Replaced some horrendously noisy Bridgestones (205/55-16) with Goodyear Efficientgrip Performance and the result is a nicer ride and significantly reduced road noise. I followed that with a Hunter alignment.

I have a droning noise now that I haven't heard before but would have been drowned out by the old tyres. It starts between 10mph and 20mph and increases in volume (but not pitch/frequency) with speed until it gets drowned by tyre and wind noise at motorway speeds.

I asked the dealer to investigate the wheel bearings while the car was in for a new DSG clutch but they reported no problem (I'm assuming they did actually investigate). I've jacked up the car and found no convincing levels of roughness or play and I have tried comparing the noise driving on left/right hand bends but as they appear no different it could indicate it is neither wheel bearing or they are both equally noisy (unlikely?)

If the bearings are not to blame then that only leaves the new tyres or cabin accoustics. The plan first is to get the Mrs to drive the car while I have a listen around in the back. If this is unproductive, fit my winter tyres on the back and see if the sound changes. The winters will make some noise of their own but if I can still detect the drone then it is not the tyres. I am loathe to blame the tyres as the drone doesn't seem to change on different road surfaces but I am sure I can hear the tyre noise change beneath the drone

The octavia is a fairly noisy car from a tyre/wind/road noise pov but I don't recall coming across a droning noise thread that hasn't been attributable to bearings, tyres or alignment. Any ideas would be most welcome

If the noise doesn't increase in pitch with increasing speed, then it isn't speed related. That rules out transmission/drive train/wheels.

My car recently had a droning from the NS rear which started suddenly. I assumed wheel bearing but swapped the tyres around and the droning followed. Droning only appeared at certain speeds and not noticeable when going above 40mph. Turned out to be the tyre had gone misshapen. Pirelli pzero. Put on new pair of Goodyear Efficient Grip and noise gone.

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Thanks for the replies.

 

I had read that a bearing starting to wear would get noisier with speed rather than the noise changing pitch but I'm happy to stand corrected

 

The tyres are new and appear to run true and even

Worth having a good look at the rear brake discs too, especially on the inner face. If they are corroded then they will also drone with a pitch according to speed.

Checked the discs - all ok.

Had a listen around in the back with swmbo driving and I was surprised to find I could barely hear the noise and that it was clearly in front of me. The noise is most evident in the front seats but if you lean forwards towards the dash it is less obvious like there is a sweet spot for the noise right at front seat head level!

Different gears and engine speeds make no difference. Selecting neutral had no effect

I also determined that it is slightly quieter going uphill so although the drive is under more load the weight displacement means the rear of the car is slightly loaded and the front unloaded weight wise. I don't know what, if anything, this could point to?

Tried various settings on the heater and fan - nothing

Finally, also determined it is quieter when the car is cold off the drive and gets a bit louder during the first 5 mins of driving.

In summary it doesn't seem to be engine, transmission, tyres, brakes or road surface related but is related to vehicle motion

Baffled!!!