fatzy

Audi use spherical bolts as far as I know, but these alloys are replicas, and who knows what they are. The vRS has 7,5" wide alloys as option, is lower and has bigger calipers. With ET45 there should not be any problem to fit these on standard O3.

They are bolt-on. Being replicas, the only thing you need to check is the shape of the bolt contact face. Skoda has sperical face, and the original bolts do not fit well if the replica alloys has conical face.

I haven't tryed myself, but I assume you can fit them. Picture from another forum member, almost the same rims. I am not sure if his car is lowered.

I think the best way to get a good look, and not mess up too much will be to fit wider rims with an ET which is slightly lower.As an example, assuming the original rim is 7" and ET45 (the approval dimensions): 8" wide rims with ET38. Much of the widening from original will poke outboard, but some will poke inboard, which is important for the balance. You will have 2 centimeter less clearance to the side of the car, and 6 mm less clearance to the suspension strut. If you use the 225/45R17 tyre in both, this is a deviation is acceptable within reasonable limits. The driving characteristics will be different, but not mess up your car. It will also be legal in my country, which has a lot of specific regulations. They may seem strickt, but are made for a reason. Most probably you can lower the car (within reasonable limits) with this combo, assumingly without rubbing anywhere even at full lock and/or full suspension. I cannot say this for sure, I haven't studied that. Decisions-decisions-decisions..... Good luck!

[quote name="fatzy" post="4608903" But, as always small changes may be good, big deviations can be over the top. If you mess around on your own with odd offsets you may end up with zero scrub radius, called "center point steering". Then you may experience little road feel or feedback and directional stability. Not to mention what behaviour to expect if you press to the limits, in emergency situations, high speed driving over humps when cornering, etc. Sorry, I just realized a misprint which couldn't be edited. It should say: But, as always small changes may be good, big deviations can be over the top. If you mess around on your own with odd offsets you may end up with zero scrub radius, called "center point steering". Then you may experience little road feel or feedback and directional INstability. Not to mention what behaviour to expect if you press to the limits, in emergency situations, high speed driving over humps when cornering, etc.

Well, I wanted to highlight any possible negative side effects. I did not mention handling specifically, but never mind. Better handling will be the overall feeling when increasing the wheel tread and wider tyres, wider foot path. You can improve the look and at the same time enhance the handling in your neck of woods. Of course, nothing beats experience. Skoda has engineered the suspension geometry to suit everyone in their daily driving, with a balance of safety, comfort, handling and other characteristics. There is a lot of technical decisions taken: camber/caster/toe in-out/king pin and more angles and more advanced geometry to achieve this. I couldn't find the spec's for Octavia. Most probably there will be several, depending of version, motorisation and possibly markets. There is also something called scrub radius in the geometry. This will be affected by the offset of the wheels. I don't know how much technical info to write, it may be too "nerdy". But, as always small changes may be good, big deviations can be over the top. If you mess around on your own with odd offsets you may end up with zero scrub radius, called "center point steering". Then you may experience little road feel or feedback and directional stability. Not to mention what behaviour to expect if you press to the limits, in emergency situations, high speed driving over humps when cornering, etc.

Please remember that ET28 will move the entire wheel out, assuming both rims are 7.5 inch wide. An 8 inch wide rim with ET35 will also poke inboards due to encreased width. My point is: the centre line of the wheel will be moved, giving increased stress on bearings and the car may start wandering, following road tracks (hope the wordings make sence). It may be more sensitive to crosswinds and inclined road surfaces. Just mentioning possible side effects of big deviations from original.

The tyre you have now is odd for Octavia. 205/55R16, 225/45R17, 225/40R18 and 225/35R19 are all tyre dimensions for a "normal" Octavia. All these has a circumference which is approximately the same, and the speedometer will show about correct speed. That is, all speedometers are set to show a little less than actual speed. 7-10% is quite normal. If you fit tyres like 205/60R16 on 16 inch rims (like on Scouts), you will get a more accurate speedometer reading. In addition you will have slightly higher stance because of the increased tyre side wall height. The narrower tyres are more suitable for gravel roads as well.

Well, it is extremely important to compare the terms, conditions, coverage and limitations in relation to the premium you are going to pay before accepting any insurance. If not, surprices may appear. If the insurance company has specifically informed about these special terms and coverage on beforehand (prior to signing the contract) I guess it should be OK. Then this is the simplest, cheapest, most basic insurance coverage in exchange for extreme low premium, and mutually accepted. If this is sold as an "normal" insurance, in competition with other companies with a different terms and better coverage, then it is necessary to blow the whistle and warn about foul play.

