GlenAnderson

Ta. I once got the job of removing a set of "P-slot" alloys from a Mk 1 Golf that had stuck fast to the hubs through dissimilar-metal corrosion, so I've always used a tiny smear of vaseline on any subsequent alloys I've ever had on/off a car since. I was pleased to see some kind of anti-seize gloop on the wheels I took off the Yeti, obviously some factory-fit concoction - nice touch. I'm a total convert to winter rubber. I had no end of ribbing from certain quarters at work about spending £400 on a set of winter wheels and tyres for our old Golf a couple of years back. Took great pleasure in working out that spending that £400 had saved me from having to replace all four summer tyres last year, prior to selling the car last May, which would have cost me £300. I sold the Golf with all four summer tyres just above 2mm, and the winter wheels/tyres for £220 separately. Left me about £100-£120 up on the deal. I'm fairly convinced the summer tyres wear quicker in the winter too - particularly the fronts if they're doing much slithering about (both the Golf and the Yeti were/are 2-WD) - but the main thing for me is that SWMBO feels safer and more confident in the car with the winter tyres on. The Golf was noticeably more stable on a cold road on the winters, and was way more composed in the wet. The summer tyres wouldn't even get up our drive when the snow was on the ground, and when I managed to get about half way up, the handbrake wouldn't hold the weight of the car. Even with it in gear as well, the slightest nudge had it sliding back down with all the wheels locked. With the winters on it just drove up like normal. It'll be interesting to see how the Yeti's tyre wear pans out. I plan keeping the car for five years, as I said above, and anticipate about 12,000 miles a year. With the winters on from November to the end of March/early April they'll see about 25,000 miles over the five year period, and the summers about 35,000 miles. It would be nice to think I could maybe get away without buying any more tyres over that period. I'm not sure what we'll do with the Yeti after that - maybe keep it a few years once it's paid for and enjoy a bit of payment-free motoring, or maybe trade it in for a new Yeti (or something else)... We'll see. I'd actually like to get some dedicated winter tyres for my Land-Rover, but they're not available in the size I'd need. 4-WD drivers seem less aware of their benefits it seems, which is a shame, my old 109" is pretty good on it's M+S rubber, but you do have to be very careful still - with the proper winter compounds it'd be unstoppable. Glen.

Fitted the winter wheels/tyres to SWMBO's Urban over the weekend. As previously mentioned, I went for a set of factory steel 16" rims, which a mate painted silver for me. Total cost, inc. painting, £240. Tyres, after some deliberation, are 215/60x16 Falken HS449 Eurowinter. £374.40 fitted and balanced for the four. Finished with a set of VW Caddy hubcaps, £10 secondhand off ebay. Total cost £625 give or take a copper or two. As has been pointed out by others before, the summer tyres and expensive, shiny Matterhorn alloys are safe in the shed (washed and dried), and every mile driven on the winter tyres is a mile saved on the summer ones - over the five years or so I plan keeping the car, the cost of the winter rubber will be recovered completely (hopefully) in saved summer tyre wear; leaving the only real outlay that of the steel wheels, paint and hubcaps. Spread over the same five years that's under a pound a week. Anyway, pictures: I'm tempted to fit some Skoda badges to the centres, but from more than a few feet away you can't see the VW anyway - and you certainly can't see it from the driving seat! Glen.

