires at 38k miles to Michelins

Angus, do you have the 20" wheels/tires as well? Which Michelin did you put on and did it make a difference?

 

[2016 Impala LTZ]

Update: I got a call back from my Service Advisor, who just heard back from GM. According to GM, these 20" tires on the Impalas are performance tires and it's "NORMAL" that they will maintain a flat spot in them for (wait for it) 10-12 MILES until the tires warm up. WTF? He suggested I call GM, (800-222-1020) which I did. Any minute now, a Sr Advisor will call with some options.

No other car that I know of has this issue. My 2003 Z06 with Z-rated tires didn't do this. Heck, my 1976 Jeep I had in high school didn't do this. Why in 2017 would a new car do this?

They know they have an issue with these sub-par BF's but haven't dealt with it yet. Fingers crossed they do the right thing for those impacted.

Now that you mention flat spots I realize that my 20 inch wheels are doing that too. No wonder the thumping goes away after driving for awhile. My road is very smooth and I thought that was it as it always does it when I drive away in the morning.

I hope GM will do something about it as I too have owned many new Corvettes in the past 10 years and NONE have had this problem. If I had know this I would have never bought the 20 inch tires.

John

 

[C6Lee]

I had to put my two cents in after reading so many negative posts about the 20" wheels/Bridgestone tires.. I've got a new 2017 premier with same tires, I've only got 900 miles on it and love it. Had a 2014 that was the same exact car but had 18" wheels that I put Michelin pilot super sports on it. The new car with 20's rides just as good and is just as quiet so am I the only one who doesn't hate the 20's ?

 

[2016 Impala LTZ]

I had to put my two cents in after reading so many negative posts about the 20" wheels/Bridgestone tires.. I've got a new 2017 premier with same tires, I've only got 900 miles on it and love it. Had a 2014 that was the same exact car but had 18" wheels that I put Michelin pilot super sports on it. The new car with 20's rides just as good and is just as quiet so am I the only one who doesn't hate the 20's ?

Give it a little time, I never noticed the problem when the car was brand new. Maybe as you put some miles on it the tires change?

 

[C6Lee]

Yep, time will tell I guess...I have a new ish...Vette with almost the same size tires, and they're even Bridgestone,, S-04 pole position tires and they're awesome,,, they don't have many miles either though.. Better than the crappy good year run flats that were on it

 

[Angus576]

The stock tires are all loud at all sizes due to that they are All Season High Performance tires. I have the 18s but I did tons of research and the best tire for the 18 is Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+. These are high performance all season so they are still loud and are Y rated which is serious overkill. If you are looking for noise reduction get an all season grand touring tire. At the 20" Size I suggest Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus or if you want the High performance All Season get the Continental Extreme Contact DWS 06. I have owned Continentals before and they are great tires. In the 18s all three brands are top rated but in the 20's Michelin doesn't make an All season.

 

[jboyers]

Summary/Update:

I said something to my dealership about the BF tires. They said they'd call GM. The dealership called back and said the flat spots were reportedly normal for 10-12 miles until they heat up and go away. We both laughed about the response. The dealership tech suggested I call GM (800-222-1020), which I did.

Two weeks go by and a "Senior Advisor" calls and says that he needs to follow up with the dealership before advising of next steps.

Another few days go by and he calls back. He states that after talking with the dealership, it's NORMAL AND WILL GO AWAY AFTER 10-12 MILES. What the hell?

Process Flow Summary
Me -> Dealership -> Me -> GM -> Senior Advisor -> Dealership -> Me

There are enough people complaining about this situation that GM has created a BULLETIN about it. Furthermore, he said they have no intensions of doing anything about it. The "Senior Advisor" claimed that calling in and complaining helps prioritize what GM will take action on.

(800-222-1020)

My guess is that replacing all these crappy tires on a platform that they're eventually going to phase out isn't a high priority.

 

[BlueChevyGuy]

Like a few others have already said, put more miles on the stock Bridgestones and you can expect that will get progressively louder. I'm right at 50,000 miles right now and I'd say that the noise became noticeable around the 40,000 mile mark. They are getting sent to the scrap heap very soon, as others have actually asked me what's wrong with the car because of the noise... no kidding! I decided to go with a different all-season performance tire:


ExtremeContact DWS06 - 245/45ZR20 103Y | Continental?



https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...toYear=2015&autoModel=Impala&autoModClar=2LTZ



After seriously considering the Pirelli Cinturato P7 touring tire, I decided to take a chance with the Continental Extreme Contact DWS 06, which is an all-season performance tire. The reviews for the Continentals were quite good, especially in the rain. Michelin doesn't make a tire in the 20" OEM wheel size, otherwise I would have gone with them. I've never owned Continental tires, but I'll check back in once they're on the car and had some miles put on.


Take care.

 

[BobX2]

The larger the wheel, the smaller the sidewall. This means, the larger the wheel, the more the ride will suffer, no matter what brand of tire you put on it. There's no getting around it, it's just physics.

 

[jonjonbear]

Well I finally decided to do something. I found a seller on Ebay, they are Detroit wheel. They sell wheels both refurbished and new that they do a chrome plating process called "PVD" which is supposed to be more durable than regular chrome plating (and can be repaired, where chrome cannot) They have the LTZ 19" wheels that have been chrome plated, with new Goodyear Eagle Touring tires (245/45/19), mounted, balanced including new caps and TPMS sensors for $1595 plus shipping. I think I am going to jump on it and put these damn 20's on Craigslist. I think the car will look really nice with chrome wheels and I like the design of the LTZ 19" wheel. They also have the midnight edition wheels, same package for about 100 less. They state these are new, not refurb so they must buy them, then redo the finish in chrome. Interesting process how the PVD system works. They also have a five year warranty on the finish.