After reading some of the threads on here regarding road noise from tyres and other things, how many other cars in the whole of the VAG group suffer from this, and is there a cure.

I wonder if MR Audi man would settle for this or MR VW oh dont forget MR Seat.

Is the noise transferred by the struts or other parts of the suspension????

I dont recall hearing people complaining about over excessive road noise on the MK1 so have skoda forgot something on the MK2:confused:

I seen a thing on the Audi channel with the extensive acoustic tests they do on the car. From how the shell reacts to noise transfer, to the car running on dyno tests for engine/exhaust noise for the occupants, to how the sound system is set-up for optimum results. You can see where the money gets spend.

They had to leave something out to make it cheaper than a Golf, and with an added boot. I think they chose the sound deadening material, and who knows what else.

They had to leave something out to make it cheaper than a Golf, and with an added boot. I think they chose the sound deadening material, and who knows what else.

Maybe its the size of the boot thats the issue, when empty its a great big boom box ? And unlike the Audi its a hatch so the noise can transfer through the back shelf easier.

You'd think someone might have realise during production testing.

So the awful roadnoise I'm getting on my 2.0 TDI Octy II with sports suspension and 17" Pegasus Alloys is pretty normal then ? I test drove a standard 2.0 Elegance and that was really quiet .....

Maybe its the size of the boot thats the issue, when empty its a great big boom box ? And unlike the Audi its a hatch so the noise can transfer through the back shelf easier.

You'd think someone might have realise during production testing.

Well, to me it sounds as some of the road noise is coming from the footwell, and I noticed the rear parcel shelf and backseat upright are pretty chunky, but some users here report that another carpet over the boot floor seems to help.

I would like to try something different, Cut pieces of carpet to match the shape of the floor mats, and put that underneath, see how that helps. I wonder if something can be done to the wheel arches also, from the outside. Maybe sticking dynamat or the likes under the furry thing lining them, to prevent moisture from getting to it.

I have just fitted a set of second-hand 16inch A3 wheels fitted with SP Sports to my 06 Octy and immediately noticed a drop in road noise from the standard Vegas and Bridgestones

Probably the tyres but could the wheels themselves be helping cut down the road noise - any metallurgists out there know about alloy wheel composition and noise transfer?

I always suspect that the low profile tyres have a lot to do with it. As the sidewalls are stiffer than a normal profile, they must transmit more noise. I spent the summer holidays in France, with hire Seat Ibiza. Thats where the real tyre noise is, it was 'orrible.

My tires have become noticeably noisier as they wore down, but even with new tires there's room for improvement.

I have had a MK1 and all was quiet and so is the MK2 at the moment.If anything i would say the Mk2 is more silent than the MK1 i had.

Well my standard 2.0TDI Elegance is far from quiet!

I've put extra carpet in the boot and even tried new (quiet) front tyres. OK, it's a bit better now but still loud IMO on some road surfaces.

However, I did a little experiment today. I drove along a known 'noisy' road, stopped and put the rear seats down, then drove along the same road. Blimey! Much worse! From this I've concluded that most of the racket is coming from the rear. Genius eh?

Next step, try the quiet tyres (Goodyear Excellences) on the back. After that do a proper job of soundproofing the boot area. Finally, if that doesn't work, buy an Audi!

BTW I've driven MkV Golfs and they aren't exactly silent either.

Cheers,

RDX

...strange, true that I always drive so can't perceive rear noise, but I hear noise mainly coming from the front: roof at high speeds, floor and engine (perhaps the firewall isn't soundproof?).

A quick & dirty attempt might involve some carpet cuts under floor mats, but I bet the central "tunnel" acts as a sound bridge. Perhaps old bitumen paints applied to metal panels (much cheaper than Dynamat, or edead)? Recent Ford and Mazda approach to sound deading is based on high density felt. Perhaps an old wool pullover would be suitable???

Comments/idea are welcome

As I mentioned in another thread, if your tyres are at all unevenly worn you can get awful noise and a whine that sounds like wheel bearings. My Octavia L&K TDI, on low profile 17inch with sports suspension, had a mix of Dunlop and Bridgestone tyres and was so noisy I thought I'd have to sell it. Swapping to nitrogen filled Falken 452's has transformed it. Of course there is still a bit of rumbling, especially on poor surfaces, but I think that's just built in by VW to remind us cheapskates that Audis are also available from the same source... Ken

BTW I've driven MkV Golfs and they aren't exactly silent either.

RDX

I agree but my wife's Mk V Golf 105bhp tdi is considerably quieter and smoother than my L&K Estate. I've just changed the wheels and tyres on the L&K (17" with Bridgestone Potenzas) to 16" with Falken 452's. There was a dramatic improvement both in road noise and comfort but still not as good as the Golf. The Golf has 15" wheels with Michelin Economy tyres so that could explain some of the difference. Probably the smaller boot area on the Golf compared to the huge boot on the Estate produces the biggest difference.

OK, fair enough.

The only Golf's I've tested have been 2.0TDI GT's. 16" wheels but a harder ride than the Octy.

Also, I had a loan car that was an Octy estate on 15" wheels which also had quite bad road noise. I'm beginning to think it's the lack of sound proofing in the Skoda's that's to blame. I'm planning to improve mine over the next few weeks.

