Subtle vibrations through wheel

[amateurhour]

Hello!

I hope this is the right forum... I'm very new to Cupra ownership and have Leon Estate ST with ABT upgrade.

I've not owned a performance car before (it's taken me a while to get to this point!), so I'm not sure if what I'm experiencing is considered normal. Essentially I can feel very subtle vibrations through the steering wheel. I'm not sure if I'd classify it as dramatic as it's undetectable to the naked eye, but it can be felt. It's mostly noticable on the motorway, and so I'm wondering if it could be the surface being felt through the tyres (they're realtively low-profile and the road surfaces around here are terrible).

However, I'm also getting a slight vibration when the car is idling (e.g. stopped at traffic lights). Again it's only felt through the wheel and not other parts of the car (e.g. door or seat) and seems to coincide with the engine noise. It's a relatively throaty sounding engine/exhaust (at least compared to our other car!).

Are these two things normal and/or possibly related? The car has hardly done any miles so I wouldn't have thought it's component wear. The wheels are balanced and so I suppose my thoughts are, if this isn't normal, possible engine mount damage, which would obviously require a trip to the garage.

If anyone can shed any thoughts I'd be most welcome; I can't tell if I'm being hyper-sensitive or if there is in fact an issue.

 

[rafletcher]

Balance weights can and do fall off, so that’s one possibility for rolling vibration. Also check tyres carefully for bulges, on th3 inside edge as well as outside.

 

[amateurhour]

Thank you. That’s a good call on the balance weights. There are no bulges that I can see, so hopefully it’s just that.

 

[glozev]

I'll also vote for starting with the tyres first, go check the balance and then start looking into other things.

I once had to rebalance because of vibrations after doing ~1000 km on a new set of tyres even though they were fine when initially got them.
Is it happening on both low (50-60 km/h) and higher speeds(120-140 km/h) or it doesn't matter?

If that doesn't help I'll suggest make an alignment check and visit a garage.

Vibrations during idle is weird. Can you post a recording or it's so subtle so it can't be noticed on the video ?

 

[SamM2342]

Is it a standard exhaust?

 

[amateurhour]

Is it a standard exhaust?

I think so. It's certainly standard in that no third-party modifications have been applied. But it does have the ABT pack, which remaps the engine. I don't think this affects the exhaust (although I could be wrong)?

Edit: spelling

 

[amateurhour]

I'll also vote for starting with the tyres first, go check the balance and then start looking into other things.

I once had to rebalance because of vibrations after doing ~1000 km on a new set of tyres even though they were fine when initially got them.
Is it happening on both low (50-60 km/h) and higher speeds(120-140 km/h) or it doesn't matter?

If that doesn't help I'll suggest make an alignment check and visit a garage.

Vibrations during idle is weird. Can you post a recording or it's so subtle so it can't be noticed on the video ?

Thanks for the input. I'm leaning towards me being over-sensitive. I drove my wife's car on the same stretch of road and, although not as pronounced (it's got normal tyres), I get the same sensations. We recently had it serviced and so I don't think there's any balancing issues on her car.

As for the idling vibrations they're impossible to see unfortunately (and I've got a sharp eye). I balanced a piece of paper in the wheel and even that I couldn't see move. I also increased the revs and the vibrations seemed to drop off the higher I went (2000-3000) so I'm inclined to think this is normal (?). I compared with my wife's car, and that also has wheel vibrations, but much less obvious.

 

[izometric]

You are crossing the dashed lines without using the turn signal.

It is called lane assist and it is activated by default. Try using the turn signal when you change lanes and see if this solves your problem.