Whistling / wind noise

[SNR]

I noticed a few months back that my Combi is making an annoying 'whistling' sound from somewhere around the driver's door / wing mirror area at motorway speeds, and dependent a bit on wind direction. It is not that loud and music can drown it out, out but it is annoying. I have played with the plastic bits at the bottom of the windscreen and tried tape in various places on the door seal and mirror, but to no avail.

The only thing that seemed to make any difference was part-folding the door mirror - so whether that's making the noise or moving it is just changing the airflow I don't know. The mirror itself seems fine and everything looks properly clipped together.

Dealer has road tested the car when it went in for its first service and the technician says wind noise is audible but is also on other Octavias he has driven. I am not 100% convinced they are listening to the same thing, but maybe I am being too picky.

Has anyone else had the same issue and if so did you find a solution?

Edited 1 October, 2014 by SNR

[Gabbo]

I've got the same wind-noise from the mirror/door area on my vRS.

I've also tried the same fixed as you & found the same improvement only when folding in the mirror.

 

I guess its caused by the design/shape of the mirror itself & it was the same in the demostration vRS I drove at the dealer as well.

[SNR]

Thanks - well it sounds like the dealer might be right then! You'd have thought that given how much money goes into designing a new car this kind of flaw might have been spotted and ironed out......

[Gabbo]

Wold be interesting if the same thing is present on the Gold or Passat as I'd imagine the mirrors are very similar if not identical..??

[aki78]

I noticed a few months back that my Combi is making an annoying 'whistling' sound from somewhere around the driver's door / wing mirror area at motorway speeds, and dependent a bit on wind direction. It is not that loud and music can drown it out, out but it is annoying. I have played with the plastic bits at the bottom of the windscreen and tried tape in various places on the door seal and mirror, but to no avail.

The only thing that seemed to make any difference was part-folding the door mirror - so whether that's making the noise or moving it is just changing the airflow I don't know. The mirror itself seems fine and everything looks properly clipped together.

Dealer has road tested the car when it went in for its first service and the technician says wind noise is audible but is also on other Octavias he has driven. I am not 100% convinced they are listening to the same thing, but maybe I am being too picky.

Has anyone else had the same issue and if so did you find a solution?

Tyres can make strange noises and maybe your mirror direct it to somewhere else when folded.

Maybe it's worth a try changing to different ones and see what happens.

Is the whistling noise constant on different kind of roads or changing? Starts above a speed or always there?

 

I used to buy Conti's in the past but I won't buy them anymore because of noise issues.

My last winter tyre (I believe it was TS 850) made a stupid whistling noise all the time and it was really loud and annoying on wet roads.

And my last summer tyre (one of the Premiumontacts) sometimes made very mysterious wind noises like it coming from the roof...I started to blame my roof rails but it was the tyre on some kind of asphalt.

I had the above noise issues with my previous car Golf V Variant and with 16" tyres.

My new Octy came with 17" Pirelli Cinturato P7's and I'm very satisfied with them.

 

I don't have such a noise coming from the mirrors. I sensitive to such things, but nothing in my car.

In the past I had a courtesy Octy3 for 3 days and a heavy wind noise started suddenly above 100 kph. It was the plastic thing at the bottom of the windscreen.

 

I have underbody guard (shield) as an optional extra this could also make a difference in noises...

[nickcoll]

I have this noise as well and I absolutely do not believe that it comes from the tyres.

 

In the case of my car it starts at about 70mph (maybe I should say is present at 70mph!), definitely originates on the nearside from the bottom of the screen and is wind noise from a point source that is different from the general wind/road noise that comes from the car.

 

So far my speculation is that it comes from the small bit of soft plastic that rises from the recess behind the bonnet and presumably acts as a seal of some kind. The nearside one of these seems to be slightly more proud (higher) than the offside one and I will try and adjust it if I can work out how it is gripped in position. I have also thought of possibly putting some silicon sealant over it as a temporary fix to prove or disprove that this is where the noise is originating.

 

It is slightly annoying rather than anything more than that, and does slightly spoil the otherwise very quiet cabin interior.

[SNR]

Thanks all - I also doubt it is the tyres as the noise varies a bit with wind speed / direction, but not with road surface. May have a bit more of a play with the tape, plastic thingy and wing mirror, and possibly also check in with SUK customer services in case they have heard of it (or can at least confirm it is not normal). I agree it rather stands out from an otherwise quiet cabin ( on a good road surface at least).

Re the Passat and Golf, it's a good thought. I have come across some reports of wing mirrors making this kind of noise on an older Passat model ( and going away when mirrors are folded back), though these are presumably quite a different shape.

[Gabbo]

I will be changing my tyres in a few weeks to my winter tyres so will report any changes I hear in the noise.