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Do Fiat 500s suffer from road noise?

My wife has decided it is time she would like to trade in her 2003 Toyota Yaris 1.0. After much deliberation we looked at a Fiat 500, which she likes the styling and shape of very much. The build quality looked good and I know you have one which you have been very pleased with. We took a 1.2 Pop for a test drive and were very pleased until we reached about 50mph on a fairly rough road, when the tyre noise increased so much we had to start almost shouting at each other. We tried another 500 but the noise was again apparent. Apart from this we would definitely buy one, but now we're not sure. After we left the garage we drove our Yaris on the same road, and the noise level barely increased at all. Is this tyre noise typical of the Fiat and what can be done about it?

Asked on 18 August 2012 by PB, via email

Answered by Honest John
I have very little tyre noise from mine on 185/55 R15 Michelin Energy or 175/65 R14 Michelin Alpins. 185/55 R14 is the standard Lounge size and 175/65 R14 is the standard Pop size. I use Pop 14-inch wheels for the winter.
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