Cupra 290 - Noise when driving/braking

Michael1a1

Active Member
Oct 22, 2015
49
41
Morning all,


Just looking for a bit of advice!

My Cupra has developed a noise whilst driving, particularly around 40-50.
To me sounded like a bit of a flat spot on one of the tyres and on checking the front left did have a slight flat spot on.
Fronts were just about getting to 3mm so decided to get them changed at the weekend, tyre fitter checked and there was a flat spot so I thought great will solve it!

It hasn’t and i am still getting the same noise when driving almost like there is a flat spot, but now am getting the noise as well on braking again most noticeably around 40-50.
Normally would think that it could be something with the wheel bearings, but wouldn’t of thought an 18month old Cupra should be having issues with those?

Anyone any ideas before I try and get it booked in with Seat?!

Cheers in advance
 

Michael1a1

Active Member
Oct 22, 2015
49
41
Just for anyone having similar issues, I got there in the end!!

Was a badly stepped/sawtooth profile of the inner tread blocks on the passenger side tyre.

Replaced at the weekend and noise is completley gone. Was the original Continental tyres that were fitted from new with approx 19k on them that had gone. Seems like a fairly common thing on VW cars with independant rear suspension so one to watch out for.
 
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RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
7,784
983
South Scotland
That sounds like an alignment issue, you should get a full 4 wheel geometry check and adjust/fix carried out as surely this will happen again.
 
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280jl

Active Member
Nov 20, 2015
162
59
Bromley
Very common on a lot of cars now days, wouldn't be to worried, may not even be an alignment issue, ive seen tyres feather and wear blocky on the inner edge with the tracking in spec, no harm in getting a full four wheel alignment done though ! So many potholes about, no matter how good you drive, the roads will knock the tracking out pretty quick
 

Rooster

Active Member
Oct 27, 2018
1,188
326
Yorkshire
Glad you got it sorted, a very common issue on all makes irrespective of suspension type. It’s made worse on performance cars due to the camber and toe settings.
 

SRGTD

Active Member
May 26, 2014
2,387
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I had this happen on the rear tyres on a mk5 Golf. It sounded just like a worn wheel bearing - you could see and feel the stepped sawtooth pattern on the inside edge of the rear tyres.

@Michael1a1; as RUM4MO has said, get a 4 wheel alignment done, otherwise you’re likely to experience sawtooth wear again.
 

RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
7,784
983
South Scotland
Just a general comment, I owned a Ford Orion Ghia Injection from new, at its 1st service just within warranty, I reported "saw toothing" on one or both rear tyres, the answer was "rear suspension fixed no corrective action possible", so I was stuck with that, a year later and now out of warranty t its 2nd service, my dealer contacted me to say that the rear tyres were wearing unevenly due to a rear wheel alignment issue, so I let them sort that out and it cost me a small chunk of money, both for the kit of parts, fitting and rechecking the alignment - note here the rear suspension while not being adjustable, now had a kit available to fix this issue, ie it had a couple of control/radius arms/braces, on finding that these cars, and Escort XR3i both suffered from this, Ford produced a kit of parts to resolve it, ie a couple of washers! The plan was to either remove a washer or add a washer. So, when the same thing happened with my next Ford Orion Ghia Injection and I got contacted about extra work needing doing, this time I dug my heals in and demanded that they address this known Ford issue at Ford's or their own expense, which they did!

Living with "saw toothing" on rear tyres is not required, most if not all design errors can be resolved.
 
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adam davies

Active Member
Dec 30, 2019
338
138
I had similar problem on my 1.8 tsi sc 2017 noise at low speed, i thought it was a wheel bearing. But the noise was constant and noy only when turning. Turned out to tyre had saw toothed, got full wheel alignment and car then drives great. Alignment was way out
 

Peller

Active Member
Mar 29, 2016
600
191
Edinburgh
Just a general comment, I owned a Ford Orion Ghia Injection from new, at its 1st service just within warranty, I reported "saw toothing" on one or both rear tyres, the answer was "rear suspension fixed no corrective action possible", so I was stuck with that, a year later and now out of warranty t its 2nd service, my dealer contacted me to say that the rear tyres were wearing unevenly due to a rear wheel alignment issue, so I let them sort that out and it cost me a small chunk of money, both for the kit of parts, fitting and rechecking the alignment - note here the rear suspension while not being adjustable, now had a kit available to fix this issue, ie it had a couple of control/radius arms/braces, on finding that these cars, and Escort XR3i both suffered from this, Ford produced a kit of parts to resolve it, ie a couple of washers! The plan was to either remove a washer or add a washer. So, when the same thing happened with my next Ford Orion Ghia Injection and I got contacted about extra work needing doing, this time I dug my heals in and demanded that they address this known Ford issue at Ford's or their own expense, which they did!

Living with "saw toothing" on rear tyres is not required, most if not all design errors can be resolved.
A bit off topic. It was my Dad's spanking new Orion 1.6i Ghia in blinding white that got me into cars! G641 NGD if I recall! I'll always have fond memories of that car! I'd love to see a mint one of them these days!

I can remember everything from the little trip computer to the lovely fabric on the seats. Good times!

Sent from my moto g(7) power using Tapatalk
 
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SRGTD

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May 26, 2014
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A bit off topic. It was my Dad's spanking new Orion 1.6i Ghia in blinding white that got me into cars! G641 NGD if I recall! I'll always have fond memories of that car! I'd love to see a mint one of them these days!

I can remember everything from the little trip computer to the lovely fabric on the seats. Good times!

Sent from my moto g(7) power using Tapatalk
I remember the Orion 1.6i Ghia well; I almost bought one on the early 1980’s but ended up buying the boy racer version XR3i. Well, I was young then (early 20’s), and at the time I thought the Orion was perhaps just a little bit too mature looking for me.

