As automobile technology advances, a smoother ride with less noise is desired. In order to achieve these purposes, a study on the vibration and noise produced by a moving automobile was carried out and a model for tire vibration characteristics which influence the ride performance was developed. The model was verified through simulations and experiments. The developed model was then applied to a half car model and automobile vibrations were analyzed. The effects of tire design parameters on the automobile vibration energy were investigated. The results from laboratory and field tests confirm the validity of the analytical model. The 17-DOF half-car model was built to analyze automobile vibration. The characteristics of the nonlinear model for a shock absorber were applied to this model. The results from the present 17-DOF half car model incorporating the analytical tire model with tire design parameters, were compared with the 5-DOF half car model where the tire was modeled with linear springs. The results of the 17-DOF model are close to the experimental results. Using the 17-DOF model, the influence of tire design parameter were considered. According to the analysis results, the vibrations at seat/body/wheel were predicted by simulation and experiment.