Jeeves

Couple of things to try, easiest first: Firstly, with wheel nuts loosened slightly (less than half a turn), manouevre the car very slowly back and forth, turning left and right (imagine a slalom) for as short a distance as possible. e.g. 2 or 3 car lengths. Listen for any noise which might indicate a problem. You're just trying to break the bonding force between the wheel and the hub. I put a wristband over the gear knob any time I do something like that (connect a battery charger etc) so I remember it's not safe to drive normally - or more importantly my wife asks "what's that there for". Try a few times. Failing that, roll the spare tyre against the tyre wall when the wheel is jacked slightly off the floor (and without bolts on). Mind your wheel arches. A combination of these approaches has always worked for me when the rubber mallet hasn't. Good luck.

If I didn't have so many sets I would have fitted these - until Conti's CrossContact ATR came out and widened the choice as they will fit my other car. However they're not available in 225/50 17 (without finding my old Dunlop shod Proteus wheel in the garage I can't remember what the Scout OE size was) and I don’t think the LX variant will cut it. I would have no hesitation in fitting the Latitude Cross in 225/55 17 based on my experience of the smaller (by just 1.6mm) Goodyear on forestry tracks - but unfortunately I can't directly share my experience to give the required confidence.

Kouki is/was a website with a tyre size comparison tool, but there are plenty of others like willitfit.com which is slightly more technical as it also factor in wheel widths and offsets. I used 18" vRS Zenith wheels which were fine, albeit close. You might just get away with a 225/55 17 as it was the shoulders on a turn which were closest to fouling (about 10mm away/little finger thickness) from memory, and 225 is obviously narrower.

I ran 245/45 18 Goodyear Wrangler AT/R on my Scout II and they were so good I bought 3 sets before they ceased production. They're on another VW group car just now with with the final set ready to go on. DOT code shows production was over 10 years ago, but I've stored them in a cool dark place and the H rating is sufficient for the vehicle they're on. The Scout was definitely more stable (even with 10mm extra ride height) at this size with no rubbing issues; so that's your realistic limit if you did consider changing the size/gearing to get something suitable. Just check the comparison tools like Kouki.

Don't forget that if you go wider, the tyre wall increases a bit for the same profile tyre; but I take your point. I have some 45 profile off-road tyres and have never seen any others with such a low profile. These have replaced the OE 55 profile tyres on smaller wheels. As for mudguards: Never fitted them because the mud and snow can pull them off, and the car looks proper with some spatters up the side - but it's a pig to clean. The car looks "right" to me but then I'd use one of my library of wheels for something suitable for winter with flooded pot holes etc.

Well I would be interested in one, especially if it were to come in plug-in hybrid form. The price of Audi allroads wouldn't make me want one if it even comes in C8 format, but this would fit the bill nicely and I'd even get used to the 2-tone roof rails and wood trim. The Outdoor (even TdF version) didn't quite cut it for me, but this looks good. I'll wait as long as it takes as my 3.0 TDi drives like a dream and still does what I bought it for nearly 6 years ago - I just find I only use it for journeys of 10 miles plus now.

Not advisable without spigot rings to convert from 66.5mm centre bore (assuming genuine OE) to 57.1mm. A couple of quid on your favourite web auction platform for peace of mind. There are some Audi wheels with 57.1mm centre bore but a larger CB will give you more flexibility for reuse/resale later.

Consensus is that Mich PS4S are best (for 235/3519 on a Leon Cupra anyway), and there's an interesting video of all the Mich high performance tyres (incl trackday road legal) in cold weather on the Tyrereviews youtube channel (on a BMW iirc).

Probably just used some bead paste.

Regardless of whether they physically fit, there's a fundamental problem as the speedo will underread. Tread cautiously as you don't want to be illegal. I'm all for conversion sizes - just not this one.

Yeah not a problem here, but if I were to Vmax it there's potentially another 20 mph to go to, hence it's got Y rated as OE. Probably not something I'd want to do on an unrestricted autobahn in the winter though.

I've just reread my earlier post and can't edit it. All the tyres are good but occupy different areas of the all-season Venn diagram. The Contis probably represent a very large centre spot with the other two at opposite ends of the spectrum but still good. My comment about the CrossClimates reads wrong out of context. I fitted them to the car my son uses. This will be his second yeard of winter driving, so they were put on as a "fit and forget" option when he passed his test to cope with normal conditions without a step change between summer and winter options which might otherwise have given false confidence. I'd suggest that most people who read about tyres on forums are more in tune with the grip available and don't just get in and drive naively - although that's probably where we all started. Only disappointment for me is that the Contis are only rated V whereas the Bridgestones have a higher rating so will be considered for my 19" wheels when I've shredded my Conti summers. That may be a couple of years away and there are sure to be some developments by then.

I've got 3 different VW brands fitted with Weatherproofs, CrossClimates and now AllseasonContact on the most recent addition. Not really had an opportunity to test them in anger, but I'll be happy if they perform mid way between the other 2. They have to cope with 300PS via Haldex so are more likely to get pushed hard across most conditions whereas the Nokians are used for the worst conditions via quattro and aren't used "dynamically". The CrossClimates only have to cope with 69Ps but on 2WD but are a good choice for a driver with limited experience of winter conditions. I've been increasingly enthusiastic with the Contis which should cope with my 4 mile commute for 99% of the time while still making me smile each way. They don't have to cope with high summer temperatures as I'm only 10 minutes slower on a push bike.

That's good news. Just check the shoulder clearance at its nearest point to the wheel arch at about 3/4 turn. It sounds like the firmer vRS suspension is the saving grace as I think that with the exception of the Scout the softer suspension on other models might allow fouling. Also check for fouling when hitting a bump/depression while turning/under load. When it comes to MOT time the wheel arch liner will hopefully be completely covered with road grime with no signs of rubbing - especially if you don't push the envelope just beforehand.

Interested to know how you got on. Any news?