“Quick scan” study prepared for the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment to evaluate the potential of “triple A” tyres to improve vehicle safety, noise emssions, fuel consumption, and CO2 emissions. Tyres in the EU are labeled to convey information on their energy efficiency, safety, and noise performance. Triple A refers to tyres receiving the highest ratings across these three criteria.

This leaflet gives a short introduction for those who wants to explore the benefits and common pitfalls of silent road surfaces in urban situations.

Memorandum to the Netherlands Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment in response to its request for research into

• the effect of the present tyre Regulations on the exterior noise levels of tyres
• comparison of the tyre noise levels in the present distribution with the limit values defined in the tyre Regulations
• definition of the levels of “present-day technology and ambitious technology on base of the distribution of levels found in the present tyre population”.

Review of research program that quantified differences in tire noise levels between the tire population on sale before and after revision of tire regulation in 2009 (Regulation (EC) No 1222/2009).

At the GRB meeting in January 2015 the Netherlands introduced a justification and proposal for future tyre noise limits (document GRB-61-03). During the discussion, it was suggested to investigate whether difference in performance existed between Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) tyres and replacement tyres, noting that the transitional provisions in EC/661/2009 take into account the earlier introduction of noise limits of OEM tyres mounted on new vehicle types. Therefore, the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment asked M+P to investigate the statistics of tyre noise label values in OEM tyres in more detail.