Low frequency 'boom' in cabin

[guitarman001]

I wonder if A3's have this issue as that's one of the cars I was considering. That or a Honda diesel, though wary with what the government are saying about diesel now, plus the petrol ride is better. 

If there was a fix for this I'd even cough up but it's ridiculous we're going to these lengths.

Edited 25 April, 2017 by guitarman001

[WillM82]

To me the alternatives to an Octavia were a Mondeo or an Insignia, the old model is being runout so some bargains to be had, the new C5-shape model is coming along.

[guitarman001]

I never fancied Mondeos. Watch out for ecoboost engines if you go ford as they've been blowing up! 

Never considered an insignia..

 

Friends warm me spending another £3-4k, I could still be buying other peoples' problems..

Edited 25 April, 2017 by guitarman001

[Alpha2110]

Mine is a 65 plate and it has the sprung boot stops. And the noise is still there. 

[guitarman001]

Right. The car has to go.

 

I keep making excuses.

 

Truly, other than this one issue, I think it's a cracker of a car. However, it's no good having a car that you're stressing over within a month of buying it, getting out of it with sore ears and sometimes even sore teeth! Yes, I'll have to spend more cash, but at least I'll have a comfortable ride. I can't see this continuing for another 5+ years... Unfortunately it also means Skoda is off my list in future due to this bad experience. It's now a case of what to go for, how much to spend... if it weren't for all the diesel press I'd go for the Honda 1.6 iDTEC - unbelievable economy. Might have to stick to petrol Audi or so. 

[mikenippard]

This is the right decision.

Over the last few weeks I have read all of these posts and you have been over all the old

ground that I went through in 2014. Nearly three years on there is no solution to this problem as it is an inherent design fault

which i am sure Skoda are fully aware of but wont acknowledge.

The only solution is to get rid of it. You are lucky you are only losing a small amount in comparison to what I lost in nine months from new.

Just make sure whatever car you decide upon you have a very long test drive to try and find any niggles and if you are not happy walk away.

Good luck

Mike

 

[guitarman001]

Worst case I reckon I'll lose £1k and then add on £3-4k for something else.... I'll just have to "absorb the loss." 

I want to get rid immediately but I'm unsure what to get..... Damn..... You defo pay a £2k+ premium for Audi. I'd get a golf if it weren't for their extremely poor reliability ..

 

How much did you pay / lose? You don't have to say....!! I don't understand how you could stand the noise... I think it would have long term effects on my health and I'm not joking!

Edited 25 April, 2017 by guitarman001

[Alpha2110]

The next car i buy i will try and hire one or ask for an extended test drive with no salesman in the car. I actually test drove an 13 saloon on dunlop. I thought it was fantastic in comparison to my old car. The test drice was 25 minuits. Then i scoured the country looking for a gray delivary miles only sel, and i found an se bussines. Nearly the same minus the alcantara seats. So i drove down to essex to pick it up. Unfortuntly i started to find the faults and i dident think for one minuit it was a design fault. I dident do much driving in it as i bought it a week befor Christmas. When i discoverd this i was over the 30 day cool off period and there was nothing that could be done without getting shafted. This was from spirit, so good they left a transport block in the suspention!. 

 

The lesson here is this, test drive the exact model you intend to buy. Hire if possible, or extended test drive. Most of all do not believe reviews by what car or similar auto magazines.

[guitarman001]

I was within 30 days when I mentioned the issues but wasn't offered a return......

 

Agree... Too many test drives the sales guy talks all the way through it.. distraction..

[guitarman001]

After another hour with no luck searching for cars on autotrader...

 

Might I have found a workaround?

 

Probably not but..... my boot is still damped with blankets, as is the tray. 

 

I have a pair of custom mould earplugs which cost £130 and last years (ACS Pro 17s). I used them for gigs when I was playing in a rock band. 

The frequency attenuation is a pretty flat 17dB, though in the graph below, it doesn't go below 125Hz, so attenuation at lower frequencies isn't known...

https://acscustom.com/uk/downloads/PRO 17 SPEC SHEET.pdf

 

I drove with these today on the way in and no earache. The earplugs just attenuate all frequencies, so the boom is still there but massively attenuated. You can still hear everything, just at a lower volume, and if anything, it provides a more enjoyable ride. Of course there are downsides:

- is this dangerous? 

- you over-rev before changing gear unless you are used to the feel of the engine.

