This is my first post, and I suspect that there are many more similar ones concerning road noise on my 2011 Octavia  1.8Tsi.

Much as I like the car, (just completed 3 years/ 17k miles) the hard suspension, and particularly the sensitivity to the coarseness of road surfaces, is a weak point.

The car was fitted with Continental Sport Contact 2 tyres, which I plan to change  -  in fact due to local potholes I have already changed two tyres to Goodyear Efficient Grip types.  I have found the Goodyears effective at subduing noise on other cars, and have them on the rear (would rather any further damage occurred to the Continentals) 

I wonder what other Octavia drivers have found works, and whether there is anything specific I can do to reduce noise in general.  I notice that there is no damping material on the bonnet, but dare not fit normal self-stick bitumen due to the heat.

 

Any advice gratefully accepted.

You can fit the bonnet sound mat from a diesel.

 

In my experience most of the noise came from the rear of the car. I fitted some of the cheap bitumen type mats in the rear. It helped a little but not much.

I also changed to the same GY tyres as you on the front. I would have put them on the rear too.

 

Unfortunately the Octy is a noisy car, that's one of the downsides of now paying 10k more for an Audi.

I was finding the road noise tiresome in the car. The VRS is the worst with its big low profiles.

 

I've moved on now but one of my criteria for the new car was that it must be quieter than the Octy.

AS above. Skoda saves money by not fitting the level of deadening that other marques using the same platform do.

There was a thread recently, someone installed a noise killer kit, or as much as they could be bothered. Just bartleing loads of bitumen based stuff is not very effective. Allegedly.

Concentrating on the boot, under the rear seat and the wheel arches is reckoned to be best.

My continental wintercontact tyres are so quiet I'm actually looking forward to putting them back on.

 

Having said that the OEM continentals are shocking for noise - I have goodyear eagle f1 asymmetrics on now which are far far better.

 

It is a noisy car though, biggest drawback to the Octavia I reckon.

As per a recent post I replaced the fronts (Conti 5) on my VRS CR after 28k (mostly motorway) miles with 4mm tread left. Impressive life but the tyre roar was driving me mad on the coarse tarmac on the M40 south of Jn 10.

Replaced with Dunlop Sport Maax RT which are substantially quieter 2k miles on.

Replacing the back tyres made little difference to noise levels for me - it was the fronts.

Nearly sold the car due to the roar! Now it's ok (but still not as quiet as my Mk1 VRS). Moving from a Mk1 to Mk2 I didn't think to check for things that *weren't* a problem on the Mk1. Top priority for my next car...? Road noise. And I shall ensure I go for a long drive along a stretch of coarse tarmac.

I had  an Octavia Scout TSI and found the road noise to be unacceptable. I fitted some good quality thick carpet underlay under the floor mats and under the boot mat, which helped quite a bit as i recall. Refinement is one the top criteria for me when I buy a car and the Octavia was very disappointing. I drove from Yorkshire to Kent in a Golf 1.6 to collect my Scout and was gutted on my return home to find that the Golf was so much better. I am considering a Superb later this year but currently have a Lexus LS 400, which is one the quietest ,most refined cars on the planet. A fortune was spent on its development, including 60 engineers working just on noise, vibration and harshness. You can put a glass of water on the running engine, not a ripple. Trouble is, I'm not sure a Superb will even come close.

The part number for the underbonnet sound insulation is in my post below. Don't order the clips!

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/215100-underbonnet-sound-insulation/?p=2547431

I have the 1.8tsi & managed to convince the sales person that the factory had omitted the under bonnet insulation so she organised a new one under warranty.  They sell them on AliExpress for USD 50 delivered if that's any help.

 

I agree, the CSC2 are a noisy tyre, especially when they get below 4mm.  you might try something like the Toyo Teo or Yokohama dB range.  They are both very quiet.

 

I'd recommend you get a good 4-wheel alignment & let the tech know your tyres get noisy. He can set the adjustments at the conservative end of the scale which ofetn reduces noise.  Also, cross-rotate (rears direct to front & fronts to opposite rears) the tyres every 7500-10,000km.

 

I also bought some sound deadener foam & put several layers under the rear seat & also in the boot area including the quarter panels.  There are several threads about sound deadening in the Skoda area of VWWC - here's one of them.  It works quite well.

 

You could also do the wheel arches with bitumised/rubberised paint.