Carlston

It also seems a bit pointless to use such an expensive tyre size as 225/55R16, when the 205/55R16 size is both comfortable and cheap. 225/55R16 would also raise the gearing by about 3.5% compared to the standard 205/55R16 tyre size.

The springs are one weight range higher (slightly stiffer) on Citigos with 15" or 16" wheels compared to Citigos with 14" wheels. gknautomotive's online coil spring catalogue shows that 6R0411105T and 1S0511115AK springs are not used on Citigos that leave the factory with 14" wheels. Build code H9Y and CW7 confirms this. 6R0411105T Front coil spring 2 green paint marks 2 blue paint marks G01,G02,G06,G10+L03 1S0511115AK Rear coil spring 1 yellow paint mark 2 orange paint marks 3 green paint marks 1JA+0YC H9Y = Tyres 185/55R15 CW7 = Alloy rims 5.5Jx15

Have you looked at the clip on your new brake pads? That should show you how to push/pull and how much. If the old connectors are dirty and/or slippery, it might be worth cleaning them first. Also, wearing rubber gloves can sometimes help improve friction and/or using masking tape to increase surface friction.

Some photos might be useful. If it's like the one, then it looks like there's some kind of safety clip that needs to be held open before you can pull the two connectors apart. Take a look at the connector on your new set of brake pads.

Will you be letting your insurer know that you plan to fit the 235/35R19 tyres to illegally narrow rims, as 235/35 tyres need at least an 8J rim width? The Octavia MK3 19" X-TREM rim is only 7.5J width. ETRTO approved rim widths 225/35 7.5-8.0-9.0 235/35 8.0-8.5-9.5

17" rims will fit even the most powerful Octavias, Superbs, and Kodiaqs that use the big 340x30mm front brake discs.

What size tyres do you currently have? I expect 225/45R17 or 225/40R18 are currently on the car if you are having problems with the rims. Changing to 205/55R16 is the obvious answer. The standard 16" rim size on the Superb MK2 is 6Jx16 ET50 or 7Jx16 ET45. However, the 6Jx16 ET50 is more of a winter tyre size as it is both narrow and pushed into the wheelarch to allow for the optional fitment of snow chains. I suggest you look at widths between 6J and 6.5J and offsets between ET40 and ET50 The 6J option would give you the most comfort and the best rim protection from kerbing damage, although 6.5J is also a good rim size for the 205/55R16 tyre size. Perhaps 6Jx16 ET43 5/112 57.1 from the Karoq but don't use the Karoq tyres as the outside diameter is far too big for the Superb MK2, ie. the Karoq uses 215/60R16 or 225/60R16 tyres with this rim size. As well as the 6Jx16 ET50 option, there's also a 6Jx16 ET48 option that was fitted as a winter tyre size to some VAG cars such as the Octavia MK3. 6.5Jx16 ET41 from the Superb MK3 and 6.5Jx16 ET46 from the Octavia MK3 could also be considered. The below are steel rims, but where there's a steel rim there's often an alloy rim with the same specification. 6Jx16 ET40 5/112 57.1 steel rim (from the Superb MK1) https://www.mytyres.co.uk/rims/details?vehicleId=180498027838968944&rimCode=ALCAR9490 6Jx16 ET43 5/112 57.1 steel rim (from the Karoq) https://www.mytyres.co.uk/rims/details?vehicleId=1128064295487526000&rimCode=ALCAR6665 6Jx16 ET48 5/112 57.1 steel rim (from the Octavia MK3) https://www.mytyres.co.uk/rims/details?vehicleId=185949956245308528&rimCode=ALCAR8247 6Jx16 ET50 5/112 57.1 steel rim (from the Superb MK2) https://www.mytyres.co.uk/rims/details?vehicleId=182113210420171888&rimCode=ALCAR9535 6.5Jx16 ET41 5/112 57.1 steel rim (from the Superb MK3) https://www.mytyres.co.uk/rims/details?vehicleId=1037012088350651504&rimCode=ALCAR8426 6.5Jx16 ET46 5/112 57.1 steel rim (from the Octavia MK3) https://www.mytyres.co.uk/rims/details?vehicleId=185949956245308528&rimCode=ALCAR8667 6.5Jx16 ET50 5/112 57.1 steel rim (from the Octavia MK2) https://www.mytyres.co.uk/rims/details?vehicleId=182673411594523760&rimCode=ALCAR9915

