I have been following threads in both the Rapid and Ocatvia 3 forums as both my wife and I have noticed a boom/pressure on the ears particularly when travelling at 20 to 30 mph over rough/damaged tarmac surfaces.  This has been particularly unpleasant whilst I had a head cold and the tubes in the ears which normally equalize the air pressure were blocked.  Initial thoughts were that it would have to be a large panel to resonate at such a low frequency and hence the chassis or tailgate but, when I saw members of the Octavia 3 forum mention a very similar sound I could not believe Skoda would have made the same mistake twice.  I read that German forums members were changing shock absorbers to eliminate this problem but it struck me that this would only change the type of surface that causes the resonance, not eliminate the resonance.

 

Member Skoda_Doug on the Octavia 3 forum gave me the clue I was looking for: he found that if he removed the parcel shelf and lowered the rear seats the problem was solved.  I replicated the test on my Rapid and found that only removing the parcel shelf solved it.  So it must have been my parcel shelf resonating, this theory was further supported when I notice the parcel shelf of a Seat had a moulded honeycomb structure underneath which had obviously been designed to prevent such resonance, mine if tapped sounded like a drum.

 

My solution: I ordered 1 metre of 3.2Kg Adhesive Backed EPDM and 5 metres (only 2 was required for this job) of 600gsm 10mm Thick Adhesive Backed Acoustic Felt from www.carinsulation.co.uk .

I cut a rectangular panel of EPDM with rounded edges with scissors and used dividers to scribe out the circles.  The idea was to add mass to prevent the panel resonating but I did not want to add so much it would impede the tailgate opening.

 

Placing the parcel shelf on the felt I used a chalk to outline its shape which when cut out only needed further slight trimming to fit the underneath profile. One of the reasons I chose this rather old fashioned material (felt) was because it is very forgiving and moulds itself the the shape you require.

 

Not an unaceptable look to me but, more importantly I can drive in comfort and I'm enjoying my new car again.

Good thinking and nice job!

Impressive

Yep nice job! 

Impressive and resourceful!

Hi,

Now that you have lived with this sound insulation "fix". :think:

How has it been since? has it full worked? Did you report problem initially to Skoda dealer and was ther ant reaction if so?

 

I am also having nightmare with low resonance sound when going slow (30mph -ish) and especially on corners where the the antiskid layer is present.

It sets up, an unbearable sound in your ears/head! :<(   and is severley spoiling the enjoyment of the car after only 3 weeks ownership.

 

Hi,

Now that you have lived with this sound insulation "fix". :think:

How has it been since? has it full worked? Did you report problem initially to Skoda dealer and was ther ant reaction if so?

 

I am also having nightmare with low resonance sound when going slow (30mph -ish) and especially on corners where the the antiskid layer is present.

It sets up, an unbearable sound in your ears/head! :<(   and is severley spoiling the enjoyment of the car after only 3 weeks ownership.

 

Quick fix would be to remove the shelf in the back. 

Shall try that straight away

Hi Guys,

I have spent some time trying to fully understand the best way forward for this.

 

I have bought and received "silent coat" dampening mats and intend to fit them ASAP!

 

However i still think that it is a general Skoda (specifically but not only Rapid) problem that needs to be fed back and try to get them to solution it and provide a real fix!!

I sent the following complaint to Skoda UK  (i received phonecall today confirming recepit and promise of  reply within 48hours????

I will update when i get feedback/solution???

 

"I have had my Rapid 1.4 TSI DSG for 6 weeks now and we love the car except for one really annoying issue.

When travelling at low speed (20-30mph) over rough road and in particular antiskid surface coatings at roundabouts and junctions etc. There a loud "booming" noise that is painful to my ears and very uncomfortable.

 

I took car on test drive with Skoda dealer Service Manager at Specialist Cars, Dundee. he experienced the same uncomfortable noise.

We then took out another Rapid and it had the exact same scenario of the booming noise. he said that there was nothing he could do as it was a "feature of the car design".

He suggest i fit some sound dampening material insulation may help the "booming".

I find this not really a satisfactory answer and would like to register a formal complaint with Skoda UK and request that is logged and a solution by Skoda UK provided."

 

Bidey fae Perth

Please take plenty of pictures when you plan on fitting the sound dampening material and share it with us. Thanks in advance!

Hi Guys,

I have spent some time trying to fully understand the best way forward for this.

 

I have bought and received "silent coat" dampening mats and intend to fit them ASAP!

 

However i still think that it is a general Skoda (specifically but not only Rapid) problem that needs to be fed back and try to get them to solution it and provide a real fix!!

I sent the following complaint to Skoda UK  (i received phonecall today confirming recepit and promise of  reply within 48hours????

I will update when i get feedback/solution???

 

"I have had my Rapid 1.4 TSI DSG for 6 weeks now and we love the car except for one really annoying issue.

When travelling at low speed (20-30mph) over rough road and in particular antiskid surface coatings at roundabouts and junctions etc. There a loud "booming" noise that is painful to my ears and very uncomfortable.

 

I took car on test drive with Skoda dealer Service Manager at Specialist Cars, Dundee. he experienced the same uncomfortable noise.

We then took out another Rapid and it had the exact same scenario of the booming noise. he said that there was nothing he could do as it was a "feature of the car design".

He suggest i fit some sound dampening material insulation may help the "booming".

I find this not really a satisfactory answer and would like to register a formal complaint with Skoda UK and request that is logged and a solution by Skoda UK provided."