By doing so, they shut down the complete alloy manufacturer industry. Skoda delivers a complete range of 16", 17", 18" and 19" wheels on their Octavias, and what you prefer to have on your car is your decision (as long as the technical datas are within ERTRO and Skoda spec's). There are no reason why they should dictate what you can or can't do. They obviously haven't got a clue and is only interested in earning money. It is not a consumer friedly practice and it is only one way of telling them what you think of it: Leave them!

To have a equal tyre circumference you need 225/45-18 or 225/40-40 tyres. Then the speedo will show approx the same as original tyres.

As an example, if you are stationary on the road as last man in the line without the foot on the brake, the trafic behind may be unaware of the standing cars. I think it is far better to warn them with my brake lights, maybe I don't get rear ended. I would for certain not be standing there with my parking brake applied. If your car is equipped with the start/stop feature, the engine will stop after half a minuter or so (if all parameters are within the set limits). Engine starts as soon as you release the foot brake, and the clutches starts to engage. The DSG is basically a manual gearbox with automatic clutches. It has NOT an oil converter for the transferring of power from the engine to the gearbox (that is old-style automatic). It is very cleverly designed and more efficient than all other automatic gearboxes today.

It should not be necessary to move the selector to N during normal trafical stops. Of course it is a bit straining to depress the brake pedal for some time, but it should not be necessary to engage N. As long as you press the brake pedal "with a certain pressure" the cluch is unengaged. You will notice it, the engine "calms down" on the revs. If you slowly release the brake pedal, the clutch partly engages. The more you release the brake, the more the clutch engages. You can feel the clutch engages (the car starts to creep and the engine revs increases to avoid a stall) on flat road. The same principles applies in hills.

I kind of like them on your Mk2. They aren't too bad, but the picture angle doesn't tell much! A more straight side view will be better. Is your car standard Vrs height at the picture?

Interesting, I have never seen Xtremes on a Mk2 FL! Imo 19" suits lowered cars only. So little rubber must be combined with small distance to the fender arches. But, thats me (I may be wrong, show your new wheels....) PICTURES!

Zorst, any results? I have read this thread many times and wondered why you have got this mystery vibration. Then I remembered, tyres are marked with some small colored dots on the side walls (anyway, the high end tyres are). The tyres are not perfectly made, and there are always some unevenly distributed weights, which is different from tyre to tyre. Therefore the manufacturer mark the heaviest part with a colored dot. They also mark the tyre with a different colored dot, to indicate where to position the air valve during the assembly onto the rim (maybe it is RED, but unfortunately I cannot remember which is which.) I have seen a lot of "faulty" fitted tyres. For many cars, a normal balancing job will counterbalance the tyre assembly with plenty (heavy) weights. Or they are lucky and fit the tyres in such a position that the in-built inbalance of the rim will counterweight the wheel assembly. But: some cars are sensible to inbalanced wheels (even minor ones), and some drivers are more picky about vibrations. A small flutter in a rotating wheel may increase in certain speeds if it coincides with the cars natural oscilation. Ok I admit, this became a little theoretical and nerdy. But maybe you have a coinsidence of numeral unlucky concurrences? In an ideal world the tyre dealer should refit the tyres in better positions onto the rims and rebalanced all again. They are the professionals here and should know all technical details of the black rubber things that connects the car to the surface.

Superskoda has an instruction video on YouTube which may be useful (hope the link works): https://youtu.be/sSc78QoVGTo

This is a perfect cruise control travel.

If you really want to save fuel, you can beat the cruise control, easily. You have the ability to look ahead and adjust the throttle according to what you see, and make the throttle adjustment smooth. You can lift the fun pedal a little to adopt to trafic and fortcoming events (like hills, corners, etc.) The cruise control keep a steady speed whatever, and that means it really giving the beans at uphills just to keep the speed to the set digits.

There are two types here (hope the link works). German site: http://www.fox-sportauspuff.de/store-products.php?language=en&pName=skoda-octavia-5e-final-silencer-rightleft-2x70-type-12-rightleft-p-16020&xploidID=8btertp5so7pn2luooc6ijd906

Like mine? Yes, the transverse snipes is what I call rougher pattern, made for traction. The combination of softer rubber and all these tiny snipes will make higher rolling resistance. More energy will be spent by the micro bending of the sniped pattern. Summer tyres of today are focused on energy saving by 4-5 continous longitudinal treads.

If your summers are 225/50-17, your winters should be 205/60-16 to match the circumference. Also: winter tyres has a little higher rolling resitance due to the rougher tread pattern and softer rubber.

205/55R16 is for comfort. Increasing tyre pressure will stiffen up the feel, but it also creates some negative side effects. For racinglike driving, 18 or 19 inch wheels and sport suspension is more suitable. Why not try that instead?