I drive lots of highway miles and on newer, smooth road surfaces the Scala is whisper quiet. In fact very quiet. But on course chip and concrete it’s loud and becomes tiring and I wonder if anyone knows if adding any sound proofing will reduce noise, and if so exactly where and what kind of material to use. Tyres are 215/45 18” Good year F1 Sports. 

 

It’s clear it’s from the tyres so my first reaction is wheel arches but I’m no sound engineer. My last car was a Holden Calais. It was very quiet on course chip and I noticed it had a foam between the front door and wheel arch not sure if that was the answer.

 

Any experience you can share would be greatly appreciated . Thank you  

1 hour ago, Mikey_au said:

I drive lots of highway miles and on newer, smooth road surfaces the Scala is whisper quiet. In fact very quiet. But on course chip and concrete it’s loud and becomes tiring and I wonder if anyone knows if adding any sound proofing will reduce noise, and if so exactly where and what kind of material to use. Tyres are 215/45 18” Good year F1 Sports. 

 

It’s clear it’s from the tyres so my first reaction is wheel arches but I’m no sound engineer. My last car was a Holden Calais. It was very quiet on course chip and I noticed it had a foam between the front door and wheel arch not sure if that was the answer.

 

Any experience you can share would be greatly appreciated . Thank you  

 

The answer that I would choose is to change to 205/55R16 tyres fitted to 6Jx16 ET35 5/100 57.1 rims.

 

However, many do choose to keep their low profile tyres for aesthetic reasons and possibly sharper steering response, but at the expense of a harder ride, in which case just look for quieter 215/45R18 tyres.

 

215/45R18 is an expensive tyre size, often costing over twice the price of the much cheaper 205/55R16.

 

205/55R16 is the most common car tyre size in Europe. With the far more expensive 215/45R18 tyre size, it's mainly available in W and Y speed ratings and usually XL eXtra Load. On the Scala, these attributes make for an unnecessarily stiff carcass, and therefore an unnecessarily hard ride. It also adds weight to the tyre, reducing the acceleration and increasing the unsprung weight...which has a negative effect on the car's handling.

 

205/50R17 is somewhere in the middle of 205/55R16 and 215/45R18.

 

Compared to the narrow 205 tyre sizes, 215/45R18 will increase the car's fuel consumption...certainly enough of a difference to affect the car's CO2 emissions.

 

It's good to see that Skoda has chosen a relatively narrow 6J rim for the Scala's 205/55R16 tyre size, as this again helps ride comfort compared to using a wider 6.5J or 7J rim. It also helps protect the rim from kerbing damage, because the sidewalls bulge out quite a bit on the relatively narrow rim.

 

Continental UltraContact 205/55R16 91H (Euro label 69dB)

https://www.camskill.co.uk/m62b0s291p213155/Continental_Tyres_Car_Continental_Conti_Ultra_Contact_205_55_R16_91H_FR_TL_Fuel_Eff_%3A_B_Wet_Grip%3A_A_NoiseClass%3A_B_Noise%3A_69dB

 

Continental UltraContact 205/50R17 89V (Euro label 69dB) (37% more expensive than 205/55R16)

https://www.camskill.co.uk/m54b0s304p212935/Continental_Tyres_Car_Continental_Conti_Ultra_Contact_205_50_R17_89V_FR_TL_Fuel_Eff_%3A_B_Wet_Grip%3A_A_NoiseClass%3A_B_Noise%3A_69dB

 

Continental UltraContact 215/45R18 89W (Euro label B A 69dB) (75% more expensive than 205/55R16)

https://www.camskill.co.uk/m61b0s2151p214385/Continental_Tyres_Car_Continental_Conti_Ultra_Contact_215_45_R18_89W_FR_TL_Fuel_Eff_%3A_B_Wet_Grip%3A_A_NoiseClass%3A_B_Noise%3A_69dB

 

6Jx16 ET35 5/100 57.1 alloy rim

https://eshop.skoda-auto.cz/cs_CZ/alu-kolo-nanuq-16-scala-kamiq/p/654071496B+8Z8

 

Edited 17 July, 20232 yr by Carlston

Carloston, thanks for the detailed reply. Unfortunately is Australia, Skoda doesn’t sell 16” rims, even as accessory which is mental because we have pretty awful roads not suited to low-profile tyres (I’ve had to replace two from pot holes in the last two years). Correction the tyres I have replaced are 215/40 not 45. The 205/45 I was told are “strange size” by the dealer themselves and you can only get them in Chinese brand where the rubber degrades quickly and becomes a safety issue for me not worth the risk. 
 

