Low frequency boom in cabin

[bassebas]

Hi

 

For a month now Im the proud owner of a Superb hatch Style 150 TDI

 

In most way a fantastic car but it suffers from a low frequency noise/boom coming from the rear part. Similar to the sound you get when sliding down one of the rear windows (but not as loud)

 

In the octavia section i found a thread describing the same issue in octavia  http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/294540-low-frequency-boom-in-cabin/

 

Anyone notised this in a new superb?

 

/Magnus

[Nick_H]

Not had this in the estate.

[Juvehero]

Likewise, nothing like that in my Business hatch. In fact it's the quietest car I've owned.

[reedfarmer]

There are a number of possibilities in the long thread you pointed to including high cabin air pressure (was recognised by Skoda) and the spare wheel well among others suggested. Never had any problem with my MkII Superb. Not got MkIII yet as it is on boat still.

 

Other unlikely possibilities include slowing down to prevent the supersonic boom or maybe Basil Brush is in the boot Boom Boom 

[chadlington]

Not noticed this yet (but I was fixated on a certain noise that's now been fixed). it would bother me if it was there so would have noticed. Do you have the spare wheel, or not?

[Guest]

The noise was coming from the passenger footwell rather then the back but might be worth reading my experience over the past week in chadlingtons post... http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/376805-faulty-air-recirculation-motorvalve/

[bassebas]

No spare wheel.

 

Its not the noise mentioned above, in fact its not really noise more of low frequency (below what we can hear) air pressure fluctuations. For short drives its acceptable but after driving for 1 hour I have a terrible headache.

I agree the car is very quiet besides this. My wife does not react on this "booming". 

[bigjohn]

No spare wheel.

 

Its not the noise mentioned above, in fact its not really noise more of low frequency (below what we can hear) air pressure fluctuations. For short drives its acceptable but after driving for 1 hour I have a terrible headache.

I agree the car is very quiet besides this. My wife does not react on this "booming". 

 

Does this car have any vents (boot area) that have not been "prepared" thus pressurising the cabin. Does it still make the noise with rear windows slightly down (take out pressure)

Edited 18 November, 2015 by bigjohn

[s4lty]

Yes, I have exactly the same problem with my S3 SE L Exec, 220 TSI, DSG, HB on 18" Pegasus (with spare wheel but no DCC or SR).  It's exactly the same problem described in the Octavia Mk3 thread http://www.briskoda....-boom-in-cabin/

 

It's driving me nuts - I've even got noticeable tinnitus now which is quite bothersome and doesn't go away for days :-(   Though weirdly the rest of my family don't hear it.  Again, otherwise it is the quietest car I've ever owned.  Basically, I can't enjoy driving it any more, i doubt the main dealer would be interested from the remarks in the O3 thread, plus I bought my S3 from an online broker so I doubt that will endear my local dealer to me either...

 

The irony is that the reason I went for the Superb over the Octavia (which was fine for me otherwise) was to avoid the cabin boom issue!  I test drove an Octy 3 2014 plate last year and the noise in my ears was unbearable so I walked away.  I test drove the new Superb (1.4TSI DSG SEL) back in September/October and couldn't detect this cabin boom and all else was great so I went and ordered a new one online via Autoebid (which went great and I saved a bundle of cash).  The car was delivered mid-March and all seemed fine.

 

I went on a longer trip over the Easter holidays and I felt this pressure in my ears again.  It seems that one is either sensitive to this low frequency noise (I estimate between 5-10Hz) or not, but I seem to be getting more sensitive to it as it goes along.  Now even a short journey makes my ears feel weird - like I've been to a loud rock gig!  Now I have persistent tinnitus in both ears and it's really p***ing me off!  I don't know what to do.  I don't want to sell the car as in every other respect it's f**king great and I waited over three months for it to be delivered not to mention about a year's test driving other cars.  I really like the hatch back design as the car still looks like a saloon but is much more practical for family life.  The tech in it is great (ACC, FA, steering headlights, DSG) there's no other vehicle that can offer all this for anywhere near the same price.

 

I've tried various ideas from the Octavia page:

 

1) Silent coat in the boot/spare wheel well - barely noticed the difference

2) Adjusting the rubber stops on the hatchback and rear sides where hb sits to no avail

3) Opening windows slightly here and there to no avail

4) Removing parcel shelf, dropping back seats - worse

5) Padding back edge of HB - not practical and marginal improvements

6) Reducing tyre pressure in rear wheels to 2.3 bar (33 psi) no real benefit

 

I spoke to a friend and he suggested that the 18" LP tyres might be contributing to the noise.  I do feel that the ride is quite hard considering that it's often reported as a bit soft in the press (on standard non DCC suspension).  I wondered if I had 17"s it would feel smoother?  I'm considering going to the dealer or service centre and asking if they can swap over wheels for me for a day or two to see if that helps.

