GlenAnderson

Keep forgetting to thank you for this tip. 😀

Can you? Must be a fairly recent development, as you couldn't when I was looking to buy one last year. Agreed. I tried all the big manufacturer's city cars, and the Up!/Citigo/Mii siblings were the best IMHO. Like many, I buy new not only to be able to choose the exact specification I want, get warranty etc., but also to fix my outgoings.

A (hopefully) temporary attack of skint-ness, simultaneous with my good lady kerbing the Gemini alloy that had the puncture repair back in September, saw me fit the 16" steels, complete with the 215/60s they had fitted. If I end up forking out for a new Gemini and tyre, then the winter rubber will definitely have to do another season. If I can get a refurb done then I'll rethink. Why does this kind of thing always happen this time of year?

I'm having to investigate getting a Gemini repaired after my good lady had an encounter with a kerb this morning. I shall post up my experiences.

16" steels will fit on a diesel vRS. Only the petrol versions have the really big discs.

The 90bhp tsi version of the Up! is a considerable improvement, performance wise. A shame that the Citigo and Mii are both only available with the 60bhp engine. Rumors persist of a 113bhp "Gti" version of the Up! on the cards; now one of those would be a hoot.

Exactly this. If I'd not bought a set of winter tyres for my Yeti, I'd have had to buy a new set of summer tyres for it in the year before I traded it in. So I would have spent the same, but sold the car with tyres the next owner was going to get the lion's share of the use from. By happy coincidence, the Yeti's winter wheel/tyre combo will fit our current Octavia, so I will get a couple more winters from them, with luck, or at least one anyway. So, by doing that, they've actually saved me money. :-)

The only thing that irks me about smartlink/Apple CarPlay is that, whilst it's easy to jump from CarPlay to radio/nav/whatever, you have to scroll through the options again to go back to CarPlay. 1st world problems I know, but it would be nice to have a "now playing" button on the touchscreen to let you navigate back in one go. I'll wait for someone to tell me I'm a doofus now, and that I'm missing something really obvious! :-)

When I was selling my late Uncle's Roomster WBAC offered £2,250 for it. I sold it privately for £4,000. The biggest hit in a new car's depreciation is in the first year, slowing through the second and third. Most VAG cars are worth 40-50% of their new cost at 3 years old with average mileage.

I've got a 2016 diesel vRS and can confirm that 16" steel wheels fit over the front brakes no problem. There is 5 to 6 mm clearance between caliper and rim. I'm using the 7J 16 et 45 rims that I had on my Yeti. They're currently shod with 215/60 R16 Falken Eurowinters, which I should comfortably get another winter out of. Maybe two. Ideally I'd have 215/55s, as they're closer to the 225/40 R18s, but they're close enough for me to be happy with them.

Interestingly, chatting to my tyre fitter mate today, he was adamant that a 205/55 on the 16" rim would give by far the best winter performance. As well as giving a far wider, and cheaper choice of tyre. I shall have to speak with my insurers and Skoda now. I shall report back.

Thanks Gents, much obliged. I have found 5x112 steels in 17", but nothing wider than 6.5J. 225s need to be on 7J as a minimum, and the only 7J steels I can find are the 16" ones I already have. I shall keep looking.

Do you know if there are any steel rims available to take those sizes? Part of the attraction for me, as well as the added grip in the cold, is keeping the original alloys off the car through the winter. As I've already got the 7J 16 steels, paid for them to be painted and got some centre caps, I don't really want to be buying yet more wheels, particularly alloys. If the factory recommend 225s though, then that would steer me toward 225/50 R16...

The Nokian D3 is on my list. Next time I'm near the dealership I'll call in and see if there's an official wheel/tyre combo for the Vrs; if not I'll have to make a decision.

Michelin's 215/60-16 may be a hair's breadth bigger than their 225/40-18, but my tyres are from Bridgestone and Nokian. My O/E 225/40-18 Bridgestones are 637mm diameter, the Nokian 215/60-16 winter tyres are 664mm diameter - according to my tape measure, measuring the circumference and working it back. That's a difference of 4.25%. Like I say, when the time comes, I'll take my tape measure to my local friendly tyre fitter's place and get measuring, rather than relying on quoted figures as anything more than a guide. Given that the 215/55s are significantly cheaper than the 225/50s, and that a narrower section tyre is likely to be a better performer in snow/ice/rain, then I think that'll be the way I jump. We'll see.