Hi
I came across your post on the Type R Owners Forum from 2010 while Googling "Loud bang whilst driving" and was interested to hear of the circumstances surrounding your "loud bang" event, very similar to my own experience.
This has now happened to me on 2 occasions whilst driving down the same stretch of the M40 in Oxfordshire. I drive a Skoda Octavia vRS and on both occasions I was startled by a loud bang or crack as though something large had hit the windscreen or a gun had gone off in the car. So much so that I instinctively ducked. Both times the radio went of for a second or two and I noticed the radios illumination go off and on again.
Subsequently the car drives fine and there is no evidence of any physical damage to the car.
I have since theorised about what could have caused such an "explosion". Things like hitting an object is the most obvious but would have left some sort of visible damage. Some people have suggested that I fell asleep momentarily and the "bang" is from your subconscious waking you up. I don't believe I fell asleep.
The first time this happened was during a torrential rain storm and so I put it down to a lightening strike, on or nearby the car.
Today was quite foggy, and although possible, I don't believe it was a second lightening strike. Too much of a coincidence.
I am now trying to think about other common factors. The stretch of M40 motorway is the same and is less than 300 metres from the BT Tower at Stokenchurch. This tower is a telecommunications link housing microwave transmission drums and other antennas. Is there any possibility that there could be some form of energy discharge that is picked up by my car radio, and transmitted as a loud bang through the speakers?
These episodes happened about 6 months apart.
Any thoughts out there? No conspiracy theories please:lol: