Superb Estate 2013 Motorway Droning TDI DSG 170

[JoeH79]

I have the above car which I have had from pretty much new (well with 3000 miles on it).

 

When I bought it I had heard people mention in reviews of noise between 70 and 80 MPH but to be honest it has never been an issue apart from when the front tyres were on their limit at around the 20k service. Swapped out for new ones and noise gone. (Contis)

 

Fast forward to early this year when the car was MOT'd and serviced at 40k, I was advised the fronts were getting on the limit at the same time as I noticed a slight droning noise between 60-80 mph. Naturally I assumed replacement tyres would sort it and upon a bit of research on here,  got 2 new Goodyear Efficient Grip Performances fitted to the front.  Mentioned the noise to the garage and they checked balance, rears, bearings and all was fine. 

 

Immediately the noise has worsened, particularly on smooth motorways and is noticeable from 50-80, the worst being between 70-80 particularly when decelerating (so no power into the front wheels). Its a really low pitched drone and at its worst between 70-80 you can feel the vibration through the footwell. So I took them back to the garage who thought they were faulty, have fitted another set with the first set going back to Goodyear under warranty claim.

 

Guess what?  Having taken the car onto the motorway today the 2nd set (from a different batch) are exactly the same.

 

It is really annoying, I cant believe it can be the tyres.  What's bizarre is at 85 the noise totally disappears.

 

I was thinking of getting the garage to swap the fronts and backs over and then I guess if that doesn't rectify it its down to a main dealer to look at.  The car is now out of warranty so perhaps its time to way up simply chopping it in rather than get into expensive investigations and repairs which amount to nothing.

 

A real shame as its been a smashing car and up until now I have had not issues with it at all.  Very frustrating.

Edited 27 May, 2017 by JoeH79

[Rooted]

Why can you not believe it is the tyres with all your experience of the tyres.

 

[Snapper1725]

Are you sure it's not the rears at fault??

just put 4 new tyres on mine (Friday) due to droning noise ( rears at fault) Good year ultra grip on all 4 what's been taken off

fronts where worn so swapped them round with backs and made it worse.

its now a totally different car with the new tyres on

 

[jafo]

Maybe the cheapest option would be to try rollingroad ??

[JoeH79]

10 hours ago, Awayoffski said:

Why can you not believe it is the tyres with all your experience of the tyres.

 

Because I have never had this issue with brand new tyres in 20 yrs of driving!!

 

[JoeH79]

9 hours ago, Snapper1725 said:

Are you sure it's not the rears at fault??

just put 4 new tyres on mine (Friday) due to droning noise ( rears at fault) Good year ultra grip on all 4 what's been taken off

fronts where worn so swapped them round with backs and made it worse.

its now a totally different car with the new tyres on

 

They checked the rears and loads of tread, worn evenly and balanced. The noise and vibration comes from the front.

 

 

[JoeH79]

7 hours ago, jafo said:

Maybe the cheapest option would be to try rollingroad ??

I have no experience of rolling roads, would this diagnose whether it is tyre or mechanical?

 

[gav_is_con]

How about wheel alignment. Has that been checked all around?

 

It had been known certain tread patterns and brands etc cause droning on rears like octavias. Plenty of threads over the years. 

[jafo]

5 hours ago, JoeH79 said:

I have no experience of rolling roads, would this diagnose whether it is tyre or mechanical?

 

Me neither but car is stationary so you can closely inspect any sounds.

Would be best to go under as well but I think it won't be possible. 

[JoeH79]

On 28/05/2017 at 09:34, gav_is_con said:

How about wheel alignment. Has that been checked all around?

 

It had been known certain tread patterns and brands etc cause droning on rears like octavias. Plenty of threads over the years. 

Yep they balanced the new ones and tracking on all tyres when fitted.

 

If it makes any odds I have budgets on the back and had a tuning box fitted in March, however the worsened droning has been since the good years went on the front.

 

i am tempted to get them to fit 4 contis back on - I should have stuck with them. 

 

Perhaps a a lesson learnt if it ain't broke don't fix it!!

[chimaera]

These Superbs are sensitive to alignment, particularly in the rear. Was the person doing the alignment for you aware of this?

 

A tuning box won't make a difference to tyre noise (though it may well cause other problems) but cheap tyres might. Chassis performance is a function of all the parts together, so changing one part can change the behaviour of other parts, even if they haven't been touched.

[silver1011]

Wheel bearing? There have been a few complaints over the years of premature bearing failures.

 

As already mentioned be sure to double and triple check the rears, sawtoothing is another relatively common complaint with the rear tyres of the MkII Superb.

[JoeH79]

1 hour ago, silver1011 said:

Wheel bearing? There have been a few complaints over the years of premature bearing failures.