- the radio has to be louder to hear it better, which is a no-no with others in the car. 

 

You can hear everything a lot more clearly with these in. I also didn't get headache or sore teeth (!) but I'll keep doing this all week and see how it goes. Maybe Skoda should give you a free pair when you buy one. 

 

I'll see how this goes up until the weekend. It will be interesting to see if I get physical symptoms despite the earplugs, indicating a low-freq vibration in the car (i.e. is the sound through my ear drums pushing to my teeth and hurting them, or is it a mechanical thing).

Edited 26 April, 2017 by guitarman001

[CookieMonster87]

@guitarman001

 

Apologies if you have already mentioned this in a previous post but what setup is your boot in i.e. do you have a full size spare wheel and rubber boot mat?

[guitarman001]

No spare wheel. It's bare metal in there, basically. I've padding the free space in there with pillows!

[guitarman001]

It's a bit of a pain having to put the earplugs in and out for short drives.

[WillM82]

No spare in mine.

 

Someone on the Briskoda facebook page has got fitted the spring loaded side bump stoppers from the facelift model, the ones that rest against the stoppers on the C pillar.

 

Says it's early days but found a bit of an improvement. Unfortunately he couldn't get a part number.

[guitarman001]

Somebody a few posts above said that made no difference :(

My earplugs work well....

 

Just saw the new Honda jazz.. looks alright, Honda are reliable.. might be a go-er... 

[guitarman001]

Right!!

 

I just read that it is illegal to wear earplugs or headsets whilst driving so it is NOT a long-term solution!

Unless I'm wrong... please correct me if so!

Edited 26 April, 2017 by guitarman001

[Gerrycan]

Well that would mean it is illegal for deaf people to drive cars wouldn't it. The law may make an exception for them though, like motorcycling Sikhs don't have to wear crash helmets (unless that has changed in the thirty years since I lived in the UK)

 

The only reason I can think that your teeth are aching is that you are unconsciously gritting your teeth together in reaction to the noise?

People who grit their teeth in their sleep complain of similar issues and usually have to wear mouthguards.

 

I'm not sure that pillows in the wheel well would provide adequate damping to be honest.

 

I wonder also if you are susceptible to infrasound, like some people who complain their health is affected by their proximity to windfarms?

Figure of 1 in 5 affected are bandied around but the whole subject is disputed.

 

An alternative vehicle consider the Mazda 6. While it is not particularly noted for low NVH it does not suffer from the low frequency/pressure issues and the petrol version still offers reasonable space, economy, performance, handling and a good reputation for reliability here in Australia.

 

The earplugs explain how a muso could still have good hearing, the limited number I know have affected hearing even at relatively young ages.

I think mine were permanently damaged by Led Zeppelin at Earls Court in 1975. No regulations then.

 

[guitarman001]

I do actually have Bruxism but I'm not sure it's related...

Remember I'm not the only one who can hear the sound... an independent garage could, as well as friends and co-workers. 

Infrasound... I hope not. I'm also moving to a new home with a phone mast about 33m away so hope I'm not tuning into that...! ;D

 

Mazda 3 probably better...? I'm put off big cars now!! 

Scared about what will happen to diesels else I'd get a Honda diesel. 

Honda Jazz - 53mpg for a petrol but it's not the same....

There's just not a clear winner. 

 

Musos who don't wear 'plugs are mental. There's nothing macho about losing your hearing! Oh no - do you have tinnitus? 

 

--> Holy cow, Mazda 6 does look good, plus it's a saloon... so less chance of boom from the boot (if that's what it even is)...

Edited 26 April, 2017 by guitarman001

[Gerrycan]

Your life is undergoing a lot of stressful changes currently so I would think it more likely that (involuntary) teeth clenching is a more likely factor than just the booming sound alone. The concurrency of the two factors would naturally lead to association but..  ( no emoticon for a shoulder shrug)

 

Noted that others could also identify that a sound existed, but that also suggests they were not as badly affected as you? Exposure duration might be a factor there of course.

 

And yes I do suffer from quite badly from tinnitus, although the intensity varies a lot. One night a year so back, I lay in bed thinking something was wrong and realised the usual high-pitched 'white-noise' sound was not present at all and I could hear my Seiko analogue watch ticking 4 feet away. Up to that point I did not even know it ticked. Regrettably things were back to normal in the morning.