Some 16" and 17" Octavia MK2 alloy rims shown on "skoda eshop cz" https://eshop.skoda-auto.cz/en_CZ/alloy-wheels/c/alloyWheels?sort=priceAsc&q=%3AscoreDesc%3AcarType%3AOctavia%2BII%2B%282008-2013%29# One of the above 17" alloy rims is listed at 12.5kg. I've seen a lightweight 7Jx16 ET45 5/112 57.1 forged alloy rim from some Audi A4/A6 cars around the year 2000 weighing just 7.3kg each. For all four wheels, that would be a weight reduction of over 20kg in unsprung weight without taking into account the lighter weight of 205/55R16 tyres compared to 225/45R17 tyres. 8D0601025K 7Jx16 ET45 5/112 57.1 alloy rims from an Audi A4 around the year 2000 (weigh about 7.3kg each) 9 8D0601025K Aluminium rim 7 JX16H2 ET45 5/112 4 PR-C8Y - 8D0601025K Z17 Avus silver https://www.lllparts.co.uk/catalogs/audi/RDW/A4/223/6/601/601060 A 7J rim is quite wide for a 205/55R16 tyre, as this tyre size is normally fitted to a slightly narrower 6.5J rim. However, BMW would probably fit a 205/55R16 tyre to a 7J rim because it makes the handling a little bit more sporty. The problem with most alloy rims is that they are made out of cheap cast aluminium (even the ones fitted to VRS) which makes them heavy. Heavy wheels won't do much for the car's handling. The wider 225/45R17 tyres will increase the fuel consumption.

I expect the following parts from the Audi A1 MK2 will fit, so you would have 312x25mm front brake discs. However, when you do these kinds of modifications there's always room for some unexpected problems especially if no one else has done this particular modification before. If you already have 276x24mm front brake discs instead of the smaller 256x22mm front brake discs you will already have "2Q0407621A Wheelhub with bearing" which you should be able to re-use. The parts are the same from the VW Polo MK6 GTI except for the "2Q0407621A Wheelhub with bearing" and the "2Q0615301J Brake disc 312X25" being different. If you use the VW Polo MK6 GTI version of these parts you will increase the front track by about 9mm. I suggest you use the Audi A1 parts which should keep the front track standard. 5G0615123C Brake caliper housing red left 5G0615124C Brake caliper housing red right 5G0615125 Brake carrier red left 5G0615126 Brake carrier red right 2Q0698151K Brake pads 2Q0615301J Brake disc 312x25mm https://www.lllparts.co.uk/catalogs/audi/RDW/A1/592/6/615/615040 2Q0407256L Wheel bearing housing 2Q0407621A Wheelhub with bearing https://www.lllparts.co.uk/catalogs/audi/RDW/A1/592/4/407/407010

A photo of a wheelhub I suspect VW used the different wheelhubs on the VW Polo MK6 GTI, ie. 2Q0407621B instead of 2Q0407621A, to move the front wheels out by about 4.4mm, which could have been for improved handling and/or steering response, but I suspect it was for cosmetics, ie. to fill the front wheel arches. They could have just altered the offset of the rims by 4.4mm, but that would also have effected the rear wheels and from the photo below the rear wheels were already filling the rear wheel arches so didn't need to be moved out a further 4.4mm. VW Polo MK6 GTI https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Polo#Sixth_generation_(AW/BZ;_2017)

The 312x25mm front brake discs on the VW Polo MK6 and Audi A1 MK2 are different (and so are the wheelhubs). The brake calipers, brake carriers, and wheel bearing housing are the same. So why are they using different brake discs??? The reason appears to be that they use different wheelhubs (the part that the five wheel bolts screw into). Different front brake discs on these two cars 2Q0615301N VW Polo MK6 Front brake disc 312x25mm 5/100 2Q0615301J Audi A1 MK2 Front brake disc 312x25mm 5/100 Different wheelhubs on these two cars 2Q0407621A Audi A1 MK2 wheelhub 2Q0407621B VW Polo MK6 wheelhub So if you use the Kamiq wheelhub with OEM part number 2Q0407621A (which is the same as one of the wheelhubs that the Audi A1 MK2 uses) you will need to use the Audi A1 MK2 312x25mm front brake disc with OEM part number 2Q0615301J. This may explain why the Audi A1 MK2 with 312x25mm front brake discs has build code 1ZA and the VW Polo MK6 with 312x25mm front brake discs has build code 1ZB, ie. they are not the same, although some parts are shared as mentioned above.

