Experiencing Yokohama's dramatically silent Advan dB V552 tyre

When I think of the Yokohama Advan lineup, the first thoughts that come to my mind are those of high-performance, motorsports and lap times.

From the popular Neova AD08R to the race-purposed A048, the Advan range is always one of the top choices for any petrol head.

But the proficiency of Yokohama's Advan product family is much more than that, as I got to experience first-hand at the brand's Tire Test Center of Asia in Rayong Province, Thailand.

The Tire Test Center of Asia is a 1,690,000m² site where Yokohama built a 4.1km high-speed track and a longest straight line of 1km where a high-speed test of over 200km/h is possible, as well as a multi-purpose track of approximately 100,000m².

The multi-purpose track has been equipped with a wet test course of approximately 9,000m² and a special test course that enables the evaluation of driving comfort and noises in a variety of road surface conditions so that tyre evaluation can be carried out in diversified conditions ranging from dry to wet.

These test courses are utilised to carry out running tests of passenger car, light truck, truck and bus tyres manufactured at Yokohama Rubber Group plants in Japan, Asia and the U.S.A. It is there that I got up close and personal with the latest addition to the Advan flagship brand, the Advan dB V552. Marketed as most silent premium comfort Yokohama tyre ever, the Advan dB V552 is the successor to the Advan dB that launched in 2009.

Developed based on the concept of 'an unprecedentedly silent tyre that changes the in-car atmosphere', I put a few sets to the test through various stations to see if it lives up to the tagline of 'Dramatic Silence' and if wet grip performance has been greatly improved by the application of a newly developed compound that raises the dispersibility of silica.

The sound of silence

To experience the improved road and pattern noise levels, we hopped into two Toyota Camrys, one equipped with the Advan dB V552 and one with the older Advan dB V551.

Thanks to the Advan dB V552's precise groove and chamfering arrangement, as well as a silent base compound, it is noticeably quieter especially over the part of the track that reproduced the rougher general road conditions of less developed countries in Asia.

The hum normally associated with tyres as they go over poorly paved roads is well suppressed in the Advan dB V552-equipped Camry, so much so that if you closed your eyes, it even feels like you're riding in a Lexus. If I had to put a number on how much quieter it is than the Advan dB V551, it would probably be a good 10 to 20 percent.

Slippery when wet… not

Alongside the Advan dB V552's silent base compound is a new surface compound and staggered arrangement of grooves and sipes that improve steering stability for better wet performance. We tested these features on a slalom and circle track, both of which received a good dousing of water.

And I'm usually sceptical about the acclaimed wet performance of tyres but this time around, I had my naysaying squashed behind the wheel of a Honda Civic that zipped around the pylons at about 40km/h without a hint of its Advan dB V552s giving up on grip.

Neither did the Toyota Camrys, which we used around a wet and potentially wild circle track. Compared to the Advan dB V551 that managed to clock 50km/h going right, the Advan dB V551s held on to 55km/h, before I began feeling a slight bit of understeer.

And even better in the dry

It's hard to imagine any Advan-branded tyre failing to provide solid grip in the dry and the Advan dB V552 continues that tradition. Fitted on a Mercedes-Benz C-Class C350e hybrid, we were allowed to get a little naughty along a man-made B-road course that was just wide enough for one car.

Make one mistake here and you're likely to end up kissing one of the many trees surrounding. Thankfully, there were speed and apex markings that recommended how fast and which line should be taken.

On one stretch of the course, the recommended velocity was 60km/h but the tyres felt like they had more to offer so I pushed them to 75km/h and with the right entry, they hung on just fine. With that proven, I then exceeded every other speed recommendation throughout the rest of the course.

So what sort of car is the Advan dB V552 born and bred for?

Given its positioning, the obvious answer is premium sedans from the likes of Lexus and BMW, just to name a few, but the beauty of Yokohama's latest offering extends beyond just that.

The Advan dB V552 size lineup will be expanded so that a wide range of vehicles that includes compact cars, minivans, hybrids and electric vehicles, can use it. This, then, shows that the Advan dB V552 hasn't just improved as a silent, comfortable premium tyre, but Yokohama has also ensured that its benefits can be enjoyed across segments by making any in-car experience a calm and pleasant one.

And judging from the area of land I didn't get to explore at the test facility, I can only hope to return when Yokohama next launches a more performance-oriented Advan.