[colinJYD]

Hi and welcome to the forum

First thing that comes to mind is the front brakes.....I used to get the same fault on quite a few Japanese cars and it was to do with the thin metal protection guards at the back of the front disk brakes. Anything getting in between the back of the brakes and this thin guard, like twigs or stones would cause grinding noises, and even on one car it was the guard itself grinding on the brakes. You can also get intermitant noises with these faults>

So check the guards and if it is them thats causing the problem, you simply bend them back a bit using molegrips, so the gap is wider and prevents items staying in the gap and then grinding.

Other things causing grinding of the brakes, is badly fitted front brake pads, or leading edge of brake pads needs chamfer-ing with a file, to stop judder/grinding.

 

[colinJYD]

If you can get your car on a rolling road in a garage, and then get a mechanic using a listening tube to listen for that noise around the engine, and front running gear on the move, and try and isolate it to a specific spot.

Possible noises from the front is brakes, engine, bearings, CV joints, suspension. Good Luck.

 

[colinJYD]

Some info on CV joints....
The usual cause of CV joints failing is that one or two gaiter clips on each end of the CV joints snap open and the CV grease leaks out and exposes the CV joint to wear. Also the rubber gaiter itself can split open due to wear, spilling the grease out.

I had a Vauxhall Tigra Convertible for years, and it had an inherent fault of having poorly made gaiter clips that rusted and snapped off, and at the very first MOT (3 year old) they spotted some of the clips gone, but were in time to catch it before the grease came out, so attached new robust gaiter clips of a different make. That solved the problem.