 

Ultimately, I feel that the noise is a product of the HB design maybe although some combi Octavia users report the noise too...?

 

Questions:

 

Anyone else have this problem?

Does the 220TSI have a stiffer suspension set up than say the 1.4TSI engines by default

Would 17" wheels (and slightly narrower tread I imagine) suffer from loss of grip under accel.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated! 

[RickTT]

cant comment on the boom element but my S3 COMBI is a lot louder on the motorway than any previous cars from the tyre roar in to the cabin due to road surfaces at 70mph.

Car is running some conti contacts I think.

My BMW e60 was near silent at these speeds.. And even at 130mph while autobahn storming was quiter but the road surfaces are better in Germany.

I am driving through france, Belgium Holland and Germany in May so will report back on tyre noise after.

[Leeboy]

Yes, I have exactly the same problem with my S3 SE L Exec, 220 TSI, DSG, HB on 18" Pegasus (with spare wheel but no DCC or SR). It's exactly the same problem described in the Octavia Mk3 thread http://www.briskoda....-boom-in-cabin/

It's driving me nuts - I've even got noticeable tinnitus now which is quite bothersome and doesn't go away for days :-( Though weirdly the rest of my family don't hear it. Again, otherwise it is the quietest car I've ever owned. Basically, I can't enjoy driving it any more, i doubt the main dealer would be interested from the remarks in the O3 thread, plus I bought my S3 from an online broker so I doubt that will endear my local dealer to me either...

The irony is that the reason I went for the Superb over the Octavia (which was fine for me otherwise) was to avoid the cabin boom issue! I test drove an Octy 3 2014 plate last year and the noise in my ears was unbearable so I walked away. I test drove the new Superb (1.4TSI DSG SEL) back in September/October and couldn't detect this cabin boom and all else was great so I went and ordered a new one online via Autoebid (which went great and I saved a bundle of cash). The car was delivered mid-March and all seemed fine.

I went on a longer trip over the Easter holidays and I felt this pressure in my ears again. It seems that one is either sensitive to this low frequency noise (I estimate between 5-10Hz) or not, but I seem to be getting more sensitive to it as it goes along. Now even a short journey makes my ears feel weird - like I've been to a loud rock gig! Now I have persistent tinnitus in both ears and it's really p***ing me off! I don't know what to do. I don't want to sell the car as in every other respect it's f**king great and I waited over three months for it to be delivered not to mention about a year's test driving other cars. I really like the hatch back design as the car still looks like a saloon but is much more practical for family life. The tech in it is great (ACC, FA, steering headlights, DSG) there's no other vehicle that can offer all this for anywhere near the same price.

I've tried various ideas from the Octavia page:

1) Silent coat in the boot/spare wheel well - barely noticed the difference

2) Adjusting the rubber stops on the hatchback and rear sides where hb sits to no avail

3) Opening windows slightly here and there to no avail

4) Removing parcel shelf, dropping back seats - worse

5) Padding back edge of HB - not practical and marginal improvements

6) Reducing tyre pressure in rear wheels to 2.3 bar (33 psi) no real benefit

I spoke to a friend and he suggested that the 18" LP tyres might be contributing to the noise. I do feel that the ride is quite hard considering that it's often reported as a bit soft in the press (on standard non DCC suspension). I wondered if I had 17"s it would feel smoother? I'm considering going to the dealer or service centre and asking if they can swap over wheels for me for a day or two to see if that helps.

Ultimately, I feel that the noise is a product of the HB design maybe although some combi Octavia users report the noise too...?

Questions:

Anyone else have this problem?

Does the 220TSI have a stiffer suspension set up than say the 1.4TSI engines by default

Would 17" wheels (and slightly narrower tread I imagine) suffer from loss of grip under accel.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Sorry to hear this is a real problem in your car. I've got a 1.4 tsi manual which I specced with 17" rims. I don't hear anything untoward although road surfaces can have significant noise variations, take south west section of M25, scoured concrete really bad. If you live anywhere near Salisbury, you're welcome to ride in mine. Must also say I have Canton sound which supposedly has done noise cancellation tech but don't know how much that is just marketing pap rather than actual difference in cabin noise levels.

