Winter tyres and changing

A snowHead

@rjs, +1 - there’s plenty information in the manual for my Octavia estate.

A snowHead

Try checking then tyre presssure plaque normally under the fuel flap or inside the door as they normally list a bunch of different tyre dimentions available for the various models.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Thanks again all, I really appreciate all the considered advice and guidance. The wheels are from a family member so no cost to me and easy enough to try! They are 94V.

I will check the handbook again but really found it quite unhelpful!

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Does this tell me what I need to know?:

https://www.wheel-size.com/size/skoda/octavia/2014/

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Link shows all you'd need to know as far as I can see.

Which engine size is your vehicle?

And you needed a best available inventory of the proposed wheel's specifications to assess.

You can measure the bore, pcd of the other wheels with a mm ruler or builder's tape measure.

ET should be written somewhere on the wheel centre close to the bolts. If they've a cap on them, it's usually under there.

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@Page23,

Yes, but knowing what car the wheels come from will also give you information so you can compare and see if the bolt pattern and rims are compatible.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Looking at that link for details, it's certainly covered in the size those alternative wheels are to be used on your car as all the options, with few exceptions, list both sizes as approved.

94V won't give you a problem either as they'll carry more load than your vehicle is rated to. This is a common load spec that is easily supplied as an alternative as it's std range on VW Touran which has to use it because of 7 seat fitment.

If the other figures check out it should be ok.

After all it is free

So mine is a Skoda Octavia 2.0 diesel 2014. I think the winter wheels had been used on a VW Golf GTI - I think it was a 2015 model.

Mine are going on the car on Friday, as we need to get a new set of non-winter ones. Doesn't make sense to do it now then have to change over in a few weeks.

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I can't see a listing for the 2015 GTI on that site

2014 model matches your spec

2016 model has the PCD changed by reduction on 12 mm so they won't fit.

You need to find out the above or try them as that seems to be the final check.

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They were used on a 2007 Golf GTI

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On skiing and motoring forums people often seem to forget that it's worth contacting your local dealership service department to get a definitive confirmation of the winter wheel and tyre combinations specifically certified by the manufacturer for your particular VIN. They get loads of these queries, and even if you're not a regular customer should be happy to help, especially if you infer you're in the market for a set. Service/Aftersales Departments often have their own sales targets so this is good potential business they should be helpful with.

3rd.-Party suppliers and Forums are fine, but you can trip-up: manufacturers change their builds regularly and the same year, model and variant doesn't mean the same brake assembly etc. Usually, yes, but non-fitting wheels/tyres would be an expensive mistake. Over on the owners forum I use, there are regular photos of crunched brake assemblies, torn alloys, and fouled wheel arches where someone has fitted an incompatible wheel and tyre on the basis of someone on a Forum saying 'I have the same model - you'll be fine'.

So worth a ten minute call to your dealership parts/service dept to get them to check for you.

You know it makes sense.

IME dealerships are a bunch of rip off, incompetent shysters.

But I guess they could be useful in this context.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

@Alastair, Mercedes. Do you think I'm made of money Shocked

A snowHead

This is a good time of the year to be asking your local garage parts department to quote for a set of winter wheels and tyres. Last year, my local BMW dealer did a £999 'deal' which was very competitive indeed (although it was only relevant to a subset of models - the rest were more in the £1500-£1800 range). It's all good business for them, and with much longer service intervals, means they get potential customers into the showroom while they're waiting to collect, which allows the sales staff to pounce …..

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I have Michelin all year tyres on my Passat estate. Got them through Black Circles (recommend them), delivered to and fitted by my local garage. Have carried chains for years and only ever used them to get out of my own village in Kent

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I bought 15" wheels for my Golf MkVII from tyreleader for my winter tyres - Dezent TD - 3 years ago and have just bought 195/65-15 H Michelin Cross Climate + from Blackcircles.
Normal summer wheels are 16" with 205/55-16V.
Wheels/tyres in accordance with VW service guide.
Thought I'd give the Cross Climate + a go as my winter driving is pretty straight forward and the CC+ is well recommended.
Also have Michelin Easy Fit chains.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I recently put a pair of Goodyear Vector 4Seasons (all weather tyres) on the back axel of my Citreon c4, will that help much in snowy conditions? Obviously not as good as 4 but hopefully it'll make a difference.
The front tyres are nearly new so didn't want to change them yet....

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@mrvinegar, mixing winter and summer tyres is not recommended, likewise having new tyres on one axle and very worn tyres on the other, as at some point one set will lose grip before the other. Now clearly most people only change one or two at a time rather than all four, and wear is different between the axles, so the question is when does it become not recommended?

New A/S tyres with nearly new summers is likely to be OK until the conditions become poor, at which point you’ll lose steering and braking before you lose the ability to get going...

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@mrvinegar, no it won’t help much as your car is fwd.

I don’t expect it’ll be much of a disadvantage however.

After all it is free

Regarding the question of differential tread depth, this can become a more significant issue if the tyre is of the following type (as many are) where there's an 'inflexion' point at which it degrades faster. Here's a chart of a tyre test by MIRA plotting tread depth against stopping distance, for warm and dry tarmac/smooth concrete:

So in this specific case, 6mm vs 4mm won't make a lot of difference, but 4mm vs 2mm increases the stopping distance from 24 metres to 30 metres, or +25%, which is significant. Now, this is for 4 tyres of the same depth, so if three are 4mm but only one is 2mm the effect won't be so great, but I think you'd still be worried about the effect on handling of one side of the car being that much poorer than the other in terms of stopping distance.