It's possible the following won't work, so treat the following information with caution. The 312x25mm front brake discs on the latest Audi A1 and VW Polo MK6 are different. VW Polo MK6 312x25mm front brake discs Latest Audi A1 312x25mm front brake discs All these parts could add up to over £800 partly because the wheel bearing housings don't appear to be available aftermarket yet. The VAG price could be over £400 just for the left and right wheel bearing housing. These parts are from the VW Polo MK6 GTI and will probably fit the Kamiq with 276x24mm front brake discs. If you have a Kamiq with 256x22mm front brake discs you would probably also need new wheel hubs with the bigger 78mm outside diameter bearings, as the wheel hubs that are used with the 256x22mm front brake discs on the Kamiq use smaller 72mm outside diameter bearings. 5G0615123C Left brake caliper 5G0615124C Right brake caliper 5G0615125 Left brake carrier 5G0615126 Right brake carrier 2Q0698151K Brake pads 2Q0407255L Left wheel bearing housing 2Q0407256L Right wheel bearing housing

I'm looking at getting a new car soon. Maybe a Citigo on oversize 185/70R13 tyres. The 13" rims won't clear the front brake calipers but I suspect smaller 239mm front brake discs from a VW Polo MK3 could be made to fit. Or a Fabia MK4 on oversize 195/70R14 tyres. Or an Octavia MK4 on oversize 205/70R15 tyres. Or a Kodiaq on oversize 215/70R16 tyres. If the Citigo had a single cylinder 500cc petrol engine producing power 37.5HP @ 6,000rpm and torque 50Nm @ 4,000rpm and a 37.5HP electric motor to bring total power up to 75HP and a battery of 30KWh I might go for that. The 37.5HP engine could be geared at 14mph/1,000rpm so that at 56mph (an economical cruising speed) the engine would be producing maximum torque, ie. 4,000rpm. Top speed on petrol power alone could be 84mph.

I once looked at a new VW Golf MK4 when it first came out, so in the late 1990's. It was fitted with 175/80R14 tyres. Those looked a bit too narrow for that car. The salesmen said he could supply the car at no extra cost fitted with 205/55R16 tyres. That seemed a bridge too far. Can I have 195/65R15 I asked as those looked just about right for the car? The special offer is only for 205/55R16 he said, so I walked. Over the years, cars are being fitted with bigger and bigger outside diameter tyres. That's a good thing because you get a better ride. For example, take the 155/60R15 and 155/60R20 tyre sizes. The 155/60R15 tyre size has a 74 (375kg) load index, whereas the 155/60R20 has an 80 (450kg) load index. That a 20% increase in the load carrying capacity of the tyre, with the only difference being a 5" increase in diameter. So if you had a car that had 155/60R15 size tyres that used 36psi tyre pressure, you could change to 155/60R20 size tyres and use 30psi. The effect of this lower tyre pressure is a 20% increase in the length of the contact patch of the tyre with the road, and that would make a huge improvement in the ride comfort...unless the original ride was so good that you had no complaints...which would be unlikely because modern cars are set up quite stiffly for body control.

I prefer to buy rims with the offset that I want. Spacers create unnecessary problems with removing and fitting the wheels. Garages will probably charge extra labour costs if they have to mess about with your spacers. Aluminium spacers weigh about 1kg for every 25mm in thickness. So although they may be made out of what many would regard as a light material, spacers are not light.

The outside diameter of the tyres that I've measured have all been within about 1% of what they are supposed to be...and I've measured quite a few. If tyre manufacturers make the outside diameters of their tyres far too big the speedometer could under-read...and that would be illegal. I do tend to buy premium brands, so maybe that helps. I certainly wouldn't buy Pirelli...too many bad experiences with Italian products...and their poor customer service.

I no longer struggle to get my wheels off even after many years after discovering one simple trick. Undo your wheel bolts by one complete turn (no more). Drive the car two metres (about 6ft 6in), then do the wheel bolts up again. The wheels will now come off easily. What has happened is that under the weight of the car, the rims have moved slightly on the hub centre bore while the car was being driven for two metres and polished the centre bore so that the rims are no longer stubbornly stuck against the hub.

