We've had our 2006 (06) Octavia VRS TFSi for a couple of weeks now and notice there seems to be a constant rumbling from the rear when cruising along, Don't notice it in town, it's just noticeable after about 30mph. It first sounded like very loud road noise from the tyres, it's hard to tell, we have directional Goodyear eagle F1. maybe it's just the tyres...not too sure Any help or past experiences of similar symptoms would be much appreciated...thanks

Could be a tyre wear issue. Tyres I've had always get noisier as the get close to wear blocks. Could even be a wear issue related to the geometry being out. Get the wheel off and check for excessive wear on the inside edge. If there is a full geometry set is needed. Check Stu's website for the new figures for the rear camber angles.

A quick search should bring up loads more info.

The tyres are near enough new and the wear seems even.

The Eagle F1 tyres are quite a soft compund and have the v groove tread pattern so I suspected them.

I'll have a garage check out the allignment this week as I wouldn't know where to start.

Thanks capatain scarlet

I have the same issue with my octy II estate. The first set of tyre stated to be noisy when they got to about 5mm, but I thought ithe problem was with the Dunlops. The Goodyears I now have have started to be noisy, so I jacked up the rear and spun the wheels, when I ran my hand over the tread blocks I can feel that they are uneven. I will get the car in for a four wheel geometry check soon.

I had the uneven wear on the rears on my vRS. They looked even when looking at a glance from the rear, untill I took the wheel off to sort my rear mudflap. When I saw the tyre I was quite alarmed.

The rear tread blocks will wear slightly uneven as they are loaded under braking, but not acceleration like the fronts.

When the rear tyres on Liz's vRS feathered there was a constant drone from the rear that got worse above 35mph.

Could it be a wheel bearing?

I thought mine might be a wheel bearing, but when I spun the wheels the bearing sounded OK and the there was no free play when I rocked the wheel top to bottom, so I think the bearings are OK.

I had what sounds like the same issue -

I was running the original factory fitted Bridgestones on the rear and they had about 4mm of wear left. First there was the noise, and then later the vibration. On examining the tyres I found the inside edge of both rear tyres was lumpy. Speaking to a tyre dealer he suggested it was either a tyre issue or a car set up issue so I took it back to a Skoda dealer. After I payed for a full optical alignment check the dealer decided it was the rear shocks and replaced them under the warranty and refunded the alignment check charge. Of course I had to pay for a pair of new tyres (changed to Eagle F1s) to solve the immediate problem. If I put my cynical hat on I do wonder how much work was actually done on shocks and how much is due to the fact that I now shift my tyres front to back so they don't get so old but the rumbling has not yet returned.

Sounds like this is a very common problem. I had the same problem with mine, took it back to Skoda who confirmed the rear alignment was out. I had HSBC change the tyres as its a lease car. I thought it was the wheel bearings till I checked the rears.

I had exactly the same problem with my 55 plate 06 vrs, noticed exactly this problem when I test drove it. Again as soon as it hit 30mph it started at its loudest. It was a faulty wheel bearing and also once they had fixed this the noise was still louder than the norm. They said the previous owner had put bad quality cheap tyres on the rear which was giving excessive road noise, they then replaced the rear tyres and the remaining noise had gone. I'm pretty sure you have 1 or both of these issues. Wheel bearing is most likely. Thanks

I changed the fronts and rears around and I now have solved the problem....for the rear anyway...now the front is rumbling.

They are about 1/2mm before I reach the depth markers, next tyres I get I'll stick to the normal tread pattern type and see if it's just been the tread pattern.

Rhe tyres are worn evenly without any issues.

I changed the front psi from 32 to 30 psi, the noise sounded worse so I changed up to 34 psi at the front and it was much the same just higher pitched.

I'll be changing the tyres in the spring to see how it goes.

Did you get the 4 wheel alignment done to the new rear camber figures? If not might be worth doing before feathering another set of rear tyres.

Just thought I'd update this thread.

I now have 4x michelin pilots and the runbling has all but disappeared, looks like it was the Eagle F1s'.

I can't give any opinion on how the michelins compare handling wise as I never really push the car, they do feel as good on the corners with my economical driving and actually a bit better in the wet.

Happy days!

FWIW if anyone else experiences this it's worth putting the front tyres on the rear and rears on the front to see if the issue goes away. Often you can get saw toothing on certain tyres which can cause more noise.