Hello my A3 has developed a noise while cruising, sort of droning sound, more noise than tyre or surface running sounds, cars performance is all fine, any ideas of what it could be?? Thanks, Peter. 

Hello Peter,

Could you give us a bit more detail, e.g. noise changes under acceleration, deceleration, different in different gears, and any change on cornering, and if so, left or right? 

Also have you removed the wheels and thoroughly examined the tyres for bulges and flat spots? Are tyres matched on the same axle, and of similar tread depths? 

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

Hello Magnet, the sound comes as I increase speed , doesn't seem to be coming from the engine, could it be from gearbox, I'm not sure, I've looked at the wheels and they seem all ok, I'm at a loss to know what it is!! Sorry if my information is rather vague, its very difficult to explain the sound . Peter. 

Thanks Peter,

Don’t worry about being able to describe the noise, but can you let us have answers to the questions in my post.

’I’ve looked at the wheels and they seem all OK’.

 Have you actually taken each wheel off in turn (or get say a tyre company to do it for you) and thoroughly inspected all areas of the tyres - including the inner side walls?

Sounds as if you might have only walked around the car and had a quick look! 

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

Hello Gareth, no I haven't had a good look , I've checked as much as I could by getting under the Vehicle, il'e definitely get the wheels checked at my local tyre centre, il'e keep you posted, thanks for your advice.peter.

Thanks thanks Peter,

Could you also let us have answers to the questions which were asked? 

Kind regards,

Gareth.

Hello, yes sorry, no different when changing gears , on cornering no difference, the only difference is deceleration say from the motorway, as I decelerate the sound diminishes as the vehicle slows , regards Peter. 

Thanks Peter,

From the standpoint of eliminating the simple things first, then get the tyres checked as suggested. Good brands of tyres, matched on same axle and sensible tread? 

If you eliminate the tyres, then it seems you might be in for suspecting the rear wheel bearings (get your tyre people to check these for you), or the differential...but let’s not there yet.

Kind regards, 

Gareth. 

Hello Gareth, yes will do , great advice, thanks, Peter. 

There used to be an issue with Skoda Octavias a while back with the geometry settings causing the rear tyres to quickly feather on the inside edges causing a droning noise. We had this on our VRS and it sounded like a failing wheel bearing. Skoda revised the rear geometry settings several years back and its been fine since. We did take it to the dealer twice and both times they set it incorrectly so we took it to a local specialist and it was fine. We use the specialist guy every time now.

Run your hand round the tyre edges and if its smooth one way and really rough the other way, they are feathering instead of there being even wear.

 

 

Hello, thanks for that advice, I'm in the process of having my wheels and tyres looked at, at my local garage, but thanks for your advice , regards, Peter. ( I will post when I get it sorted)

@Metalgaff -- Were you able to get rid of the noise issue ? As I see a similar issue with my Audi a3 1.4 TFSI (2015) 

Hello, yes I did it was the tyres, although they wasn't worn right down probably 3 mm, they was found to be feathering, never had this issue before, but its apparently an issue with VW group Vehicles. So I would get the tyres looked at first, regards, Peter. 

@MetalgaffThanks, could you also mention the tyre make before replacing and after replacing ?

In my case, I have dunlop 205/55 R16 which has been used for 35K Kms, I hear some sort of boom sound as I accelerate past 30 kmph range and also while I deaccelerate.. The sound increases and stays.. but the worst part is that I cannot talk to others at 90/100 Kmph,, neither can listen to music.

Hello AJ, yes before I had a problem, I had 18inch Falken on the front, and Continental on the rear, I replaced the front and rear with Falken as I got good mileage with the fronts, regards, Peter.