Pirelli soaks-up noise with sponge technology

At first glance, sponges and in-car noise levels don’t seem to have much in common. Yet this springy material, much loved by those with a penchant for cleanliness, has found its way into a tyre Pirelli has developed for original equipment customer Audi, and the Italian tyre maker says the tyre reduces noise considerably.

The noise-dampening technology has been named the “Pirelli Noise Cancelling System” and makes use of a polyurethane sponge on the inside of the tyre. The sponge is designed to absorb vibrations and by doing so reduce the amount of noise passing through to the cabin. Pirelli says its sponge-based system reduces noise by between two to three decibels, or on average by half, with a consequent improvement in driving comfort. Other tyre characteristics remain unaffected by the sponge’s presence, the manufacturer states. 

At present the “Pirelli Noise Cancelling System” is available as original equipment on Audi RS6 and RS7 models running on 285/30ZR21 and 275/30ZR21 sized tyres respectively. Tyres using this system have the letters ‘PNCS’ written on the sidewalls to denote its use.