 

Bidey fae Perth

 

Just had phonecall from Skoda UK and Donna (customer services manager) has told me after consultation with her technical people the "Booming" painful noise experienced is due to Rapid car design characteristics and not a manufacturing default. So there is nothing they can do fix it.!!!!

I answered that the Design is part of the manufacturing process and as such is deemed as a manufacturing fault. She repeated the standard text.... I have asked her to escalate my complaint,, which she is doing and i should get a phonecall from SUK senior manager within 4 hours.

Dissappointed to say the least, but i await the phonecall anyway.

I have not noticed this on mine. I have the spare wheel and double sided boot floor fitted, I wonder if this makes a difference?

I've not noticed it either but then again it could be a matter of hearing sensitivity. Didn't somebody else post a thread about this a few months ago including a DIY fix?

The senior manager from SUK phoned me on 4 hour mark and asked if she could speak further with the dealer and  Skoda technical people and come back to me again tomorrow.

 

So will see what that brings if anything ;<0

 

Bidey fae Perth

The senior manager from SUK phoned me on 4 hour mark and asked if she could speak further with the dealer and  Skoda technical people and come back to me again tomorrow.

 

So will see what that brings if anything ;<0

 

Bidey fae Perth

Well they came back and predictably they are not doing anything about it... Apparently they have had some people feeding this "Booming low speed noise" back from owners, but not enough relative to Rapids sold to do anything about it. So anybody out there suffering same get on the SUK website and complain!

 

So total disappointment and sad that i thought Skoda were a caring car company i.e. Customer promise- "Care and consideration for you and your car"

 

So left with the Service manager recommendations fit some "Dynamat" type material in appropriate parts and then sound matting etc. 

This our retirement car and was supposed to be with us for a longer term than any previous car.

 

Hope it works????????????????????????????????

Has anyone tried changing the make of tyre for the road noise? I noticed that a lot of rapids come with Dunlop Sp Sports, these tryes are terrible for causing road noise and boom on your ears in a car. I proved this when I was test driving identical skoda vrs hatch cars a couple of years ago. The cars not on dunlops were far less noisy, it was such a difference I could tell which car had them on without even looking. My current car a rapid 1.2 tsi se has them on and I am going to change them tomorrow. I also think tyre pressures set high makes this worse. I hate the way the sound booms in the car and cant wait to try a different make of tyre. My car runs 185 60 r15 tryes so I should be on the best size of wheel for road noise, but not on dunlops lol.

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Hi Big Tinker,

Thank goodness somebody else has the same issue! ;<) see link

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/311448-tyre-pressures-on-rapid-14-tsi/

 

Sure mine are Dunlops as well!

I will have to run with these tyres until done!

I have reduced the tyre pressure slightly from recommended F 2.3/ R 2.4 bar (1.4TSI DSG)

 

Still have to fit sound deadening panels awaiting a dry day weekend to do it!!

 

I changed to Continental when i got mine and i am now running on Pirelli. Still have the problem. 

Hi Big Tinker,

Thank goodness somebody else has the same issue! ;<) see link

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/311448-tyre-pressures-on-rapid-14-tsi/

Sure mine are Dunlops as well!

I will have to run with these tyres until done!

I have reduced the tyre pressure slightly from recommended F 2.3/ R 2.4 bar (1.4TSI DSG)

Still have to fit sound deadening panels awaiting a dry day weekend to do it!!

Hi Bidey

thanks for the message, after researching tyre reviews I fitted two Goodyear Efficientgrip Performance tyres to the rear of my car today and I have found an improvement. I have less road noise from the rear and no booming so far. I think fitting the sound proofing is a great idea and hope it works for you. I think the Rapid is prone to the road noise and tyre pressures, type of tyre and sound proffing will all help reduce the problem. So far my car has improved a lot and I plan to swap the front tyres as funds allow. I appreciate others have tried different tyres, but what can I say the Goodyears have worked for me. I know the Dunlops are bad news and only make things worse, as my experince from other cars has shown. Clearly Skoda should do something about this and offer a sound proofing kit and think about what tyres they fit to their cars.

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Hi big Tinker,

My other car and the car i sold all had Goodyear Efficientgrip Performance tyres and they were excellent.

Hope the sound dampening works as i love the car in all other respects,, fits the bill perfectly ;<) (

 

Bidy fae Perth

I've had my Rapid for a fortnight. There's so much to like about this car but I too have problems with the 'sonic boom'. Having read through the posts on this topic, particularly Rapid Ronnie's, I began to wonder whether the resonance was anything to do with a virtually empty spare wheel compartment (I don't have the optional spare wheel) so - don't laugh! - I stuffed a couple of old pillows in. It hasn't cured it completely but it's significantly better I think.

Hi BJC,

I have spare wheel and "sonic boom"!

 

report to dealer and also to Skoda UK. As they told me they have some reports of this but not enough to do anything about!

 

PS: Great car and love it otherwise.

 

bidey fae Perth

Does anyone experiencing this problem have the double sided boot floor? Maybe this would help, adding an extra layer of sound insulation to the boot floor?

 

As I mentioned, I have not experienced this problem and have both the spare wheel and double sided boot floor. Also running on Dunlop SP Sports.

Thanks Bidey and Rapid Ronnie. I have one major constraint which is the need to get my dog cage in the boot which just fits: this means that I can't raise the boot floor significantly, or drive with the parcel shelf in place. I'll keep tinkering! Incidentally, to contribute to the tyre debate, mine has Bridgestones so I think it's a problem with the car rather than the rubber.