Very loud prominent road noise when travelling at 30mph on a3 sline 18"

[wxc]

Dear all

I have an A3 s line B.E with the 18" twin spoke alloys and I get this loud road noise pervading the cabin when driving below speeds of 30mph. Its not bad in first gear but from second gear onwards the road noise increases up to fourth gear to the speed of 30mph. Driving faster than this the noise seem to dissipate and almost magically disappears when driving on the motorway .

Any thoughts?

Thanks
Wxc

P.s I should add I got new rear tyres that have put on at least 2k and the car is 59 plate

 

[Andy Crooks]

don't have this issue in my a3 s-line, did you put the same tyres on when replacing them?

 

[Rhyss]

have you checked the tyre pressures? I've had new tyres before and the garage had left them way under inflated. new tyres tend to be a tad louder at first, also are the tyres a different brand? i changed from toyo's to bridgestones and the change in road noise was ridiculous, I'm used to it now tho

 

[wxc]

The old rainsportII were moved to the front (about 40psi with decent tread) and Michelin pilot sport 3's were installed in the rear (~36psi).

 

[wxc]

The noise just gets embarrassingly loud, in terms of mpg on the dashboard they look healthy , am getting at least high 50's

 

[dannyh1991uk]

I find that on my A3 that when driving through puddles or where theres any thing like grit or bits in the road it is quite audible inside the wheel arch

 

[DomH]

Definitely sounds like a distorted tyre to me, run your hands along the insides of the tyres and feel for abnormal wear, will almost feel like a 50p piece of it's that

 

[prt57]

I had something similar after swopping tyres from front to back after buying 3 new tyres and a 4 wheel alignment at VW on my 1.8T
I thought it was a wheel bearing but the VW tech worked out the problem. I put on the unused spare on in place of the tyre that I had not replaced and the noise disappeared. I bought the 4th new tyre and it has been fine since.
It appeared that the tyre I had not replaced had worn in a strange way due to old incorrect alignment. After the adjustment the tyre was now almost fighting the road and so it gave out the drumming noise. The dodgy tyre looked OK but you could feel that the pattern was raised.

 

[wxc]

Just like to report back the road noise has all but disappeared after switching the front tyres with the rear!

 

[desertstorm]

I think you will fiind one of the rear tyres has gone out of shape or the alloy has some flats on it. This can happen if they hit a pot hole the internal structure can be damaged. I would locate the faulty tyre and replace it. If the alloy has picked up a flat spot usually on the inside rim where it's thinner they can usually be repaired as long as it's not cracked.
If the tyre is the culprit it may fail at some time in the future which wouldn't be good if you were doing 80 down the motorway at the time.

Karl.

 

[wxc]

I think you will fiind one of the rear tyres has gone out of shape or the alloy has some flats on it. This can happen if they hit a pot hole the internal structure can be damaged. I would locate the faulty tyre and replace it. If the alloy has picked up a flat spot usually on the inside rim where it's thinner they can usually be repaired as long as it's not cracked.
If the tyre is the culprit it may fail at some time in the future which wouldn't be good if you were doing 80 down the motorway at the time.

Karl.

Hi Karl

Thanks for your reply, I can still sense the noise but with its coming from one or both of the rear tires now. I'm doing a "wheels off" detail this weekend and will thoroughly inspect and see which one is the culprit.

Thanks again,
Will

 

[desertstorm]

Jack the car up and spin the wheel. Obviously make sure it's chocked if it's a rear wheel as you will need to release the handbrake.
If the tyre is out of shape or the wheel buckled you can usually see it when the wheel is spun.

Karl.