I don't blame Led Zeppelin entirely, even though my ears rang for 3 days after and I thought the performance and production was disappointingly average. My low and high range hearing are not good but my wife's are excellent and she tells me when things are really amiss, such as occurs with concurrence of heavy boot loads and corrugated surfaces (dirt roads).

 

This problem (Octavia) really needs some hard data and some fairly sophisticated equipment to determine the real issues, source and solution.

 

 

 

 

Edited 27 April, 2017 by Gerrycan

[Alpha2110]

My car has a full size spare 16inch and a boot matt and its still there so god knows how bad it is with neather. Dont waste time with sound proofing the frequencies ate too low for it to fo anything meaningful. I would like to know how much more sound proofing the superb has, as thats pretty refined is it beam or irs, what grade and thickness is the body shell, one thing i can say is the ones i have been in are way better than the octavia.

Edited 28 April, 2017 by Alpha2110

[Gerrycan]

6 hours ago, Alpha2110 said:

My car has a full size spare 16inch and a boot matt and its still there so god knows how bad it is with neather. Dont waste time with sound proofing the frequencies ate too low for it to fo anything meaningful. I would like to know how much more sound proofing the superb has, as thats pretty refined is it beam or irs, what grade and thickness is the body shell, one thing i can say is the ones i have been in are way better than the octavia.

I agree that sound proofing is not likely to solve this issue.

The Superb is on the same MQB platform as the Octavia and is only slightly heavier despite being markedly larger so it certainly does not utilise thicker steel. More likely it is just an appropriate 'crease' or two in the metal to increase rigidity of a particular panel.

All Superb's are equipped with multi-link rear suspension.

[guitarman001]

So none of these issues at all in the Superb's? 

Man... I thought it was just the SIZE of the car that was making things worse, which it probably is... 

 

I think all Fords have independent rear suspension, right? My Focus felt great to drive and had none of this. 

I wonder if the Audi A3 has independent suspension. Will check!

 

 

Edited 29 April, 2017 by guitarman001

[guitarman001]

If I could afford a 2017 Civic petrol, THAT is what I'd get. 

To be honest I'm not 100% if dynamat will reduce the very low frequencies but agree it's not worth the time and effort given how low they are.

Mazda 3 looks brilliant other than multiple clutch failures reported. 

Also looking at Fabia but it's such a step-down from this car in Elegance trim. 

Audi A3... pretty good but that electronic handbrake... not so keen. 

Honda Jazz 53mpg petrol...!! BUT has torsion beam suspension and despite not knowing what I'm on about, I think I prefer independent suspension. Certainly my Focus handled better and had less noise. 

Civic petrol (pre-2017)... seats aren't too comfy and it has the same performance (approx) as my old Ford! 

Again... Ford would be great if they just got better engines (new EcoBoost are reported blowing up due to coolant pipe malfunction... also mpg is poor). 

 

[guitarman001]

Oh man, was just in an A3. 

So much better.....

But so much more expensive with barely anything in it - no NAV, no parking sensors, no folding mirrors, no auto lights or wipers, no lumbar support. That all needs to be spec'd up. An £11k Skoda spec would cost about £15-16k++ in Audi format.

Saying that, you can tell the difference. Less vibration, quieter, just more solid.

Also the Audi garage was correct in pointing out the alloys and wheels this car went out with aren't really good enough especially for approved used. 

The offer was on the low side for the Skoda. 

 

[Alpha2110]

On 29/04/2017 at 02:17, Gerrycan said:

I agree that sound proofing is not likely to solve this issue.

The Superb is on the same MQB platform as the Octavia and is only slightly heavier despite being markedly larger so it certainly does not utilise thicker steel. More likely it is just an appropriate 'crease' or two in the metal to increase rigidity of a particular panel.

All Superb's are equipped with multi-link rear suspension.

Thats interesting, i did not think a mk2 superb was mqb platform car?. As i was of the understanding it was based on a old passat. Also it must have a load of sound proofing as its was more quiet, and the one i was in was running on 18" wheels.

 

I have just got a hire car for a bussness trip next week its a kia optima estate. I havent driven it much only moved it on my drive, but i have a feeling its more refined. If it turns out to be better I'm getting rid of the skoda. This kia has all the gadgets, and has a 1.7 deisel 140bhp, its a bit slower. 

 

 

Edited 30 April, 2017 by Alpha2110