Non factory rims look like the 90s and even then they looked awful so I’m not inclined to take the option, particularly since it’s a significant expense without any demonstrable improvement, it’s a bit anecdotal what you’re suggesting although I do appreciate it. 
 

I guess my next car I’ll ensure it doesn’t have low profile but for some mad reason the trend in Australia is low profile on just about everything even though engineering wise they are not suited to our conditions. But alas style over substance is the theme of today and I digress… 

Tires will not make a big difference, I have 195/60 R16 on my Scala, but road noise on rough roads is bad,  the problem I guess is weak soundproof. Did you do something about this issue? 

Hi Pete. I confident I’ve isolated the issue coming from poor sound deadening from the undercarriage and doors. It just reverberates like a tin speaker.
 

There seems to be carpet underlay but nothing to absorb the vibrations, except for a few tiny strips in spare wheel housing.

 

I bought some tools to take the door cards out and done some research on sound deadening materials but that’s where it’s stopped. I just don’t have the motivation or confidence yet to take the big job on and worried taking interior apart in case I can’t put it back together again without crying.

 

It’s a good 8+ hour job for the novice but could stage it I suppose. I got a quote for $2k aud for an installer which I’m also considering. Happy to spend it if I know it offers the result but it’s a bit of a gamble because NVH is tricky I imagine

I know exactly what you mean, I was also thinking about soundproofing doors and wheel arches but I gave up on that , although I did soundproof the trunk floor, but no improvement. I guess you need to do a complete car soundproof to have results, and I will not do that on a car under warranty. 

It’s 7 year warranty in Australia so it’s a long wait.

 

I might do the door cards one day, it’s seems the easier, and will post back. No one will know if claimed warranty, and should improve audio quality as well. 

 

Under the seats there’s mm think sheet metal which I think is cause too but who knows. 
 

Next car I buy I’ll be driving on coarse chip road but at the price I think they’re all similar… 

 

good to know the tyre profile doesn’t make a meaningful difference 

Ok, let us know how it goes. And about the tires, I test drove recently a Kamiq with the 18 inch wheels, it was quiter than my Scala with 16 inch, it seems the Kamiq is a better choice, I wish I knew that before I ordered.

Just to confuse us even more…

 

They’re basically the same car. I doubt they added extra deadening to Kamiq, they’re the same class really. You sure it was same conditions?
 

The only relevant difference I can think of is the ride height allowing more energy to escape rather than absorbed under the car which might suggest the undercarriage and A pillar wheel arch /door join as the primary sources but I’m really clutching at theoretical straws… 

 

I’ll post when I do the doors. Wont be for a few months… do update if you have any success too 

 

I am sure the Kamiq was a bit more pleasant to drive. My Scala has the rough road package +15mm, so maybe the extra plastic underneath or Scala's bigger cabin resonates more noise, I don't know.

2 hours ago, Peter_D said:

Ok, let us know how it goes. And about the tires, I test drove recently a Kamiq with the 18 inch wheels, it was quiter than my Scala with 16 inch, it seems the Kamiq is a better choice, I wish I knew that before I ordered.

We initially went to look at the Fabia and the test drive route did reveal a road noise rumbling resonance on rougher surfaces. My first thoughts were that it's present in most cars I have driven to some extent which includes more expensive brands. But I felt straight away that I wasn't happy with the result in the Fabia and took a Kamiq out on the same route. This did seem a lot less intrusive and a lot less frequent.

I have no idea about car platforms or causes but just went with results.

It wasn't something I knew about except for those 2 test drives and I'm happy with the Kamiq so far.

I'm sure the Scala will have attributes to offset this irritation that. some cars don't do as well as the Scala.

I once test drove a sporty Audi Avant and instead opted for the more plush and refined SE. There was no contest for the same reasons in these 2 cars and the sporty Audi was so much worse than anything else I've driven (much worse than the Fabia) and costs big money for the pleasure. So bad I knew in the first 2 miles that it intruded on conversation in the cabin.

Edited 16 December, 20232 yr by Stoker

6 hours ago, Mikey_au said:

 

The only relevant difference I can think of is the ride height allowing more energy to escape rather than absorbed under the car which might suggest the undercarriage and A pillar wheel arch /door join as the primary sources but I’m really clutching at theoretical straws… 

 

 

 

One more thing I forgot to share, when driving over a sharp bump at slow speed I tried to pay close attention and noticed , the front wheels make a thump noise while the rears going over the bump make more of a boom noise, like from a subwoofer. Maybe start with the rear arches and under rear seats if you do soundproof and see if it helps. Just a suggestion.  

