Low frequency 'boom' in cabin

[NikEd]

yeah just seems so weird to me because if it were an inherent design fault (the booming and extra road noise) it would be present in ALL cars but it isn't... not by a long way.

 

I feel for the small percentage of owners in this thread that are suffering but I guess the vast majority must be fine (or this thread would be a LOT bigger than it is). Just wonder what the difference is between those suffering and those not. Strange one indeed and good luck resolving your issues

[Gerrycan]

14 minutes ago, Trankan said:

Hm. My Airpressure is back. Change of tires didnt hold on for many days. 

Cant keep the crappy car. Going for a Golf SC/Estate. Testdrive a few of my relatives and coworkers cars and total different car despite using same platform. They could also feel the pain driving my car. Also drive one when i was visited a local dealer. Really nice on the road. Even on  rough roads. Losing money on my Octy and the Golf is not cheap but thats life. Got a VW passat before octy and no problems. Dont like the interior in Ford and Hyundai/Kia is plastic rubbish with terrible roadnoice. Can use my wifes Octy if i missing driving one. 

Its a good car if you lucky but terrible if you have bad luck.

Experiment with higher tyre pressures, it makes a difference on mine.

Different tyres (makes/sizes) do make a difference to road noise. I have 17 inch Dunlop as upgraded standard and once had to put on the 16 inch spacesaver spare and drive 250km after midnight in country Australia. The noise from that one tyre was extraordinarily loud at any speed on any surface.

I cannot imagine how bad it would have been to have the same 16 inch wheels/tyres on all wheels which was the original default for my low spec car. 

[Trankan]

Tnx for tip but i tried different value of pressure in my tires but no different. I dont have any issue with roadnoice after changing to goodyear, its the terrible airpressure in the cabin thats killing my ears. 

[guitarman001]

I know it's not a proper solution (or is it..) but have you tried putting earplugs in?

Sounds silly but hey... Just curious.

 

VW TSi engines cost about the same as Audi and I think I'd rather go Audi. VW have a terrible reputation for reliability.

Edited 1 May, 2017 by guitarman001

[Trankan]

Yes. Before change of tires i tried earplugs but its not a solution for a longer time because i use the car every day. Skoda has no solution for this problem and you cant keep a car that you cant use as ....a car. The buyers should not solved Skodas problem, if they not listen choose another brand. 

 

Edit: Audi A4 has smaller boot. I need a bigger one. Its the same TSIengines in VW as Skoda and i have never had any larger problems with my VW. I' have been driving for almost 35years and have had a few VW. 2 Fords with enginefaults. 

Edited 1 May, 2017 by Trankan

[guitarman001]

But just to be clear... Did the earplugs actually help?

 

I agree with what you say.

[Trankan]

Yes, with earplugs i didnt feel the airpressure.

[guitarman001]

Audi equivalents are pretty small for the money :(

 

Edit - you'd think if it was a general pressure build earplugs wouldn't fix it. Maybe it's just transient low frequency hits which are hurting the ear drums.

Edited 1 May, 2017 by guitarman001

[Trankan]

Probebly right. Low frequency hits that feels like "airpressure" in the cabin and ears. I have a homecinema and the system is pumpin out very low frekvency sometimes barely so you can hear it , just feel it, its not a problem. 

[guitarman001]

I can't say for sure but I'm also going to compare how bumpy the ride is. 

I push the lumbar support out into my back and that, coupled with my head against the head rest... sometimes I get out the car and have a bit of a sore back. I do think you feel the vibrations a bit more. I'll try to compare to other cars. 

[bigjohn]

3 hours ago, Trankan said:

Probebly right. Low frequency hits that feels like "airpressure" in the cabin and ears. I have a homecinema and the system is pumpin out very low frekvency sometimes barely so you can hear it , just feel it, its not a problem. 

 

Hmm. is this similar to the sort of noise/vibration/pressue you used to get on some cars with an open sunroof but no open windows?

[guitarman001]

There is a bit of that but it's more like a constant dull thudding and sometimes feels like a pressure build up. Super low frequency so it can hurt.

[SaffronSkoda]

Having followed this thread since I purchased my Rapid in 2013, I believe the the effect is subsonic, guess about 8 Hz with higher less intense resonances in the audible range. The reason this does not effect every purchaser will be both themselves and the variation in the car construction.

 

Purchaser: I have a very narrow tube between the ear and the mouth which means changes in air pressure are difficult to accomodate especially when I have a cold and they can block, this can be exceptionally painful when flying during take off and landing. My wife was very uncomfortable in the car when she had sinusitus.

 

The Car: This effect has been extensively reported here with the Octavia but has also been reported in the Rapid forum and a number of years ago on an American Porsche forum. I would suggest the commonality is the very large rear glass screen. Many fixes have been proposed including changing the shock absorbers, changing or adjusting the rear hatch bump stops, adding spare wheels, insulating the boot, changing the tyres. Again I would suggest all these just change the shock energy that excites the rear hatch glass. Why do cars such as the Superb not suffer from this? Well they could have a better hatch frame, mountings or even a heavier gauge glass that does not excite at that frequency.

 

Solutions: I'm not sure there is one, it is a fundamental design fault which will not be fixed until an Octavia IV, this is borne out by the fact in 4 years Skoda has not come up with a fix, I've also seen no complaints with the Rapid Spaceback.