The point about the 6mm tread wear comment is to show that there's not a massive difference in the outside diameter of 185/60R15 and 195/60R15 tyres. Let's say you have new 195/60R15 tyres with 7.6mm of tread depth. The tread wears down by 6mm, so that they only have 1.6mm of tread depth remaining. The 195/60R15 tyres will now have exactly the same outside diameter as new 185/60R15 tyres. It's better to consider the percentage difference, and 195/60R15 have an outside diameter 2.0% bigger than 185/60R15 when both tyres are new. However, not everyone has a good grasp of percentages.

Fit the 235/45R18 to the rims first, and see how you get along. ET51 pushes the centre line of the tyre only 7mm further into the wheelarch than ET44, so it's only a small difference. The main reason for the poor aesthetics at the moment is because you have 225/40R18 tyres which are far too small for the big Superb MK3. Spacers are not a good long term option. Being usually made out of aluminium they tend to corrode when used against the steel hub. The 235/45R18 tyre size will work well with the 7.5J rim width. I prefer fitting 235/45R18 tyres to 7.5J rims compared to 8J rims. You get a better ride and the rims are better protected from kerbing damage due to the tyres' sidewalls bulging out slightly more. As you can see in the chart below, you can fit a 235/45 tyre to a rim width between 7.5J to 9J, with 8J being the standard rim width for this tyre size and hence highlighted in bold. ETRTO approved rim widths 235/45 7.5-8.0-9.0 Bear in mind that Skoda fit their 215 tyre sizes (ie. 215/60R16, 215/55R17) to ET40 to ET41 rims on the Superb MK3, so fitting a 235/45R18 tyre to an ET51 rim will have the outside edge of the tyre in a similar place to the 215 tyre sizes. The edge of a 7.5Jx18 ET51 rim will be 2.7mm further out in the wheel arch compared to a 6.5Jx16 ET41 rim. Compared to a non-standard 6Jx16 ET43 Karoq rim, the outside edge of a 7.5Jx18 ET51 rim will be 11.05mm further out in the wheel arch.

The Fabia MK3 should have come with 175/70R14, 185/60R15, and 195/50R16. As always, VAG goes bonkers on the final size and instead of fitting 195/50R16 fits 215/45R16 in order to impress gullible potential owners in the showroom. I would have gone for the 1.0TSI 95HP instead of 110HP because the slightly lower powered car uses smaller 256mm front discs which means that 14" rims will clear the front brake calipers. Unfortunately on the 1.0TSI 110HP car, Skoda have fitted bigger 288mm front brake discs which means that you have to fit a minimum of 15" rims. The 215/45R16 is fitted to 7Jx16 ET46 5/100 57.1 rims. Changing to 195/50R16 will allow you to use less offset, with ET35 to ET38 being fine. Changing the offset from ET46 to ET35 will increase the front and rear track by 22mm giving a better stance. However, on the Fabia MK3 110HP car, I would probably go for 195/60R15 on the standard 6Jx15 ET38 5/100 57.1 rims. 195/60R15 has an outside diameter 2.0% bigger than 185/60R15, but 195/60R15 is a cheaper tyre size than 185/60R15 and on the 6J rim will noticeably improve the ride comfort especially if you lower the tyre pressures by about 3psi (0.2 Bar). You can lower the tyre pressures because the bigger 195/60R15 can support the same amount of weight as the 185/60R15 with about 3psi (0.2 Bar) less tyre pressure. This is because it has a higher load index. 88(560kg) instead of 84(500kg). When a used 195/60R15 tyre has 6mm of tread wear, it will have exactly the same outside diameter as a new 185/60R15. Vredestein Quatrac 195/60R15 88H https://www.blackcircles.com/catalogue/vredestein/quatrac/195/60/R15/H/88/m?tyre=41007440 6Jx16 ET35 5/100 57.1 steel rims https://www.mytyres.co.uk/rims/details?vehicleId=1087670437300683876&rimCode=ALCAR6664 6Jx16 ET35 5/100 57.1 alloy rims (from the Scala) https://eshop.skoda-auto.cz/en_CZ/alloy-wheels/c/alloyWheels?q=%3ApriceAsc%3AcarType%3AScala%2B%282019%2B%29&text=#

