Hello,

I own a Fabia 3 (facelift model) with the 1.0L 110 hp engine and manual transmission, purchased new in 2020; it has covered about 37,000 km.

A few weeks ago, a strange noise appeared, seemingly coming from the front of the car.

The noise starts to occur after driving for about ten minutes.

To me, the volume is clearly noticeable, but not loud enough to be picked up on a recording made with my mobile phone, as it gets drowned out by normal road noise (engine, tires, wind, etc.).

It isn't a humming sound; it’s more like a rubbing or friction noise.

Once it starts, it remains virtually constant in both volume and pitch:

. regardless of vehicle speed (starting from around 20 km/h)

. regardless of the gear engaged

. whether the car is in gear, coasting (clutch disengaged), or in neutral

. it doesn't change when shifting the load—testing by turning/loading the front-left and then front-right sides while driving at 70–80 km/h (I’m lucky enough to have stretches of good road nearby with smooth asphalt and relatively light traffic at certain times).

Technicians at my Skoda dealership—where I just had the 6-year service done—said they took it for a test drive and didn't hear anything unusual. They also found no issues with the wheel bearings.

The only option they offered was to run a diagnostic check for the tidy sum of €375.00.

Before committing to that, I thought I’d check the forum to see if anyone might have an idea what the problem could be.

I’ve searched online but haven't found any similar cases.

Thanks for reading.

You say volume and pitch do not change with speed, does the frequency change?

Could it be saw-toothing of tyre treads?

No, the frequency doesn't change.
I changed the tires a few days ago, and the noise is still there.
For now, it doesn't seem to be getting worse. So, I'm avoiding long trips and keeping an eye on it while waiting for a possible solution.

Check the auxiliary belt for wear on its sides. It may be a pulley or tensioner thats failed. Also check undertray is secure etc. Have a weird scuffing noise on my octavia that I think is brake pads rubbing but doesnt happen very often. waiting for it to get worse so I can diagnose it. Worse when cornering and then disappears.

Alasdair