Octavia Cabin/Road Noise

[bhoywonder]

I have read/heard numerous issues regarding the noise levels in the Octavia VRS and I am getting a little concerned.

 

I had a test drive on Sunday for 20 minutes and can say I did not think the noise was any better or worse than my current 54 plate Passat.

 

A colleague has an Octavia elegance (he thinks) on hire for the last 4 weeks. The first thing he says to me was the noise is horrendous and he would never buy. He is mainly a motorway driver.

 

Is the noise that bad and should I be concerned?

 

What are current owners experiences.

 

Edited 11 August, 2015 by bhoywonder

[Iamholam]

I haven't got my car yet but from all I've read from here Road noise seems to be so subjective. I bought a vrs and the 20min test drive I had I thought it was OK compared to my 10 year Honda (which itself had a hard ride)

I suppose you really just have to out it in context from what the posters on here have had before and what they have bought now.

[RobbySpurs]

Having had a Mk1 Seat Leon Cupra R (awesome car) and a Mk 2 VRS couldnt say that the Mk3 caused any concern on the road noise front during the test drive.

[M12MKD]

Couldn't tell any difference between the MK2FL and MK3. Maybe a bit quieter in the MK3. Either of which I feel is noisy.

 

Tyre's make a major difference on the noise. The MK2FL Conti's were very loud compared with RS3 I had fitted.

 

Noise is one of those things that is different for everyone. I would take an extended test drive and run it on the nearest motorway for a junction.

[marbar2k]

Got to say I have no complaints with the road notice and ride in my vrs estate...you should try driving a Suzuki swift sport..should come with free ear defenders and spinal board

[nicowalker85]

My mk2 elegance came with contis, these were ridiculously loud on motorways. Chamged to michelin energy and its so much quieter but vague when going into bends... I had a couple of decent test drives in the mk3 and found there to be less wind noise, probably making road noise more noticable. (Both estates)

[Bailer]

Just taken delivery of a new RS Combi with Xtremes shod with PZeros and thankfully I haven't noticed any noise from within the cabin or from the tyres. Though coming from an Alfa GT with horrendous road and cabin noise maybe I'm a little easier to please. The PZeros don't appear too loud either for a 19" tyre, again I was a little concerned after reading of one member replacing them after 3000 miles, not a cheap change. Also the ride comfort is great for a car with a sportier suspension and large wheels, its no Rolls Royce but more than comfortable for the daily commute.

[Warkman]

I gave the SE-L 150 diesel. I can honestly say the noise level is fine for me. Quiet compared to other cars I have driven. Sure it's not Freelander quiet, but it's still good for an estate

[Skodev]

I'm currently driving a 15 plate MY15 VRS diesel hatch until my MY16 estate arrives. I too read a load of reports. Happy to say, the road noise is perfectly acceptable. I was getting concerned but after a weekend of driving in the Lakes and some M6 blasts, these cars are seriously impressive. Loving the VRS.

[Karvy]

My 2014 VRS is quieter and a better ride than my 2010 MkII, although the latter was a diesel and my MkIII is a petrol so I guess not a direct comparison

Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk

[hod]

It's not good a lot louder than my dci175 megane sport

[pipsyp]

I have a 2.0 TDI Elegance estate.....its fine though its running on the standard suspension and 17's. Its built to a cost so in that you have to accept that things like NVH levels are not going to be luxury car grade but they are acceptable and if anything enough of an improvement on the Mk2.

I also have a Mk7 Golf GTD and can say that whilst the ride is that bit firmer (with its considerably lower stiffer suspension setup) its damping is better, there is still a fair bit of road noise from the tyres at speed but noise supression generally is alot better...far less engine and wind noise. I guess thats in part why an equivalent Golf costs a few grand more.

[kfckfc]

I have a 2.0 TDI Elegance estate.....its fine though its running on the standard suspension and 17's. Its built to a cost so in that you have to accept that things like NVH levels are not going to be luxury car grade but they are acceptable and if anything enough of an improvement on the Mk2.

I also have a Mk7 Golf GTD and can say that whilst the ride is that bit firmer (with its considerably lower stiffer suspension setup) its damping is better, there is still a fair bit of road noise from the tyres at speed but noise supression generally is alot better...far less engine and wind noise. I guess thats in part why an equivalent Golf costs a few grand more.

 

+1 on what pipsypreturns said - it is built to a cost and as long as you are expecting that then you shouldn't be in for any surprises. The only two areas which I feel the the car is weaker are the doors mirror which look good but generate wind noise at speed and the low frequency boom that kicks in at low speed (though not all O3s suffer from this).

[AusieOccy]

I think a lot of it is to do with tyres and also the road surface.  I have Bridgestone Potenza's on my VRS Estate Diesel and they are not the best for noise.  They are rated at 270KPH and are very hard (great for cornering). On normal roads tthey are ok, however when the road surface is a bit coarse you can really here them.  I have read that the Michelin Primacy ST 3s are the quiestest on the market.  May look at those once my Potenzas wear out.

[butchvrs]

My petrol Vrs is four months old and not had a problem with noise, well occasionally from the passenger side, but always seems to stop when swmbo gets out   .

 

Seriously though it's no more noisy than a friends year old 3.0 tdi A4.

