Hi all,

I'm chasing a wind/resonance noise on my 2025 Octavia IV Combi 2.0 TDI 150 DSG and hoping someone here has seen the same.

Symptoms:

- A droning/booming sound that starts around 125 km/h and gets louder with speed.

- It's strongly temperature-dependent: only appears above ~25 °C outside. On cooler days it starts much later (140+) or not at all.

- Sounds like it comes from the front. Headwind makes it worse; drafting behind another car makes it disappear.

- It was NOT there for the first few months — it appeared later.

I recorded it and ran a frequency analysis. It's a narrow tonal peak at exactly 129 Hz. The frequency stays fixed at 129 Hz regardless of speed — only the loudness changes. It also continues unchanged when I shift to neutral and coast, so it's not linked to engine revs.

What I've already ruled out myself:

- Tyres: swapped the complete wheel set (summer Hankook → winter Michelin). Noise still there, same 129 Hz.

- Wheel bearings (no change when swerving), balance (factory, smooth), ventilation (no change with recirculation or fan off), roof bars (removed).

- Taped over many seams: hood seal, plenum cover, headlight gaps, windscreen sides, front of the roof rails — no change.

The fixed frequency + temperature dependence + speed relationship all point to an aerodynamic cavity resonance to me, rather than anything mechanical.

Two questions:

1. Has anyone had this and actually solved it?

2. I've noticed everyone I've found online with this exact symptom has the Combi (estate). Can anyone with a hatch/liftback confirm whether they get it too, or is this a wagon-specific thing?

Thanks in advance — happy to share the frequency plot once my account can post images.

Second data point for you — and unfortunately it's another Combi.

I have a 2026 Octavia IV Combi 2.0 TDI 150 (facelift). Same thing:

- Booming/droning starts around 140 km/h and gets louder with speed. At 160 it's noticeably louder but it's the same tone — the pitch never changes.

- Shift to neutral and coast: engine drops to ~1000 rpm, the drone carries on completely unchanged. So nothing to do with revs or the drivetrain.

- Fuel level makes no difference. I thought at one point it only did it with a full tank, but I retested properly and that was a red herring.

I can't answer your hatch/liftback question, but at least you now have a second Combi with an identical signature, on a different model year and in a different country.

One more thing that might be relevant. Separately from the drone, my fuel pump is clearly audible at idle — louder than the engine — but only when ambient temperature is above about 25 °C. Below that it's silent. Same 25 °C threshold you're describing for the drone. Might be coincidence, might not.

That temperature threshold is what I keep coming back to. The thing on these cars that changes state right around there is the active radiator grille shutter. It stays shut at speed when there's no cooling demand, and opens once it's hot and the A/C is working. Open shutters at 150 km/h means flow into the engine bay and a cavity that can resonate at a fixed frequency. It would fit everything you've described: front-ish location, headwind makes it worse, drafting behind another car kills it, nothing below 25 °C, and it appearing after a few months rather than from new.

A few questions so we can look for a common part:

1. When you removed the roof bars, did you take off the longitudinal rails themselves, or just the crossbars? The rails sit in a channel with end caps and those are worth taping over.

2. Panoramic roof? Tow bar? Wheel size?

3. Have you had a look at the grille shutter position via VCDS or ODIS while driving? If it reads open exactly when the drone is there, that's most of the answer.

4. Has the dealer actually driven it with you, and did anything come back from a TPI search?

I'll record mine and run an FFT so we can compare — if I land on 129 Hz too, that's a very strong argument to take to Škoda. Two documented cases in two countries is a lot harder to wave away than one.

check undertray/arch liners etc. Have had one that was slightly loose and made a weird howling sound at specific speeds. Must have caught it on something and ripped a couple of screw fixings. As it plastic it may be slightly softer when weather hot so might change speed it resonates at.

Alasdair

Hello,

I own a 2026 Sportline 2.0 TDI, but in the 85 kW manual version with acoustic front windows.

Till now, I have done about 6k km and don't think I have noticed any droning sound.

Above 120 km/h, there is noticeable tyre noise (Kumho Ecsta Sport PS2), and things get better above 160 km/h when wind noise takes over.

So, maybe two things to check: do only DSG cars suffer from this problem and does lower sportline suspension make any difference?

@ilkosl You are correct about the active radiator grille, but if I understood correctly, all models have it.

Also had a problem with a fuel pump from 0 km; when the oil temperature would get above 90, you started to hear a low-pressure fuel pump in the tank. Sometimes it would be louder, sometimes quieter, but the noise was there, and it made a droning sound. The pump was replaced under warranty at around 180 km on the clock and has been silent ever since.

But it was not temperature/speed/head-wind realted issue.

@ilkosl thanks, this is exactly the kind of detailed reply I was hoping for — really helpful.

First, answers to your questions:

1. Roof bars — I only removed the crossbars; the longitudinal rails are factory-fitted and still on. Good point about the end caps, I'll tape those.

2. Panoramic roof — no. Tow bar — yes, factory tow bar, but it was retracted during all my tests. Wheels — 16", never changed (205/60 R16).

3. Grille shutter — I had a good look and I don't think I have one. I can't see any shutter mechanism or actuator behind the lower grille, just the radiator/intercooler directly. I'll confirm via VIN/PR codes through my dealer, but visually it doesn't look like I have active shutters. If that holds, the shutter can't be our common cause, since I get the drone without it.

4. Dealer — yes, they drove it with me. The mechanic just said "it's the tyres" by ear, nothing measured. So I swapped the complete wheel set (summer → winter) myself — drone unchanged, same 129 Hz. No TPI/bulletin result was ever mentioned. I've since sent them a written report with the frequency analysis and asked them to escalate to Škoda and check for other reported cases.

Two things seem to line up across the affected cars, and I'd like to narrow them down:

1. DSG — mine is DSG (DQ381). Is everyone with the drone on DSG?

2. Engine power — mine is 110 kW (150 PS). Can those of you with the drone confirm your output?

@Gogich thanks — your 85 kW manual with no drone is a really useful data point. If it turns out everyone affected is 110 kW + DSG + Combi and the manual/lower-power cars are clear, that's a very specific pattern to take to Škoda. The higher-output DSG version has more to cool up front (gearbox oil cooler, higher heat load), which could change the airflow/thermal picture at speed on hot days — and would fit the temperature dependence without needing the shutter theory.

Mine measures a fixed 129 Hz — if anyone can record and FFT theirs, let's see if we all land on the same frequency. Please do try the recording if you can; two or three independent measurements at 129 Hz in different countries would be very hard for Škoda to dismiss.