Seeking the quietest summer tyre for a compact SUV (Tiguan 3) - Pirelli Cinturato C3 vs Primacy 5
Hi guys,
as the title says - I'm looking for the quietest tyre possible.
I've owned my Tig for around 6 months. Tiggy was factory-fitted with Hankook Ventus Evo SUV tyres which were supposedly super quiet with a noise rating of 68dB according to the EU label. Well, they turned out not to be so great after all, in fact they were terribly noisy. A truly awful tyre in that regard - maybe it's the OEM variant, I don't know, but still, huge disappointment.
For the winter I got the Pirelli Scorpon Winter 2s (thanks Jon for the review and recommendation) and oh boy, these are much, much better in terms of road noise (it's wild that winter tyres can be so much better than summer ones in terms of road noise).
Now that the winter's over I need to switch again and choosing the right tyre is driving me crazy.
Do you guys have any experience with 235/55/R18 tyres that could match or beat the likes of winter scorpions for cabin silence?
My shortlist so far:
- Pirelli Cinturato C3 (with Pirelli Noice Cancelling System)
\* it has acoustic foam - in theory it's huge, but does it actually translate to the real world?
\* I've had really good experience with the Pirelli Scorpion Winter 2s so leaning towards Pirelli again
\* But, in Jon's "The BEST Summer Tyres for 2026 Tested and Rated" (https://www.tyrereviews.com/Tyre-Tests/The-BEST-Summer-Tyres-for-2026-Tested-and-Rated.htm) cinturato was the noisiest (though it was external noise, which doesn't seem to always translate to the cabin noise, see 68dB Hankooks, and slightly different size so not sure if it's 100% relatable).
- Michelin Primacy 5 are usually considered quiet and comfy so it's also a strong candidate.
\* but they don't have any of the acoustic foam technology so do they beat Pirelli?
Runner-ups:
- Pirelli Scorpion Summer
\* seem pretty safe bet as I liked the winter version
- Continental Ultracontact NXT: I’ve read that they use a special 'absorbing pattern' for noise. Has anyone compared these to a foam-lined tyre like the Cinturato PNCS?
- Hankooks iON evo: they have the acoustic foam but I'm having trust issues with Hankook so not really leaning towards them, any experience with them?