 

A measure of hope: I now find my Rapid bearable. As the car aged the effect became less noticeable and I wonder if play started to appear in the suspension which allowed some of the shock energy to be lost in lossening dampers, rubber mounts etc. Secondly (and this will be probably Rapid only) I added mass and insulation to the parcel shelf. I'm not sure why this worked as I came to it by experimentation, but it could be somehow it broke up the standing waves being generated.

 

[guitarman001]

Or maybe it damaged your hearing and you're no longer able to hear those frequencies... Hope not!

[Bidey]

46 minutes ago, SaffronSkoda said:

Having followed this thread since I purchased my Rapid in 2013, I believe the the effect is subsonic, guess about 8 Hz with higher less intense resonances in the audible range. The reason this does not effect every purchaser will be both themselves and the variation in the car construction.

 

Purchaser: I have a very narrow tube between the ear and the mouth which means changes in air pressure are difficult to accomodate especially when I have a cold and they can block, this can be exceptionally painful when flying during take off and landing. My wife was very uncomfortable in the car when she had sinusitus.

 

The Car: This effect has been extensively reported here with the Octavia but has also been reported in the Rapid forum and a number of years ago on an American Porsche forum. I would suggest the commonality is the very large rear glass screen. Many fixes have been proposed including changing the shock absorbers, changing or adjusting the rear hatch bump stops, adding spare wheels, insulating the boot, changing the tyres. Again I would suggest all these just change the shock energy that excites the rear hatch glass. Why do cars such as the Superb not suffer from this? Well they could have a better hatch frame, mountings or even a heavier gauge glass that does not excite at that frequency.

 

Solutions: I'm not sure there is one, it is a fundamental design fault which will not be fixed until an Octavia IV, this is borne out by the fact in 4 years Skoda has not come up with a fix, I've also seen no complaints with the Rapid Spaceback.

 

A measure of hope: I now find my Rapid bearable. As the car aged the effect became less noticeable and I wonder if play started to appear in the suspension which allowed some of the shock energy to be lost in lossening dampers, rubber mounts etc. Secondly (and this will be probably Rapid only) I added mass and insulation to the parcel shelf. I'm not sure why this worked as I came to it by experimentation, but it could be somehow it broke up the standing waves being generated.

 

I also had a Rapid and it was worse than the Mk 3 i have now have!!

This theory all sounds plausible and Skoda have yet to admit anything on either model.

The Octavia low frequency noise is at least bearable, (I.e. not painful per Rapid, just annoying!!)

I did hear of the loading up the parcel shelf. i tried half heartedly and unsuccessfully with this approach???

Not sure where i we can go with this,,i just wish Skoda would help and apply some resource and try and get a fix or source reduction ;<((((

 

[guitarman001]

What is the parcel shelf fix?

 

I was unaware the same noise affected the rapid... And that it's worse??

[WillM82]

I tried adding foam strips to where the parcel strip sits on the trim, made no difference

[WillM82]

Just now, guitarman001 said:

What is the parcel shelf fix?

 

I was unaware the same noise affected the rapid... And that it's worse??

 

It's on a thread on the Rapid forum, he did a brilliant job of adding insulation to the underside of the parcel shelf

 

 

[guitarman001]

Hmm, I do remember seeing that. I'll read through the thread tomorrow, thanks!

[bigjohn]

I did wonder if it was the large rear window of the hatch acting as a huge "speaker" but I think there are reports of the Estate model having the same issue (I think - although are these other issues?). I was listening out for anything like this today on my Superb II  - the only real noise was slight tyre noise that changed as you moved onto different road surfaces. I suppose the Superb II looks like a saloon and has a smaller rear window - also the twin door hatch is rather substantial. My MK I Octiavia is much louder but I don't think it has a noise as described inthis thread.

 

I'm afraid I work in IT for my sins - when my team is encountering a major problem you have to try to filter out "unrelated" reported issues to diagnose. This can be more difficult than it appears

Edited 1 May, 2017 by bigjohn

[guitarman001]

Fyi the noise appears to be worst m over the yellow anti skid surface prior to traffic lights.

 

That thread is interesting reading....

[WillM82]

12 minutes ago, guitarman001 said:

Fyi the noise appears to be worst m over the yellow anti skid surface prior to traffic lights.

 

That thread is interesting reading....

That surface, or certain road surfaces that seem to be tarmac over concrete are bad for it, there is a road out of my nearest town that must be a special combination over soft land that hits the resonance every day. If I adjust the stoppers etc. It is a good test bed, inevitably no difference made.

[guitarman001]

I'd have to run all the tests again but no parcel shelf had no effect for me. Neither did rubber stop adjust.

[glosrich]

http://www.realoem.me/Skoda/CZ/OCT/2015/753/R/8/827/827010

 

See item 25 'vibration damper' two inside the hatch either side.

Does your car have those are they attached still?

 

Looks like a weight bolted inside the hatch.

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=5E0827034B&client=ms-android-motorola&prmd=mivn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjXzZym2c_TAhXqLsAKHfyMAXI4HhD8BQgIKAI&biw=360&bih=512#imgrc=khdwbIulCkBinM:

 

Would also be worth replacing items 10 and 12 with the latest design or just new ones that aren't worn.

[ExSEAT]

If the theory of the large glass panel is to be explored, is there any way a sufferer could somehow even temporarily dampen the movement of the hatch glass? However ugly it is, just to prove the point? Im not an acoustics engineer so this is out of my field!