Hi everyone,

I bought a brand-new Octavia about 6 months ago, a 2.0 tdi with the 110bhp engine. Can't get that in the UK I think, apart from the Yeti. Anyway it's a manual 6-speed and I'm extremely happy with it generally, but......

Massive road noise from the tyres..205 R16, Bridgestones. That's annoying.

Also quite a bit of wind noise, from the side mirrors? Is that normal for an Octavia 2?

Also, I'm going to drive in UK for 3 months this summer. I saw online an offer to buy Eurolite beam benders for visitors to the UK. Are they good enough? Couldn't see anything else that I could buy, and I am sure that if I went to a Skoda dealer in the UK I would have to pay to get the beam direction changed to driving on the left, and then do it again just before returning to the continent.

So apart from the road noise and wind noise (no, it isn't from the grill) I'm really satisfied. Build quality is great and no squeaks and rattles. Unbelieveably I once got 70mpg, as the book says it should. When you are in 5th gear in slow moving traffic doing about 50 or 60 mph, (stuck behind lorries or Sunday drivers) the computer said 4.0 litres per 100km, so that's excellent. I have only covered 5000 miles so far due to work and a terrible winter here. I also like the fact that at 80mph in 6th gear it's only doing 2000rpm. But that's not an issue as wind and road noise mean I can't hear anything anyway!

Yep the Octavia 2 is not the quietest of cars, road roar on poor surfaces and wind noise very normal....not terrible but certainly not Golf levels or refinement despite the close DNA resemblance.

Some say the car can be quite tyre sensitive and road noise can be improved with certain tyres, alot of people tend to complain about the OEM tyres but in the UK at least they are usually Continental which are one of the better manufacturers anyway.

Regarding poor road surfaces, well....I do live in Poland and the roads sometimes are awful, but mainly I use new roads and motorways which to be honest, are better than in the UK! Mind you, it does soak up bumps and potholes well! It will be interesting to see how it goes on UK roads. I also don't know if the Bridgestones are standard for new Skodas sold in Poland but of course in the future I may try some other tyres when it comes time to change.

I came from a Jaguar (bought new 09) to an Octavia (bought new six months ago) and I cannot say I noticed any difference in this respect.

Although I probably will now.

Regarding poor road surfaces, well....I do live in Poland and the roads sometimes are awful, but mainly I use new roads and motorways which to be honest, are better than in the UK! Mind you, it does soak up bumps and potholes well! It will be interesting to see how it goes on UK roads. I also don't know if the Bridgestones are standard for new Skodas sold in Poland but of course in the future I may try some other tyres when it comes time to change.

Sorry I should say I have a facelift RS TDI 170 which runs on 225/40 18's so it is probably even noisier to be honest. The sound deadening on Skodas generally doesnt come up to the same par as a VW, one of the elements of cost control one would guess......my biggest annoyance though one I can live with is how a 23.5k GBP family car does not come with curtain airbags as standard. The Fabia vRS did so never really understood why the Octavia didnt.

Hi Polango, Do you have xenon or halogen lights? If halogen no need for the beam deflectors - take a look in the user manual. Headlights can be removed relatively easily and you can move a lever in the light unit to flat beam. Also some posts on here with photos not so long ago. If xenon you need maxidot to put into tourist mode to flat beam.

With regard to driving on the left in Uk, did the flat beam function get deleted with the FL? The pre FL is very easy to change, so no trips to a dealer required.

In use, you do notice the loss of the kick up, but it should not be too detrimental. Probably better than most stick on things.

All beam deflectors do is try to create flat beam - however need to be placed in correct position to work, so light level should be similar to flat beam. Xenons can be flat beamed on FL but need maxidot - if not dealer adjustment.

I have halogen headlamps. So perhaps I should have a look through the blogs and articles on this website, though I'm absolutely crap at that kind of thing. Thanks for the info blacksheep:)

Hi there, in the eight months we've had an Octavia it's taken us down to Spain three times, observations are;

Eurolite beam benders, don't make much difference to the level of illumination, which is good, haven't been flashed once so obviously do the job

Wind noise not a problem

Tyre noise is a problem in the Uk on certain road surfaces, in Spain the car is much quieter, even the Mrs notices!!

Regards all

Juan

Sent from my iPhone using my thumbs

I must say at this point that I did have a RHD Renault Clio from 2008 and I put Eurolite beam benders on that when I lived on the continent. They stuck determinedly to the headlights for 2 years and never fell off! No one flashed me and the lighting was pretty much unaffected as far as I could tell, so thanks for that Juan, it reminded me of this. I think I'll just buy the beam benders and rip them off when I get back to the continent. Stick them on, whilst on the ferry, 5 minute job.

You can try this for beam alteration, but while UK spec headlights have the ability to change to a flat beam I am not sure if the same is available to LHD cars but you never know.

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/203947-fl-headlights-eu-driving

Just checked continental (LHD) halogens fitted to my UK spec car - can be flat beamed in exactly the same as UK (RHD) lights. Really is only a 10 min job with very little skill.

Massive road noise from the tyres..205 R16, Bridgestones.

My latest Octavia came with the Bridgestones and they are noisy compared to the Continetal sport contact 2's that were on my previous Ocatvia. When I wear this set out the Continetals will be going on.

All beam deflectors do is try to create flat beam - however need to be placed in correct position to work, so light level should be similar to flat beam. Xenons can be flat beamed on FL but need maxidot - if not dealer adjustment.

I have a setting in Maxidot for "right hand drive mode" or whatever it says. All it does as far as I can recall is to aim them closer together.

Edited 4 May, 201313 yr by Perc

2 Octavias. First had 16" wheels with Dunlop tyres. Road noise got progressively worse as tyres wore even though no sign of saw-toothing. Replaced with Hankooks and noise went away but was coming back after 10k miles when I changed car.

Octavia 2 has sports suspension and 17" wheels with Bridgestones. All quiet at first then started to get noisy. Had 4 wheel alignment done. No change. Another 10k miles and the noise at 30-35 mph was unbearable with noticeable saw toothing. Fitted Michelin Primacy 3's and it was magic carpet quiet. Now after 5k miles the tyres are starting to sing again!

2 Octavias. First had 16" wheels with Dunlop tyres. Road noise got progressively worse as tyres wore even though no sign of saw-toothing. Replaced with Hankooks and noise went away but was coming back after 10k miles when I changed car.

Octavia 2 has sports suspension and 17" wheels with Bridgestones. All quiet at first then started to get noisy. Had 4 wheel alignment done. No change. Another 10k miles and the noise at 30-35 mph was unbearable with noticeable saw toothing. Fitted Michelin Primacy 3's and it was magic carpet quiet. Now after 5k miles the tyres are starting to sing again!

Thing is, I don't know when I'll replace the tyres. Firstly, I don't drive too much at the moment, and secondly, for 5 months of the year I use winter tyres, which are an absolute must over here in Poland. I've only done about 500 miles on the Bridgestones. They were on the car from the showroom, and after 300 miles I swapped the tyres to winter ones. So I wonder if they'll quieten down a bit or get even worse.

I have to have this car for at least 3 years, as I bought it for my company, but I already have an eye on the Octavia 3 2.0 Tdi 150 hp. The remaining 2 years 6 months can't go quickly enough!....or maybe an Audi A3 sportback...disloyalty I know, but what the hell.

I've had my Octavia 2 1.6TDI for a year now and find road noise terrible with Continental original tyres. They just don't like the grainy type tarmac which is most roads round my way. When it changes to the smooth type it goes almost silent. It would stop me buying another one because there is also a high pitched kind of ringing rattle coming from them with former surfaces.