TonySCV

Hi Gang:

You've all been so helpful on this forum I'm hoping fellow owners can help me isolate what I may be hearing.

When my 2014 SQ5 gets up to freeway speeds (60+ MPH), the suspension (or something) starts to "sing" or hum as the vehicle travels over anything but the absolute smoothest of road surfaces. The bumpier the road surface, the more of this humming that resonates through the vehicle. The faster I go, the louder the noise gets until around 80MPH or so when it plateaus.

I'm almost certain it's NOT tire noise. I've experimented with 3 different sets of tires from 2 different brands (thanks to a very helpful local tire dealer). I would definitely describe the humming noise as a noise that resonates vs. the immediacy of tire noise that comes and goes depending on road surface. The humming sound "fades" in and out (very quickly, but not immediate) as I drive over road imperfections such as expansion joints or bumpy roads.

This is a new vehicle (2014 with 1,000 or so miles). Interestingly I had a rental A5 in europe this past week and I heard the noise in that car as well at speed but it was FAR less pronounced. Different tires on that car as well.

I've seen folks mention wheel bearings on this site before. Could that be a cause on such a new vehicle?

I plan on calling the dealer for a service appointment but I'd like to guide the service advisor in the right direction, so any ideas or advice you have are welcome.

MP4.2+6.0

If you eliminate tires (usually by far the most likely), then:
They would need to drive it and probably put it on a lift and spin it up with wheels freewheeling to try to find noise source. Can be very hard to track down.

Reggie

It could also be that you have hearing that is more sensitive than others. Have you had anyone else hearing what you do in the car(s)?

TonySCV

Yes... others hear it. I'm going to try to do a video of it with my phone to see if the phone mic can pick up the sound.

rdA4WtQ5

Maybe it's just me but I would have had the car at the dealer to test drive and listen ASAP. If you don't have confidence in your dealer to figure this out right away get a new one.

Qgen

Could it possibly be wind noise from the mirrors?

TonySCV

Thanks all.

It's definitely not wind noise as I can hear it even at low speeds. It's just more pronounced at higher speeds. It's definitely more of a hollow humming/vibration sound.

I got a chance to make a video which does pick up the sound:


You can hear the humming/vibration sound somewhat right as the video starts (as I'm on the on-ramp to the freeway. It then fades out for a while and returns as I merge on to the freeway travel lanes. The noise is absent at 30 seconds - comes back right at the 31-32 second mark and then stays pretty much through the rest of the video in varying degrees of loudness/prominence.

(Ignore when I say "it's really bad right through here" on the video. After I made the video I realized you can't really tell any difference in the sounds that come across on that portion of video vs. others that I could by hearing it live.)

Windows are up. A/C is off to try to cut down on background noise a bit. Apologies for my very low-tech recording.

Thanks again for the tips/suggestions. I'll let you know what if anything the service dept. comes up with.

Reggie

He said that on smooth roads it disappears - which leads me to think tires but he seems to know what he is doing and has ruled it out.

As others have said - wheel bearings - or drive train.

DennisMitchell

Here in the northeast we have some concrete highways that are worn. Dept of Transportation has grooved some of the roads. It is amazing the harmonics created between the chassis and tires when going over these roads. Would not be surprised that this is the situation.

I bet it doesn't happen on asphalt roads.

My 2 cents...

Dennis

Scott Evil

Everyone of the prior four Audis I have owned suffered a wheel bearing failure and none of those four sounds were identical. Your sound is more hollow, but it is pretty similar. Vehicle, wheel size and shape may alter how it sounds but I would guess that is your issue. At the dealership, they can easily listen to the wheel bearings while it is up on a ramp.

If the wheel bearings are ok, then it is something elsewhere as MP4 mentions above.