 

As already mentioned be sure to double and triple check the rears, sawtoothing is another relatively common complaint with the rear tyres of the MkII Superb.

Yeah I saw this mentioned on another forum to do with passats funnily enough so this is something I am going to flag with the garage.

 

I think I am going to replace all 4 with contis which were what it was manufactured with and get them to check wheel bearing and double check balance and alignment.

 

I have enough annoying drone with the wife on board I don't need it coming from the car too!!

[Markevans99]

I have exactly the same problem. Starting a couple of months ago. Drononing starts at about 50 mph up to 80. 76mph is worst and disappears at 84. Throttling off it still occurs. It's driving me mad!  Dealer said swap backs to fronts. Had a blow out at the front this week and tyre was split so decided to change all 4 Goodyear efficiency grip for Michelin sport 4. Problem still remains. Yetis have similar problem and bearing seem the common fault. Would putting dsg in neutral by mistake at 70  have any relation to this fault?

[bigjohn]

9 minutes ago, Markevans99 said:

I have exactly the same problem. Starting a couple of months ago. Drononing starts at about 50 mph up to 80. 76mph is worst and disappears at 84. Throttling off it still occurs. It's driving me mad!  Dealer said swap backs to fronts. Had a blow out at the front this week and tyre was split so decided to change all 4 Goodyear efficiency grip for Michelin sport 4. Problem still remains. Yetis have similar problem and bearing seem the common fault. Would putting dsg in neutral by mistake at 70  have any relation to this fault?

 

Swapping wheels back to front usually double checks that a "bearing" noise is not just tyres which can cause problems  (Ie dealer changes bearing and noise still present!)

 

However the "bearing" noise can also be actually a failed wheel bearing 

 

DSG in neutral - probably not

Edited 29 May, 2017 by bigjohn
I can't type!

[Markevans99]

Thanks bigjohn

 will ask dealer to check

[Nathanio]

I've used Goodyear tyres on my Superbs for the last 3yrs and they've been excellent. By far the quietest tyres I've used. 

 

I had a brief fling with Bridgestone S001s on a Superb estate last year. They were alot noisier than the GY F1A2 I had been using on the Twindoor. 

 

On this current Superb Estate it came with Landsail tyres and it was like there was bits of bricks in the wheel! So nosiy at all speeds and all surfaces. Awful tyres. 

 

I did have to have both front wheel bearings changed under warranty at 55k miles. Now with the GY F1A3 it is so quiet. Unlike the diesel clatter going up hills or under load. 

[scootie]

3 minutes ago, Nathanio said:

I've used Goodyear tyres on my Superbs for the last 3yrs and they've been excellent. By far the quietest tyres I've used. 

 

I had a brief fling with Bridgestone S001s on a Superb estate last year. They were alot noisier than the GY F1A2 I had been using on the Twindoor. 

 

On this current Superb Estate it came with Landsail tyres and it was like there was bits of bricks in the wheel! So nosiy at all speeds and all surfaces. Awful tyres. 

 

I did have to have both front wheel bearings changed under warranty at 55k miles. Now with the GY F1A3 it is so quiet. Unlike the diesel clatter going up hills or under load. 

What model of the landsails do you have?

[JoeH79]

8 hours ago, Markevans99 said:

I have exactly the same problem. Starting a couple of months ago. Drononing starts at about 50 mph up to 80. 76mph is worst and disappears at 84. Throttling off it still occurs. It's driving me mad!  Dealer said swap backs to fronts. Had a blow out at the front this week and tyre was split so decided to change all 4 Goodyear efficiency grip for Michelin sport 4. Problem still remains. Yetis have similar problem and bearing seem the common fault. Would putting dsg in neutral by mistake at 70  have any relation to this fault?

This sounds exactly the same as my problem.

 

Have you had the front bearings checked/done?

 

The snag I have is that I have already sent one set of GY's back under warranty.

 

Time for a chat with garage this morn!!!

[Nathanio]

3 hours ago, scootie said:

What model of the landsails do you have?

 1 x 388 I think and 3x 288. Bloody horrible things. Borderline dangerous in the wet with understeer everywhere. I've reviewed them on here in detail in the tyres section. 

 

Changed to F1A3 and all the nervousness, noise and glass feeling disappeared. 

[Snapper1725]

I've got my car back, well how it used to be. 

said in earlier post that I've just put 4 new tyres on and that it was better right away 

well ive just travelled down M6 etc to Wales and it was soooooo smooooth and quiet 

forgot how good the car was 

Well happy now 

[Markevans99]

Went into dealer and ordered new bearings on nsf. Noise disappeared

[iperry]

Similar issue with mine:

 

Putting a set of nokian weatherproof on the front seems to have helped a bit though not totally fixed.