I'm been paying more attention to what kind of tire treads I see on the cars in front of me. Seems like most have 4-5 solid strips separated by narrow recesses, with narrow indentations in the strips running at 45 degrees. The tires I got are pretty much like that but have wider indents at angles. I definitely can hear the tire noise more than on other tires, but not enough to notice unless I'm going over 45 mph, 3-feet away from a block wall.