Yeti Tyre and Rim Guide

[The Plumber]

Back to wheel bolts - Anyone had any experience of ordering winter tyres and 16" steel rims from mytyres? Do the wheel bolts fit from the existing factory Yeti 17" alloys or do they need new ones? Any help appreciated - thanks.

Hi,

the standard VAG wheel bolts fitted to the Yeti will fit both VAG and mytyres steel rims. Only non VAG alloys will you possible need to think about changing bolts, due to the cone profile used.

TP

[dixpix]

Hi,

the standard VAG wheel bolts fitted to the Yeti will fit both VAG and mytyres steel rims. Only non VAG alloys will you possible need to think about changing bolts, due to the cone profile used.

TP

Many thanks, that's a real help, it was difficult to get any real info. Thanks again>

[Bowliog]

Interesting that they tell you to fit the snow chains to the back wheels on a car which is front wheel drive until it slips. I look at the Impreza hand book which is rear wheel drive bias and they recommend to fit the chains to the front wheels.

[Boshay]

Just wanted to say thanks to The Plumber for his advice; just got a set of Goodyear Vector 4Seasons 225/50 R17 98Vs fitted, £615 inc fitting, VAT and balancing, from Fields Tyres in Hove, East Sussex (http://www.fieldstyres.co.uk/index.php), which was cheaper than I could find on-line from BlackCircles or similar who were carging £174 per tyre.

They feel great on the road so far, so will be nice to have the extra capability if/when the weather turns bad again this year.

Cheers.

[James I]

I was looking a just getting some 225-55-17 winter tyres, mainly because they are cheaper than 225-50-17, by about £20 each.

So if I fit 55 instead of 50's I am guessing slight speedo reading difference and slightly more tyre in the wheel arch... or am I wrong?

[Gizmo]

I was looking a just getting some 225-55-17 winter tyres, mainly because they are cheaper than 225-50-17, by about £20 each.

So if I fit 55 instead of 50's I am guessing slight speedo reading difference and slightly more tyre in the wheel arch... or am I wrong?

Yes 225/55's will make the speedo read low and you will have more tyre in the arch.

a much closer size would be 205/55/17 or 205/65/16 (but obviously requires 16" wheels as well)

Tyre calculator

[James I]

Yes 225/55's will make the speedo read low and you will have more tyre in the arch.

a much closer size would be 205/55/17 or 205/65/16 (but obviously requires 16" wheels as well)

Tyre calculator

Thanks, that is a great calculator in your link. I will have a look and see what I can buy, don't fancy a spare set of rims, just getting the tyre swapped is easy enough.

[The Plumber]

Thanks, that is a great calculator in your link. I will have a look and see what I can buy, don't fancy a spare set of rims, just getting the tyre swapped is easy enough.

Hi,

the official winter size in 17" is the 205/50 R17 93H; have seen these fitted to the Dolomites of an SUK SE spec jurno loan car.

hope of help,

TP

[norstar]

I need a spare set of rims for my 4x4 Yeti for some winter tyres. There are quite a few secondhand Audi A4 etc about but most have an offset ET50 instead of the Yeti ET45. Does anyone know if fitting the ET50 will cause any problems.

Thanks Tom

No one responded to this did they? I read somewhere that a +/- 5mm difference is acceptable - the move to a 50mm would move the wheel inwards 5mm which gives you slightly less clearance.

Calculator here:

http://www.1010tires.com/wheeloffsetcalculator.asp

The skoda wheel guide says either 45mm or 50mm offset.

[bargee1759]

Hi All, I'm looking at going down to 16" rims for winter boots (probably using some 7x16" ET45 5 spokes off an older A6) but can you get these over the big 312mm disc set up on the 170Tdi 4x4 or are 17" rims the only option? Thanks

[The Plumber]

Hi All, I'm looking at going down to 16" rims for winter boots (probably using some 7x16" ET45 5 spokes off an older A6) but can you get these over the big 312mm disc set up on the 170Tdi 4x4 or are 17" rims the only option? Thanks

Hi,

yes the both the official 16" rim sizes will fit a Yeti 170 with standard 312mm brakes.

Regards,

TP

[bargee1759]

Hi, Many thanks for the reply. Have finally taken delivery of my Yeti & having done 2000 miles in the 1st 4 weeks, I'm happy to report it's predictably brilliant. I just need 2 dash rattles sorted now to reach perfection! I managed to get a set of 7x16" E45 Audi alloys off e-bay, 4x Vrederstein Wintrac Extremes from Oponeo (£424) & fitted locally for £45. The tyres are quiet, grip really well in all conditions & being 16", do improve the ride slightly. They were fantastic in the snow returning form Lincoln to South Cheshire on saturday night, with only 2 flickers on the Traction Control light during the whole 125 mile journey. In fact they're so good that it quickly becomes a case of how to survive everyone else's attacks as they slither hopelessly about rather than whether you'll make it home! Do people run their winters @ +.2bar as per the manual or just standard pressure? Thanks again.

[The Plumber]

Hi,

glad your getting on fine with the new Yeti, amazing the difference having 4x4 and proper winter tyres makes. Running mine at 2.4 bar all round.

Regards,

TP

[bahnstormer vrs]

...... Do people run their winters @ +.2bar as per the manual or just standard pressure? Thanks again.

I run my winters @ + 0.2bar(ish) but use 2.35 bar front & rear for summer tyres and 2.5 bar for winters.

From experience of my Octavia vRS TDI I, and others on the forum, found it ran better on higher pressures and I have follows on with my Yeti.