Cheers,

RDX

I've just moved from a BMW E39 530d, which was very smooth and quiet (16" rims with michelin Primacys all round) to a 2.0 tdi L&K, with 16" wheels and pirelli P6000 on front and I think some conti's on the back. It is very noisy.

When fitting the bluetooth kit I realised what was missing. As somebody earlier on mentioned - sound proofing. there is about 1/2" in the Skoda. The BMW had about 2"! (no wonder it was bigger outside but smaller inside!). The Skoda doesn't seem to have any between the roof or the roof lining either.

So, we get excellent mpg, but lots of noise, for not a lot of money.

I've just moved from a BMW E39 530d, which was very smooth and quiet (16" rims with michelin Primacys all round) to a 2.0 tdi L&K, with 16" wheels and pirelli P6000 on front and I think some conti's on the back. It is very noisy.

When fitting the bluetooth kit I realised what was missing. As somebody earlier on mentioned - sound proofing. there is about 1/2" in the Skoda. The BMW had about 2"! (no wonder it was bigger outside but smaller inside!). The Skoda doesn't seem to have any between the roof or the roof lining either.

So, we get excellent mpg, but lots of noise, for not a lot of money.

You moved from a 530d to an Octavia!? Blimey - Bmer 5 must be like twice the price of most Octavias. I moved from a 2.0VTEC Honda Accord to a 1.8TSI Octu and got the pi** taken by a few folk ( light heartedly) ..mind you they were all impressed by the acceleration difference when they actually got in it !!

The E39 is the previous model 5er, round here they cost about the same, but with 100k more miles for the bimmer.

Back to the Octi and the noise issue. I'll try when I find some spare time to velcro a layer of fonoabsorbent carpet to the boot side of the rear seat uprights. I'm also thinking of lining the spare wheel well with *something* I have yet to determine. Something like those bitumen membranes of various kinds that we see around.

This something will probably work as extra sound proofing on the inside of the wheel arches, behind the furry thing that's already there.

At least on the hatch (my experience) it's pretty easy to get to the rear wheel arches from inside the boot, so those can be worked on with the same membrane from earlier.

The carpet (the stuff you see covering most large disco speakers) can also work as doubling for the carpets on the interior, maybe with a layer of soft density foam sandwiched in between.

I also wonder how hard it is to remove the center console in a Jumbo Box equipped car. The center tunnel could do with some additional sound proofing too.

For the petrol cars a good idea would be to fit the liner on the inside of the bonnet from the diesel. Especially good if you also need to keep it warm in cold weather for longer (heat rises, that's why it's there).

I've said it before but dynamat extreme (etc) applied to the boot floor, spare wheel base and sides, under the rear seat bench and the sides of the boot and front of the rear footwell where the bench comes down makes a huge difference.

If you can afford a couple of hundred pounds to get somebody to do the whole car then I would.

I've said it before but dynamat extreme (etc) applied to the boot floor, spare wheel base and sides, under the rear seat bench and the sides of the boot and front of the rear footwell where the bench comes down makes a huge difference.

If you can afford a couple of hundred pounds to get somebody to do the whole car then I would.

Where can you buy this in the UK?

You moved from a 530d to an Octavia!? Blimey - Bmer 5 must be like twice the price of most Octavias. I moved from a 2.0VTEC Honda Accord to a 1.8TSI Octu and got the pi** taken by a few folk ( light heartedly) ..mind you they were all impressed by the acceleration difference when they actually got in it !!

Yes the BM is or was twice the price new. I have had 2 e39 tourings - a 523i & 530d. great cars, handle well, quiet, comfortable.... I have been spoilt.

The 530d was over 9 years old with 150,000 miles, of which I put on 50k in just over 18 months. They do cost to run. new injectors & fuel pump would cost £2500 plus labour as an example. I recon I spent £5k keeping it on the road. Gave up, cut my losses and found a car (Octy) which should be more economical (so far 15-20mpg better) and cheaper to run.

I really like the Octy L&K, and back to the point of this thread, just not the noise levels inside the car.

Mike

Yes the BM is or was twice the price new. I have had 2 e39 tourings - a 523i & 530d. great cars, handle well, quiet, comfortable.... I have been spoilt.

The 530d was over 9 years old with 150,000 miles, of which I put on 50k in just over 18 months. They do cost to run. new injectors & fuel pump would cost £2500 plus labour as an example. I recon I spent £5k keeping it on the road. Gave up, cut my losses and found a car (Octy) which should be more economical (so far 15-20mpg better) and cheaper to run.

I really like the Octy L&K, and back to the point of this thread, just not the noise levels inside the car.

Mike

Yes shame really (nice cars costing a fortune to run when older) A colleague of mine has a nice 5 year old D5 Volvo & every year he seems to end up spending£600-1000 on top of normal servicing to keep the engine running properly. Latest is EGR valve + intercooler replaced ...£900 at an independent! bit scary really - all the diesels savings seem to vapourise I should think.

mytyres.co.uk - Details: Vredestein Wintrac xtreme 205/55 R16 94V XL

I have just put 4 of these on and they can be used all year round and what a masive diference in transmited road noise, I thought I had gone death

Those are winter tires, I wouldn't try braking hard with those in the summer. Plus they'll wear out real fast above 10C.

Unfortunately, it's what is waiting for me later today, winter's here, bring in the noisy tires.

These are all season tyres and the grip is exceptional in all conditions there on my taxi in a rural area, so I dont hang around between jobs lol