Tyre Noise - Not Wheel Bearing Noise

[Sentinel]

I seem to be having a similar problem - 118TSI at 30,000km. How can I tell if the tyres (Bridgestone Turanza) are causing it?

Also, what is feathering/scalloping, and are there any visual signs? What is the sound they make (mine is a kind of hum, higher pitched than normal road noise, but still pretty faint. Sometimes I can't tell if it's there, and it seems to go away on very smooth tarmac)?

If it's the tyres, will a different brand be better?

[khamtran]

I seem to be having a similar problem - 118TSI at 30,000km. How can I tell if the tyres (Bridgestone Turanza) are causing it?

Also, what is feathering/scalloping, and are there any visual signs? What is the sound they make (mine is a kind of hum, higher pitched than normal road noise, but still pretty faint. Sometimes I can't tell if it's there, and it seems to go away on very smooth tarmac)?

If it's the tyres, will a different brand be better?

I was told all tyres to some extent are prone to scalloping depending on how they are cared for (hard cornering, infrequent wheel balancing/alignment etc).

I wasn't able to tell by looking at my tyres but when the Volkswagen tech drove the car he said the tyres sounded scalloped. The Beaurepaires guys confirmed this by feeling the tyres while otating them by hand.

When I had this problem I could hear a low whoop whoop sound which increased in frequency with speed. I could also feel a slight vibration through the car.

[Frankenstrat]

I was told my enthusiastic cornering was the likely cause of the problem so now I don't take corners as hard.

Hmm, I think you may have a point there, there are a couple of roundabouts on my way home I do tend to take rather quickly (if it's safe to do so).

When I had this problem I could hear a low whoop whoop sound which increased in frequency with speed. I could also feel a slight vibration through the car.

With mine, it's a low frequency woo woo woo that seems to change with speed, but I can't say that I've noticed any vibration.

[Umai Naa!!]

I seem to be having a similar problem - 118TSI at 30,000km. How can I tell if the tyres (Bridgestone Turanza) are causing it?

Also, what is feathering/scalloping, and are there any visual signs? What is the sound they make (mine is a kind of hum, higher pitched than normal road noise, but still pretty faint. Sometimes I can't tell if it's there, and it seems to go away on very smooth tarmac)?

If it's the tyres, will a different brand be better?

If you run your hand over the shoulders of the tyre, and they're coarser than the middle, you'll find that the tread blocks will have kicked up at the leading edge, with a trough so to speak, in the centre, or some tread blocks at intervals will be significantly higher than others. You usually see this on the inside edge of the tyre more often than the outside edge.

[Sentinel]

If you run your hand over the shoulders of the tyre, and they're coarser than the middle, you'll find that the tread blocks will have kicked up at the leading edge, with a trough so to speak, in the centre, or some tread blocks at intervals will be significantly higher than others. You usually see this on the inside edge of the tyre more often than the outside edge.

Thank you! That's exactly the sort of information I need.

The humming/whining noise does seem to change depending on the texture of the tarmac, which suggests to me that it's probably tyre-related. The odd thing is that it doesn't seem to happen when the car is cold-started on a winter morning. It then takes about 20 minutes of driving to appear. If I start at midday, though, the noise begins almost immediately.

It's mostly apparent at speeds above 20 km/h, and doesn't seem to change in pitch depending on speed. Also, I say "seems" a lot, because it's not very loud, and sometimes I'm not sure it's even there. But I've driven this car since new, and I know all the sounds it makes, and I think this is an unpleasant, recently appearing one.

Sorry for my vagueness. But thanks again for the help!

[entice]

Heel and toe wear is what everyone is describing.
It is not due to hard cornering etc etc.
It is exacerbated by lower profile tyres, and also made worse by tyre rotations - ie front to rear axle.
Some block patterns also make it worse.
Re050's are prime suspects.
Live with it, as trying o rotate it out will be unsuccessful. Or, cough up for new tyres prematurely, and hope it won't affect the new ones.
My gti suffered from it at around 15000kms after a tyre rotation. Never again.
Made me corner harder to promote tyre wear to advance the need for tyre replacement. Sold the car with 22000kms and it was still making the noise.

Oh, mk 6 golf is very prone to it. Factory alignment specs will lead to this.

[Sentinel]

Thanks for the extra information.

There seem to be a lot of fingers pointing at Bridgestone tyres. Is there any particular brand or model of tyre that is less prone to this problem?

[Jamar]

Is there any particular brand or model of tyre that is less prone to this problem?

Had some Goodyear NCTs on another car that were incredibly bad for this. Everyone that got in the car tried to convince me I needed a new wheel bearing.

[Umai Naa!!]

Directional tyres are usually the worst for scalloping.

But I'd ask the tyre shop what they'd think would be the best compromise.

[Transporter]

I think it's more to wheel alignment than brand and model of the tyre. As long as the tyre you have doesn't have the chunky blocks in the the tread close to the edge of the side wall.

We had GY Eagle NCT5 15" on our MK5 TDI and at 45,000km, when we sold the car the tyres had 1/2 the tread reamining and no faults in, not even the sign of the scalloping.