[Stinker]

cant comment on the boom element but my S3 COMBI is a lot louder on the motorway than any previous cars from the tyre roar in to the cabin due to road surfaces at 70mph.

Car is running some conti contacts I think.

Yip, mine too

[Nick_H]

Revisit to this thread.... Is this the Chinook sounding pressure that you get if you just have one window open ?

[LeeBB]

cant comment on the boom element but my S3 COMBI is a lot louder on the motorway than any previous cars from the tyre roar in to the cabin due to road surfaces at 70mph.

Car is running some conti contacts I think.

My BMW e60 was near silent at these speeds.. And even at 130mph while autobahn storming was quiter but the road surfaces are better in Germany.

I am driving through france, Belgium Holland and Germany in May so will report back on tyre noise after.

Have to say my Volvo S60 was the same on Pirellis. Swapped it to Goodyear F1 and the car was whisper quiet thereafter.

[Rebelred]

cant comment on the boom element but my S3 COMBI is a lot louder on the motorway than any previous cars from the tyre roar in to the cabin due to road surfaces at 70mph.

Car is running some conti contacts I think.

My BMW e60 was near silent at these speeds.. And even at 130mph while autobahn storming was quiter but the road surfaces are better in Germany.

I am driving through france, Belgium Holland and Germany in May so will report back on tyre noise after.

I had those continental sport contact tyres on my last Superb & they were terrible for road noise, swore i'd never get Continentals again. I was delighted when I saw Pirelli's on the new Superb when they launched it. No issue with road noise in my Combi & I've the 18" Pegasus on her.

[Bule]

I had those continental sport contact tyres on my last Superb & they were terrible for road noise, swore i'd never get Continentals again. I was delighted when I saw Pirelli's on the new Superb when they launched it. No issue with road noise in my Combi & I've the 18" Pegasus on her.

I agree with Rebelred.

 

But I am sure that the panoramic sunroof on my 190 DSG SEL Exec estate is very noisy at anything over 40 mph. The roof seems to create a roaring sound in the car and will probably be a reason for me not keeping it more than a year or so.  The roaring sound seemed to lessen when I opened the roof! My 170 Elegance  DSG estate, with no pano roof, was much quieter and the only obtrusive noise came from the continental tyres which I changed to Goodyears which transformed the car.

[Rebelred]

I agree with Rebelred.

 

But I am sure that the panoramic sunroof on my 190 DSG SEL Exec estate is very noisy at anything over 40 mph. The roof seems to create a roaring sound in the car and will probably be a reason for me not keeping it more than a year or so.  The roaring sound seemed to lessen when I opened the roof! My 170 Elegance  DSG estate, with no pano roof, was much quieter and the only obtrusive noise came from the continental tyres which I changed to Goodyears which transformed the car.

I've the Panaramic roof aswell & have no issues. The only unbearable noise in my Superb is from the 2 kids when I'm trying to hear the sports results!!!

[s4lty]

Yes, I have exactly the same problem with my S3 SE L Exec, 220 TSI, DSG, HB on 18" Pegasus (with spare wheel but no DCC or SR).  It's exactly the same problem described in the Octavia Mk3 thread http://www.briskoda....-boom-in-cabin/

 

It's driving me nuts - I've even got noticeable tinnitus now which is quite bothersome and doesn't go away for days :-(   Though weirdly the rest of my family don't hear it.  Again, otherwise it is the quietest car I've ever owned.  Basically, I can't enjoy driving it any more, i doubt the main dealer would be interested from the remarks in the O3 thread, plus I bought my S3 from an online broker so I doubt that will endear my local dealer to me either...

 

The irony is that the reason I went for the Superb over the Octavia (which was fine for me otherwise) was to avoid the cabin boom issue!  I test drove an Octy 3 2014 plate last year and the noise in my ears was unbearable so I walked away.  I test drove the new Superb (1.4TSI DSG SEL) back in September/October and couldn't detect this cabin boom and all else was great so I went and ordered a new one online via Autoebid (which went great and I saved a bundle of cash).  The car was delivered mid-March and all seemed fine.

 

I went on a longer trip over the Easter holidays and I felt this pressure in my ears again.  It seems that one is either sensitive to this low frequency noise (I estimate between 5-10Hz) or not, but I seem to be getting more sensitive to it as it goes along.  Now even a short journey makes my ears feel weird - like I've been to a loud rock gig!  Now I have persistent tinnitus in both ears and it's really p***ing me off!  I don't know what to do.  I don't want to sell the car as in every other respect it's f**king great and I waited over three months for it to be delivered not to mention about a year's test driving other cars.  I really like the hatch back design as the car still looks like a saloon but is much more practical for family life.  The tech in it is great (ACC, FA, steering headlights, DSG) there's no other vehicle that can offer all this for anywhere near the same price.