I’d quite like to have a mint condition one now though to tuck away in my garage for nostalgic reasons and use it as a weekend car in the summer.
 
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Michael1a1

Active Member
Oct 22, 2015
49
41
I had this happen on the rear tyres on a mk5 Golf. It sounded just like a worn wheel bearing - you could see and feel the stepped sawtooth pattern on the inside edge of the rear tyres.

@Michael1a1; as RUM4MO has said, get a 4 wheel alignment done, otherwise you’re likely to experience sawtooth wear again.

I thought it was wheel bearings to start with which seemed mad to me given the mileage, so was quite glad in a way to find out what it was.
4 wheel alignment is next on my list of things to get done!

Anyone have an recommendations for a decent 4 wheel tracking place in an around Leeds?
 
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SuperV8

Active Member
May 30, 2019
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I thought it was wheel bearings to start with which seemed mad to me given the mileage, so was quite glad in a way to find out what it was.
4 wheel alignment is next on my list of things to get done!

Anyone have an recommendations for a decent 4 wheel tracking place in an around Leeds?

Interesting to see what the outcome of the tracking is.
Do you think that may have any effect on the strange tyre wear? Do you drive like you stole it? or Like a nun?
Do the independent rear MQB axles have adjustable geometry? or is it just replace worn bushings?

My Audi A4 B6 Quattro used to wear the rear tyres unevenly and the tracking was out a little on the back - but the suspension specialist wasn't willing to even attempt to adjust the rear aluminium (and steel bolts) multi link quattro set up without a waiver from me and I didn't have a £1K+ for new suspension arms!
 

RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
7,784
983
South Scotland
Actually I have just Waxoyled the eccentric bolts on my 2011 Audi S4 today - just in case the rear end needs adjusting in the future.
 

SRGTD

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May 26, 2014
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SuperV8

Active Member
May 30, 2019
1,317
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I remember the Orion 1.6i Ghia well; I almost bought one on the early 1980’s but ended up buying the boy racer version XR3i. Well, I was young then (early 20’s), and at the time I thought the Orion was perhaps just a little bit too mature looking for me.

I’d quite like to have a mint condition one now though to tuck away in my garage for nostalgic reasons and use it as a weekend car in the summer.
My child hood car memories are of my dads White Sierra 2.0 Ghia - plush velour seats, 4x electric windows, little wipers on the headlights - and man was it fast with 120bhp!! until some 'undesirables' pinched it!! :mad:
 
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RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
7,784
983
South Scotland
My MK1 Ford Orion Ghia 1.6Injection was a good car, it had many XR3i parts including front spoiler, seats and steering wheel, the next one was a MK2 Ford Orion Ghia 1.6Injection - and it had lost the front XR3i spoiler, maybe also the XR3i steering wheel and the XR3i seats, the front seats were flat just like the ordinary Orion Ghias - and originally no extended centre console, but I quickly sorted that out by ordering parts for the similar Escort Cab! Then after that things got even worse for that Ford model, so I hoofed it off to VX and bought a very slightly used VX Cav GSI 2000 16V 4X4 - and have never looked back, that car was amazing, I ended up dropping back down a bit 9 years later by importing a factory order B5 VW Passat 4Motion, it had a lovely smooth V6 engine but you got the feeling that you sat "on top" of it when driving it, as opposed to "wearing" the VX Cav GSI 2000 16V 4X4. It was only when I bought a slightly used B8 2011 Audi S4 with 6MT that I had got myself a car which was better than the 1991 VX Cav GSI 2000 16V 4X4.
 
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Peller

Active Member
Mar 29, 2016
600
191
Edinburgh
Lovely! I would actually buy one if it was at a decent price but unlikely due to the crazy prices that an old Ford goes for #seatwantingoldford.net
854bb8cdd04d8a9f677f48469336fef3.jpg


Sent from my moto g(7) power using Tapatalk
 

Michael1a1

Active Member
Oct 22, 2015
49
41
Interesting to see what the outcome of the tracking is.
Do you think that may have any effect on the strange tyre wear? Do you drive like you stole it? or Like a nun?
Do the independent rear MQB axles have adjustable geometry? or is it just replace worn bushings?

My Audi A4 B6 Quattro used to wear the rear tyres unevenly and the tracking was out a little on the back - but the suspension specialist wasn't willing to even attempt to adjust the rear aluminium (and steel bolts) multi link quattro set up without a waiver from me and I didn't have a £1K+ for new suspension arms!

Should hopefully be able to get the tracking sorted next week as have a few days off. Incidentally, does anyone have the correct figures for what should be expected for the tracking?

Am hoping that it’s out by quite a bit purely for the fact that it would explain the strange wear on the tyre. As for driving I would say somewhere in the middle! always wait for the car to come up to temperature before using the engine and most of the time is spent in comfort switching between D & S on the gear box dependant on the road and traffic.

Not sure on the adjustability of the axles so maybe someone else would know more on that?
 

SuperV8

Active Member
May 30, 2019
1,317
578
Should hopefully be able to get the tracking sorted next week as have a few days off. Incidentally, does anyone have the correct figures for what should be expected for the tracking?

Am hoping that it’s out by quite a bit purely for the fact that it would explain the strange wear on the tyre. As for driving I would say somewhere in the middle! always wait for the car to come up to temperature before using the engine and most of the time is spent in comfort switching between D & S on the gear box dependant on the road and traffic.

Not sure on the adjustability of the axles so maybe someone else would know more on that?

Have a look in the running gear - axles workshop manual;
Has the geomerty settings:

To answer my own question! It does look like the rear independent axle is fully adjustable via eccentric washers.
 
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