Substantially better, yes, and very happy so far (3k miles or so). I used to hear people complain about the pirelli noise and thought they were crazy, then I hit around 10k miles or so and it just kept getting louder and louder.
22k and swapped them out for the Wrangler ATs that come stock on the newer models. I could have gone further but the noise was deafening and we had a long trip coming up. The noise improvement was greatly appreciated.
I've not once felt the need to switch to sport mode to gain power to pass someone on the expressway. The standard dual motor is plenty to pass folks unless you're in a life or death race with the guy you're passing.