[rajapruk]

I found a set of used Spitzberg 17" alloys that I bought for a very good prize. I want to use them as winter-wheels.

Currently, they have 225/50 R17 summer-tires on. Do you think I can fit 205/50 R17 tires on these alloys (the recommmended winter size for 17"), or do I have to get 225/50?

[bahnstormer vrs]

I found a set of used Spitzberg 17" alloys that I bought for a very good prize. I want to use them as winter-wheels.

Currently, they have 225/50 R17 summer-tires on. Do you think I can fit 205/50 R17 tires on these alloys (the recommmended winter size for 17"), or do I have to get 225/50?

The 205/50 17 ideally should have a narrow 6J rim (moon alloy) as opposed to the 7J of the Spizberg; plus it has a smaller 'rolling radius' (minus 3.06%) than the 225/50 17 to allow for fitment of snow chains.

Personally I'd stick to 225/50 17 winters or, seeing as you're from Sweden and thus may be expecting more snow than UK and want the narrower 205 tyre, you need to get 205/55 17s which are 0.29% bigger rolling radius than the 225/50 17s, and thus a good match.

[rajapruk]

Thanx Bahnstormer. So the narrower 205 width will fit the Spitzberg width?

I want to buy the cheapest size, that was why I asked, so I wil know which sizes I can start looking for.

I am not so concerned about some small percentage of radius change. I will never use snow-chains, and do not care if speedomeeter is somewhat wrong.

[The Plumber]

I found a set of used Spitzberg 17" alloys that I bought for a very good prize. I want to use them as winter-wheels.

Currently, they have 225/50 R17 summer-tires on. Do you think I can fit 205/50 R17 tires on these alloys (the recommmended winter size for 17"), or do I have to get 225/50?

Have seen photos of a Skoda UK press demo car running 205/50 R17 winters on 17" 7J Dolomites. OK the 6J would be better but if your not using chains then you should be OK.

TP

[rockhopper]

Has anybody used Michelins easy grip?

I'm looking for something to use with both 215/60 R16 winters for snow and 225/50R17 summers on mud glorious mud.

Need something that will fit to the front has well as the rear.

I'm towing a caravan onto a field which may become quite muddy and want to be able to tow the van out at the end of the week, and after all the bad weather on the Isle of Wight and Silverstone and elsewhere I want to be prepared.

Mike

[pdp2]

Need an expert opinion :-)

Can lay my hands on a set of "Crateris" alloys (previously fitted on an Octavia 2)

with specs: 6.5 J x 16, ET50

Would these be suitable for my father's Yeti 1.2 TSI / DSG Elegance (with Annapurna 7J x17 ET45 alloys and summer tyres 225/50 R17) ?

If so, what winter tyres would be (more) appropriate,

205/55 R16

or

215/60 R16 ?

Cheers,

Paul

[dbg400]

I've got some 7Jx16 ET48 alloys on order and am trying to decide between the 205/55 & 215/60 sizes. The 205/55 has the same side profile (112mm) as the 225/50 so I assume the ride will be similar, though as the circumference is less it overstates the speed/mileage by a little. The 215/60 tyres have a slightly larger circumference (than the 225/50 on 17s), so you won't lose any ground clearance (you drop 1/2" with the 205s). With the reduced tyre width the extra offset of the ET50 wheels shouldn't be an issue whichever size you go for. From what I've read further back in this thread you need the 205/55 size if you want the option of using snow chains.

I'm currently looking at Nokian WR A3s (for 205/55) or D3s (for 215/60) - they don't appear to do both in each size. So far I'm very pleased with the ride on the 225/50s, so I'm most likely to go with the A3s in 205/55 size.

[The Plumber]

With a 6.5J ET50 rim I would opt for the 205/55 tyre rather than the taller 215/60, which I feel better suits the slighty wider 7J rim.

TP

[dbg400]

Next question! The German guide lists 205/55 R16 as 94H M+S on 6J x 16 ET50 rims and 94V M+S on 7J x 16 ET45 rims for the CFJA engine (TDi 170). My winter wheels (now arrived) are right in between those at 6.5J x 16 ET48. I'm assuming that 94H will be okay - £4/tyre less than the 94V for the Nokian WR A3s I'm after. If I've understood the physics correctly the top speed of 125 would be slightly reduced[1] on the smaller diameter of the 205/55 16 wheel/tyre combo (3.8% reduction in circumference) so is even less likely to get into V rated territory. Either way I wouldn't be getting anywhere close to top speed, particularly in winter.

[1] But as it has a reduced ground clearance like the Greenline it will suffer slightly less from drag, so could still get close!

[The Hood]

The link below allows you to input your original tyre size and you proposed size, you can then see the amount of physical difference as well as the amount of speedo variation. I will be going for 215/60/16 which is a closer match.

http://www.alloywheels.com/Tyre_Calculator

This link allows you to find out what other cars have wheels suitable for your own, and gives PCD, offset and centre bore sizes.

http://www.wheelfitment.eu/

[rockhopper]

Report back on Michelin Easy Grip snow chains.

They fit......just, on standard 225/50R17 tyres. They also fit 215/60R16 tres as well, so I don't need a different size for my winter tyres.

They protude about 9mm above the standard tyre.

There is not much room as we know, but I can get one of my fat fingers between the strut and the snow chains.

I haven't driven it on the road to completely centre them, I hope for obvious reasons

There is also a fat fingers clearance in the wheel arch as well!

So all in all quite tight, but they will get me out of trouble and are legal in the Alps from what I can tell.

Mike