 

I've tried various ideas from the Octavia page:

 

1) Silent coat in the boot/spare wheel well - barely noticed the difference

2) Adjusting the rubber stops on the hatchback and rear sides where hb sits to no avail

3) Opening windows slightly here and there to no avail

4) Removing parcel shelf, dropping back seats - worse

5) Padding back edge of HB - not practical and marginal improvements

6) Reducing tyre pressure in rear wheels to 2.3 bar (33 psi) no real benefit

 

I spoke to a friend and he suggested that the 18" LP tyres might be contributing to the noise.  I do feel that the ride is quite hard considering that it's often reported as a bit soft in the press (on standard non DCC suspension).  I wondered if I had 17"s it would feel smoother?  I'm considering going to the dealer or service centre and asking if they can swap over wheels for me for a day or two to see if that helps.

 

Ultimately, I feel that the noise is a product of the HB design maybe although some combi Octavia users report the noise too...?

 

Questions:

 

Anyone else have this problem?

Does the 220TSI have a stiffer suspension set up than say the 1.4TSI engines by default

Would 17" wheels (and slightly narrower tread I imagine) suffer from loss of grip under accel.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated! 

 

So I went to the local dealer yesterday and they sent a technician out on a test drive with me, as I feared, he couldn't hear what I was describing, so we went back to the dealership and another technician came out and he couldn't hear it either.  They performed a so-called safety check on the car and it all checked out.  I showed the tech guy print outs from this forum on all cars (Rapid, Octavia and Superb) detailing this cabin boom effect and I suggested that it may be the hatchback and how well it fits in the opening.  He said he would read the stuff but otherwise didn't seem that bothered.  I also asked if it was the suspension as it seems stiff to me for a car that the press describes as soft or wallowy.  I asked if they could change the wheels for a 17inch rim and higher profile tyres in case that helped but they said they don't have any spare wheels available.  So I left rather down-hearted, I reckon they think I'm mad, I'm starting think I maybe mad too!  The problem was not evident when I first got the car - it took me about two weeks before I started to notice it and realise it was the car that was hurting my ears and causing me symptoms such as tinnitus afterwards.  So it's inevitable that someone new to the car won't hear it - I feel trapped!

 

I'm seriously considering selling the car, but I love all its other attributes.  Anyway, what would I replace it with and how will I know it won't hurt my ears - I wonder if they will even recover anyway.

 

Getting my first new car seems to have put a curse on me. 

[maherto]

Just a thought would it be worth while over inflating your tyres to see if the tone changes if not maybe under inflate purely as a temp test ?

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

[s4lty]

Thanks for the thought, but I have tried under inflation and this didn't really change it.  Over inflation will likely make the tyres even harder and more likely to bounce I reckon.

[glosrich]

Sounds like as a last resort, it might be worth getting some 17" wheels and some quiet tyres and see if that helps?

I've heard that Goodyear Excellence And Michelin Cross Climate are pretty quiet, but check the DB figures.

Don't go via a Skoda dealer, they'll have £1000 of you easily. Try someone like Oponeo or MyTyres that sell complete wheels and tyre sets for around £600.

Cheaper than a new car.

[Prykey]

Have you tried either borrowing a 2.0 TSI demonstrator from somewhere and seeing if it had the same effect or even get a forum member near you to meet up with you and go for a drive in their car to see if it is still evident?

[s4lty]

Hi Prykey, Yeah, sounds like an idea just to compare - you don't find yourself near Kingston at all do you?  When I was at the dealers on Tuesday, they didn't have a hatchback S3 at all either.  I might try buying some s/h wheels off ebay if I can get ones that are the right size 17" jobs that would fit the S3

[Prykey]

Hi Prykey, Yeah, sounds like an idea just to compare - you don't find yourself near Kingston at all do you?  When I was at the dealers on Tuesday, they didn't have a hatchback S3 at all either.  I might try buying some s/h wheels off ebay if I can get ones that are the right size 17" jobs that would fit the S3

 

Sorry, I don't often go out that way unless its on a motorcycle, however if I do and you haven't reached a conclusion I'll PM you so that we can set something up mate

[Wagon]

have you tried swapping the fronts to the rear , or 1 at a time to see if the boom moves?