Kilen and KYB list these springs for the standard ride height Superb MK3 2.0TDI 150HP hatchback. 5Q0411105GM Kilen 25117, KYB RA1089 1 5Q0411105GM Front Coil Spring 1 paint mark 1 paint mark Blue Grey 2 PR-L07 Wire diameter 12.25mm, Length 315mm, Weight 1.7kg (specification taken from gknautomotive.com) 3Q0511115AK Kilen 65124, KYB RA5330 1 3Q0511115AK Rear Coil Spring 2 PR-1JA+0YC Wire diameter 12.25mm, Length 364mm, Weight 2.2kg (specification taken from gknautomotive.com) Your sports/lowered ride height springs 5Q0411105HD 1 5Q0411105HD Front Coil Spring 1 paint mark 1 paint mark brown white 2 PR-L17 Wire diameter 12.25mm, Length 284mm, Weight 1.7kg (specification taken from gknautomotive.com) 3Q0511115T 1 3Q0511115T Rear Coil Spring 2 PR-1JC+0YB Wire diameter 12.75mm, Length 324mm (specification taken from eibach and includes 3Q0511115AA which is one weight range higher, so actual 3Q0511115T is probably a slightly lighter spring than this perhaps having a wire diameter of between 12.25mm and 12.5mm) With aftermarket springs, there tends to be much less choice of sports/lowered springs with many OEM part numbers not available. This is one reason for sticking to or changing to standard ride height springs if you like to replace your old broken springs with aftermarket springs. Plus of course, standard ride height springs tend to give a softer and more comfortable ride. Not forgetting the increased ride height and improved ground clearance. https://www.kilensprings.com/springs-catalouges/onlinecatalogue.asp https://kyb-europe.com/catalogue/ https://www.gknautomotive.com/

Yes, the rear shock absorbers could be either 3Q0513049FN or 3Q0513049FP. The KYB and Sachs rear shock absorbers listed on autodoc cover both of these OEM part numbers, so if you were going for these aftermarket shock absorbers it wouldn't matter which OEM part number your car originally came with out of those two OEM part numbers. The rear Bilstein shock absorbers that you purchased are only listed against the increased ride height part number, which is the complete opposite of the sports/lowered ride height that you have. Saying that, many of the rear aftermarket shock absorbers use a one size fits all approach, so sell just one rear shock absorber to cover sports/lowered suspension, standard ride height suspension, and increased ride height suspension (sometime called off-road suspension and/or heavy-duty suspension). Anyhow, because of this discrepancy with the Bilstein rear shock absorbers, I would have probably gone for either Sachs or KYB rear shock absorbers. The Sachs and KYB are both sold to replace all three OEM part numbers. Maybe the Bilstein will be fine with all three ride heights, but maybe not. Rear shock absorbers for Superb MK3 FWD 7 3Q0513049FP Gas shock absorber rear 2 PR-1JA 7 3Q0513049FN Gas shock absorber rear 2 PR-1JA 7 3Q0513049FP Gas shock absorber rear 2 PR-1JC 7 3Q0513049FN Gas shock absorber rear 2 PR-1JC 7 3Q0513049FT Gas shock absorber rear 2 PR-UC7

Narrower tyres such as 215/60R16 and 215/55R17 should have lower fuel consumption than wider 235/45R18 and 235/40R19, although the increased fuel consumption of the wider tyres could be due to the increased weight and the increased wind drag rather than increased friction with the road. I would be more concerned about the high wear rate of the Hankook all-season tyres. The wear rate was only about 63% of the best in one of the tests. Maybe take a look at Continental all-season tyres. Some of them are given a B rating for rolling resistance.

The Bilstein B4 front 22-232342 and rear 19-232362 shock absorbers that you list are the only Bilstein B4 shock absorbers that are listed on autodoc that cover some of the OEM part numbers for the Superb MK3 FWD without electronic suspension control. I don't know if you have a white sticker/label under the carpet in the spare wheel well area, because someone suggested that Skoda stopped doing this around 2015/16 model years. Howver, that not be totally accurate information. The white label only includes some of the build codes, perhaps around 40 of them. The actual number of build codes is much higher, perhaps around 140. When you get all your build codes, I find it useful to sort them into alphanumerical order. To determine your front springs, you are looking for a build code between L01 and L35. To determine your front shock absorbers, you are looking for build code G01 or G02 or G03. To determine your rear springs, you are looking for a build code between 0YA and 0YL, and whether you have build code 1JA or 1JC or UC7. To determine your rear shock absorbers, you are looking for build code 1JA or 1JC or UC7.

If you put a photo up with a side view, someone might be able to comment on the tyre to top of wheel arch gap. Maybe the gap is less than it should be if hitting humps is a problem? Maybe you've got sagging and/or broken springs or someone has previously fitted lowering springs?