Had a good chat to my mate at the tyre shop today about the merits of all-seasons versus dedicated winters. His opinion was, given that I've got expensive alloys fitted with new "summer" rubber already, was to fit proper winter compound tyres to the new steel rims. He pointed out that they aren't "snow" tyres, but specifically designed to cope with running below 7 deg C in rain, as well as on dry or greasy roads. He also pointed out that, whilst mid-day temperatures might be above 7 deg C, the mornings and evenings, when SWMBO is driving it to and from work, are below the magic 7 from November to April most years - ergo, his advice would be to avoid all-weather tyres as their performance at each end of the envelope would be lacking, whereas the summer/winter combination would overlap. He said his advice might be different if I'd got a set of worn out summer tyres on my alloys, that had seen several seasons use already and if I wasn't worried about swapping sets of tyres round or wanted to avoid having to store the spares. My thoughts are, basically, that the Matterhorn alloys on my Urban are over £250 each, and damaging just one of them would cover nearly half the outlay required for a full set of winter wheels and tyres. Thats without the aggro involved (no spare remember, just gloop and a pump), or the fact that keeping the alloys out of the salt and muck will preserve both their finish and the summer tyres fitted to them. The tyre he recommended was a Kumho KW23 in 215/60 R16 99H. Worked out at £102 each, fitted and balanced. I've done a search online and I could save a little by shopping online, but not enough to tempt me to take my business away from somewhere I've been dealing happily with for a couple of decades. He didn't charge me for the last puncture repair I had done, so that more than covers the difference IMHO! Anyway, I'll report back once I've made my final decision. Glen.

I've just bought a set of four genuine steel rims from a Skoda dealers in Mansfield via ebay. Worked out at £166 delivered for all four. My local dealer claimed he couldn't buy them himself for that, so I figure it was a good buy. Item number here: 380406886271 Dropped them off at a mate's today for him to spray silver for me (he does a lot of body repair work, so silver paint "just" jobs are very cheap!). All four painted and lacquered for £80 - less than it'd cost me to buy the paint... Anyhow, got to find some caddy caps for them and make a decision on tyres. I had Bridgestone A001 All-Season tyres on a set of steel rims on our old Golf, and they were very good indeed for the whole November-April period. I'm probably going to try and find something similar for the Yeti rather than a dedicated "winter/snow" compound as they'll probably be better for us here in the South East. Glen.

We've got a black one: I prefferred white, but it's SWMBO's car, and she wanted black...

I've got a Webasto Thermo-Top V, originally intended for a Land-Rover Freelander, fitted to my 1959 Land-Rover Series 2 and it makes going to work at 03:00 on a winter's morning bearable! I was staggered that Skoda UK wouldn't supply my Yeti with one fitted. Even in the UK we do get winter weather that makes them a welcome addition to the car. I've noticed a very small improvement in fuel economy with my Landy (I've a 200TDi engine fitted from an early 90s Discovery) as the warm-up times are reduced to nil. I've got mine set up with a Webasto timer controller so that I can have the car pre-warmed before I set off. If I forget to set the timer there's a switch that automatically starts the heater when you start the engine if temperatures are below 6 degrees C (IIRC), so the Webasto is feeding the car's heater with 5KW of heat energy almost immediately. I've got heated windscreen glass in the old bus too, which are a great help as the standard ventilation/demisting leaves a lot to be desired. I was somewhat irked to find that, because we ordered an Urban, with it's fixed specification, I couldn't get a factory heated screen for the Yeti either. Still, there is a certain irony in my daily driver is 52 years old and is sitting there warm and snug waiting for me whilst I'm scraping the ice off my wife's brand new daily I suppose... Glen.

Our Urban has a DAB stereo. Seems to work pretty well - although it's SWMBO's toy, I tend to either have the radio off, or stream a playlist from my iPhone as I'm becoming increasingly intolerant of DJs and modern music as I slowly complete the metamorphosis into my father...

Name: GlenAnderson Engine: 110 Bhp CR Model: Urban 4 x 2 Black Location: Canterbury

Hi All, I found this forum when researching the purchase of our new Yeti. Now I've got the car I think it's about time I stopped lurking and registered. I've just got rid of a 52 plate Tdi 130 Golf MK4, so I'm fairly well acquainted with VAG stuff of that era - I have always done all my own servicing and repairs - so it's going to be a bit of a strange feeling letting the dealer do all the work whilst the warranty is current! So far (and we only got the Yeti on Monday, and it's only done a couple of hundred miles) I'm pleased as punch with it. it's the 110hp diesel version Urban 2WD in black. Pictured here with my 1970 VW Beetle (which is our toy/emergency car). My wife will be using the Yeti as her daily - I run a 1959 Land-Rover as mine. Anyway, enough guff for now. I'm off to read up on towbars, winter rubber and anything else I can think of! Glen.