It's a challenge for the tyre chemist and engineer to come up with a design that tries to combine low noise, long life, adhesion, resistance to aquaplaning, good ride and consistent behaviour as the tread wears, all at the least cost. It almost always involves multiple trade-offs. So in the above example, I'd say the designer had made a tyre that keeps a consistently good stopping distance as it wears down from new to 4mm. But the cost, so to speak, is that below 4mm the stopping distance degrades disproportionately. My guess is this is a performance car summer tyre, where the assumption is that an owner is prepared to replace the tyres at/by the 3mm point, and cost is secondary.

My local Audi dealer wasn’t a huge amount of help. They didn’t know anything about winter wheel/tyres for my A7. They explained that, with the popularity of All-Season tyres there isn’t the same demand in the U.K. as there was a few years ago.

With the help of an online parts catalogue I was able to identify the correct Part number for the wheels that’s fit my car. I then made sure had the standard brakes (no oversize calipers here!). I then found an eBay seller in Germany, and bid him €500 for 4 alloys with winter tyres already fitted (incl delivery).
Now I just need to wait for the cold weather in the SouthEast so I can fit them on.

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@LaForet,
Just shelled out for a new set of winters for my truck today for that reason - getting towards 4mm.
I do a lot of winter driving that starts off in the rain and ends up on snow and ice, so the tread depth thing is extra important as there also tends to be a lot of standing water (rains a lot round here!)
I briefly pondered all-weather tyres, but in the end decided dedicated winters were a better option (Toyo Observe GSI-6), and strangely a bit cheaper

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[Thread was resurrected by a spam post that has been removed, @stuarth wasn't responsible Smile

]

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I’ve been using a set of winter wheels for my Rs4 for the last 3 seasons - they are smaller than normal and run Pirelli’s - getting in and out of my house plus to and from work at Glenshee in some marginal conditions have been no drama at all, even in the beast ! We run our Skoda on Michelin all seasons and it’s fine as well. Def better in cold weather (late Oct-mar give or take)

@Tubaski,

Oops!! Embarassed

Didn't spot that, thanks for the embarrassment saver note! snowHead

Anyway... I still bought new tyres today, and it's still a good idea I think to change them when the tread depth starts to get down a bit

You know it makes sense.

@Page23,

Think I used these guys when I bought a set of tyres and rims for our octavia estate

https://www.mytyres.co.uk/Winter-Tyres.html?Country=UK&ID=sea_rd_uk_Google_Search&ef_id=EAIaIQobChMIj9G_nvLJ8wIVvgSiAx1kvwNOEAAYAyAAEgKjmPD_BwE:G:s&s_kwcid=AL!432!3!426853182191!b!!g!!winter%20tyres%20uk&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIj9G_nvLJ8wIVvgSiAx1kvwNOEAAYAyAAEgKjmPD_BwE

They have good search tools and you can chat with them to refine it

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A few things:
1. I live in Denmark, so need winters to get through Germany anyway
2. Dealer wanted 4000 GDP for rims and tires
3. Went to tyreleader (don't know how that works out after brexit) that offerede me the tire I wanted + alloy rims (Hankook are apperently very good in snow) for 800 GDP + they can send it directly to somebody that can mount them for you locally
4. Punch in the car make and model, and they will give you whatever fits!

Just my advise:-)

A snowHead

@Page23, I bought the set of wheels and tyres I needed for a Passat of a dealer in northern Germany who specialises in new and used VAG wheels with new or used tyres (summer & winter). He was super helpful and super knowledgeable and supplied the set up with the correct tpm sensors in place. I went new on both wheels and tyres, the wheels were one of two types/sizes recommended by VW for winter use in the manual.

I will dig out his details and post them up on here.

I bought when we were still in transition period, so he would have charged me VAT except as I was buying for my UK VAT reg business he knocked it off under EU reverse charge.

Now we are third country he should supply to you VAT free, but expect to pay UK VAT to HMRC via the courier prior to delivery.

EDIT: His details are Fabian, Premium Wheels GmbH, info@premiumwheels.de

As a comparator from memory I paid circa €850 for 5 no VW 17" alloys, fitted with tpm, mounted with new well branded mid profile winter tyres and delivered to me. That was VAT free as mentioned above.

A snowHead

Folks, I know COVID has disrupted things but the OP was looking in 2018 so has probably sorted their wheels by now! See @Tubaski's note above for why this thread is alive again.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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I have a set of wheels fitted with snow tyres for an F15 X5 BMW (c.2018) if anyone might be interested - with these I have never thought to need a chain, but i have a set of chains to match.

I won't go to the Alps (these days) without snow tyres - sure you can but its not as relaxed - All that said, in dozens of trips to the alps I can only think of a handful of trips that I was pleased to have them.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Costco charge£32 for a full set change IF you buy winters there

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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Are winter tyres being made compulsory this winter?

After all it is free

@Dippy, only as much as they ever have!

@Dippy, no. The law is in place to do so, but is not being enforced until next year.

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If we talking about France it won't be compulsory next year either - it will only be compulsory to have winters OR chains/socks.

Help!!

Winter tyres and changing

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