[cortina63]

The cabin /general wind noise is much less on my my16 vrs hatch than it was on my early vrs estate, on mway at legalish limit there is no booming or a high pitch whistle from the early mk 3,the only differences iv seen, though there is probably hidden ones, are rubber seals at the front edge of the bonnet and the materials used in the boot trim, the estate tailgate trim was plastic, the hatch now has softer trim

[robs12]

I had a MY15 1.4TSI DSG Elegance estate, and was very happy - biggest complaint (and I think I commented on here) was that it was noisier than I expected or hoped for. Had Canton & Colombus.

I now have A MY16 1.4TSI DSG SE-L estate, and am even happier, because to my ears it seems quieter than the previous one. For a few weeks inbetween I had an Insignia which may as well have had no windows or carpets...absolutely awful..and not fair to compare, but I am convinced that the newer Octavia is quieter than the first one I had....

So it may well be that there are real differences car to car? Especially when you read the threads about the boom from the bootlid etc.

 

I'm nearly 3K miles in just a few weeks and really no negatives. Have ACC which I use pretty much constantly. DSG with the 1.4 and ACC makes for really relaxing driving, whether on motorway or in traffic snarls.

 

No sound system upgrade but still sounds good to my ears (to the extent that I don't think I would spec Canton/Colombus again) - Amundsen plays FLAC and I can live without the DVD (though was nice to have the occasional surround sound blast!).

[Rodge]

My MY16 1.2 TSI appears to have some sound deadening material under the bonnet, which I thought had been said in the past was only fitted to the diesels. There's also material that's attached to the boot floor and more that is part of the boot carpet. I don't know if any of this is new or whether it's always been there, but on a smooth road my car is very quiet.

[johnrowley]

+1 on what pipsypreturns said - it is built to a cost and as long as you are expecting that then you shouldn't be in for any surprises. The only two areas which I feel the the car is weaker are the doors mirror which look good but generate wind noise at speed and the low frequency boom that kicks in at low speed (though not all O3s suffer from this).

 

+1

 

coming from an E class merc  I was very pleasantly surprised and after changing to some hankook boots (were Michelin somethings) is quieter again. I do lots of motorway miles and at 70mph is quiet relaxed cruising

[Yeti_Man]

I had a MY15 1.4TSI DSG Elegance estate, and was very happy - biggest complaint (and I think I commented on here) was that it was noisier than I expected or hoped for. Had Canton & Colombus.

I now have A MY16 1.4TSI DSG SE-L estate, and am even happier, because to my ears it seems quieter than the previous one. For a few weeks inbetween I had an Insignia which may as well have had no windows or carpets...absolutely awful..and not fair to compare, but I am convinced that the newer Octavia is quieter than the first one I had....

So it may well be that there are real differences car to car? Especially when you read the threads about the boom from the bootlid etc.

out of interest, did both them have the same or different tyres fitted? ive just done another back to back test with the Leon, Golf and Octavia and the Octavia was definitely the noisiest in the cabin over the same route, surprisingly, more so than even the Seat. To me it mainly sounded like tyre/road noise. On a good surface it was fine but on the bad stuff it was considerably worse than the Leon and Golf. Having said that, Yesterday I took a Cupra 5dr hatch out on the same roads again and even that (with its wider tyres) sounded nicer in the cabin than the previous Octavia estate. When I say 'nicer' I mean as if it was managing to filter out more of the external noises. Maybe the Octavias bigger internal cabin and boot capacity actually works against it in this respect?

[robs12]

out of interest, did both them have the same or different tyres fitted?

 

Very good question, and no now I think about it ....different tyres!

Dunlop SP on the MY15, Hankook somethings on the new one. That could well be significant too..

[tgazvrs]

I've got a my15 vrs estate have covered 2800 miles and have had no complaints about excess noise, I've even changed the springs to some vwr ones and the ride was unchanged to standard! All that was on 18" geminis, now I've just changed the for 19" Xtremes with continental tyres and I have to say there has been a reduction in ride comfort and a increase in road noise (only on certain road surfaces) it's not too the point where I'm unhappy with it but the 19's certainly made a difference!

I suppose I can't really complain when our other car is a fiesta St anybody who moans about ride comfort in there octavia needs to go drive one and you will never complain again!

[bhoywonder]

Thanks for all the comments - Think I am going to arrange a extended test drive before I make a decision. Although I think road noise is not going to be an issue for me.

[M12MKD]

Just taken delivery of a new RS Combi with Xtremes shod with PZeros and thankfully I haven't noticed any noise from within the cabin or from the tyres. Though coming from an Alfa GT with horrendous road and cabin noise maybe I'm a little easier to please. The PZeros don't appear too loud either for a 19" tyre, again I was a little concerned after reading of one member replacing them after 3000 miles, not a cheap change. Also the ride comfort is great for a car with a sportier suspension and large wheels, its no Rolls Royce but more than comfortable for the daily commute.

 

If you need to replace try Uniroyal RS3's they are well priced and ride well.

 

Great to hear about the ride on the 19's

[V6Jules]

I've had my vrs estate since march last year and done 9500 miles... I find it similar inside to my previous Passat was road noise wise, possibly some more tyre noise but that's probably not the cars fault.

The only time it's boomy is if I have all the seats down and the load bay cover removed but that's just estates for you