Thanks Pete, I think the rear-end thump sound is common with torsion beam or live axle suspension. They loose dampening control when both wheels are subject are subject to absorbing-energy in suspension travel. They just fling back and over power the shock absorbers. It’s an awful sound isn’t it…

Stocker, my lesson for next time. I did test drive the Kamiq but I didn’t pay attention to road noise. The engine noise was well suppressed in both so I assumed it was superior overall to my last car (which turned out better at road noise suppression). Still, I don’t regret the Scala over the Ford Focus which felt 10 years old inside or Mazda 3 which was a bit EMO inside a unrefined drive train in comparison. But if I’d have my time again I’d take both Kamiq and Scala on coarse-chip at speed and go with results as you had. At the time the Kamiq only came in 3 cylinder unless you went Monte Carlo (which is test drove) and I the Monte Carlo isn’t to my taste… dressed up to be a sports car when it’s frankly not, just feels fake and pointless to me 

@Mikey_au

I will too.

You see I'm not claiming I was smart enough to test specifically the road noise. But instead just wanted to see if the Kamiq was a better car for me. I'd pretty much made my mind up the Fabia was too noisy on rougher surfaces to a point that it would fatigue me. So when I hopped in the Kamiq it just became obvious.

I love the exterior of the Monte Carlo but like you I prefer a lack of tactile pretence and a more reserved interior colour scheme.

Agree about the road noise on concrete, compared to my previous Octavia with the same sized 16" wheels. Not a deal breaker for me though as most roads I travel on are tarmac. 

I'd probably try a lower noise rated tyres if it's bothering you a lot. Maybe try some extra insulation within the boot area to start. I've just put a boot liner in mine, not for that reason, but it may help. 

On 16/12/2023 at 08:13, Mikey_au said:

Hi Pete. I confident I’ve isolated the issue coming from poor sound deadening from the undercarriage and doors. It just reverberates like a tin speaker.
 

There seems to be carpet underlay but nothing to absorb the vibrations, except for a few tiny strips in spare wheel housing.

 

I bought some tools to take the door cards out and done some research on sound deadening materials but that’s where it’s stopped. I just don’t have the motivation or confidence yet to take the big job on and worried taking interior apart in case I can’t put it back together again without crying.

 

It’s a good 8+ hour job for the novice but could stage it I suppose. I got a quote for $2k aud for an installer which I’m also considering. Happy to spend it if I know it offers the result but it’s a bit of a gamble because NVH is tricky I imagine

Hey Mikey_au
Not sure if you're still active here but I recently purchased a Scala Signature in Sydney, Australia. I have only had the car 2 weeks and also noticed the road noise to be high. The steering alignment was out so I sent it back to VW today and got a brand new VW Polo as a loan car.

I can certainly say, the VW Polo on 15/16" wheels was much quieter. Not only that, the VW deadening was far superior to the point where it was like I was inside with small white noise coming from outside.

Skoda/VW said to me there was no issues with the tyres (only 9,000km's) and that if there was any issues to go back.

It seems I might just have to hold out on this one and take it for a drive on a motorway next time.

How did you go with your car and sound issues? Any modifications or improvements since 2023, your last post?

Hey @Vivalazuzu

Having had mine for 5 years now, never get an alignment outside the dealer. They don’t know to do it. I’ve replaced a few tyres after pot holes. I’ve had to go dealer for alignment after tyre change.

I’ve come to accept the MQB platform doesn’t like low profile tyres and come with tyre roar. I think if have to jump to the MLB platform to fix it. We have 7.5 GTI which has the problem too but not as bad. I find engine noise is well isolated and wind noise is decent.

I bought deadening but decided against installing it. It’s a pain the bum to do I don’t think it will fix the issue and just add weight to the car… I’ll just have to live with it and be more aware next purchase.

In terms of mods, if I can call it that, I added illuminated OEM door scuff plates and felt lining for the door pockets.

The other thing I’ve learned for next purchase is the floor pan and pedals are too close and not enough thigh support under legs. For the price though I can’t really complain much, it’s been mostly reliable and refined for the money…. Although I bought line just before the mental car inflation.

Edited 14 May, 20251 yr by Mikey_au