Folks

I'm trying to find some tyres for my Scout that are better off road than the standard SP1s, which lose traction too easily when I use the car to pull my boat & trailer on slip ways or pebble beaches even though the 4x4 system is working well.

Ideally I'd like a 20/50 on/off road tyre, with better off road grip without too much noise on the road.

I can't find any suitable tyres in the standard 225/50x17 size, so have been looking at alternatives for 16" or 15" wheels.

The closest I can find is a Conti Cross Contact AT in 215/65 x 16 (data sheet enclosed), and I can get four 16" Octavia alloys from an online breaker for a fair price which lets me switch back to road tyres whenever I want.

Has anyone tried these (or other) off road biased tyres for their Scout or Octavia 4x4?

There's a difference in overall circumference between the standard tyre and these 16" tyres, with revs of 747 (standard) versus 780 (new) making a 4.4% speedo inaccuracy.

Is there any option to adjust a code for different tyre sizes, or would I just have to live with the difference?

Many thanks for your suggestions.

Tim

ContiCrossContactAT_datasheet_en.pdf

Welcome to Briskoda.

I guess you are enjoying your Octavia Scout but sorry to hear about your 'slippery' problem. I'm not up to speed on off road tyres but would suggest the following;

Have you found the tyre calculator on Briskoda? If not, here it is;- BRISKODA - The Skoda Forum and Community - Tyre Calculator very useful and easy to use, particularly as you can compare the OE spec tyre with a different tyre.

You suggest a 215/65 16 as an alternative with a 4.4% difference in rolling radius; this is too much. You should not have more than a 3% difference and ideally no more than 1.5% - 2% difference.

Try looking for a 215/60 16 - this is only 1.16% difference (larger rolling radius) and thus a better match. Also, having done a quick check of a tyre supplier I use; for this size there seems to be several 4x4 options that might be suitable for you, see here;- Online Quotation - Event Mobile Tyres - We Come To You

Good luck.

I used to own a Nissan X-trail and werent overly impressed with the standard rubber.

I initially changed to Uniroyal 4x4 Street which were an improvement in all areas but then went for Pirelli Scorpions.

The Scorpions were better still.

Offered good grip on the road when needed and yet were quite good on the muddy stuff too.

Not sure on sizes but you can generally change profiles/widths if done right.

Steve

Nothing to do with OT, but congrats on a n ice car. Looking at a bigger car in next couple of years and always thought it would be sporty Modeo, or vRS OCtavia. But seeing the scout on the road it looks so good. Lofty, comfy and with some flair...

Hi

In winter for snow and ice we use Pirelli Winter Carving ( can even be studded in some countries). We are not into real off road stuff, only muddy tracks, and winter conditions. Nice choice of car you have, good luck.

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Octy 2, 1.9 TDI PD Ambiente 4x4 Combi and Nissan Sunny 2.0 DLX, Company Octy 1.9 TDI Tour Combi.

How about a slightly off the wall suggestion of some Wintrac Xtremes.

If they are unsuitable I'd have a look at the others in ther verdistein range

After using other 4x4's a lot for all sorts of towing and driving, I ended up with 2 sets of tyres.

However there are some reasonable All terrain tyres. Have a look at the goodyear wranglers - AP or AT

I found these pretty good on crappy slipways when launching and recovering my boat and their on road manners are good. They were pretty good in the snow but not too good clay type mud as they dont self clean as well as a mud terrain.

Also maybe consider one of the BF Goodrich AT tyres or the Michelin 4x4 range - they are good tyres for this sort of job. There are some other nice tyres but they are more truck types with stiff sidewalls to carry the weight.

How about a slightly off the wall suggestion of some Wintrac Xtremes.

If they are unsuitable I'd have a look at the others in ther verdistein range

I totally agree. Worth looking at Vredestein's website. Top tyres (if you can find them)

Folks

Thanks for your suggestions and link to the tyre calculator, which are vey helpful.

I'm working my way through the search list of available 215 60 16 tyres to see if any have a 50/50 or 60/40 on/off road bias.

Unfortunately many of the lower profile tyres are more road biased even though they claim to be 4x4 tyres - probably focused on X5s and XC90s etc for the school run.

Most of the US tyres with off road capability - Grabbers etc - have a minumum 65 profile so would be too tall for a 16" wheel.

The Vriedstein Quatrac2 or Goodyear Wrangler HP tread patterns might be suitable, and is available in 215 60 16. I'll try and find a local dealer so I can have a look.

Cheers

Tim

Folks

The Vriedstein Quatrac2 or Goodyear Wrangler HP tread patterns might be suitable, and is available in 215 60 16. I'll try and find a local dealer so I can have a look.

Cheers

Tim

Vredesteins are not the easiest to find a local dealer for, I know from buying them myself; best thing to do would be to buy them 'on-line' and then get a local tyre dealer to fit them (should cost around £10 per wheel to fit and balance).

Tell me about it - Vreds are a nightmare to get here in N. Ireland. The one dealer I found is a grumpy bugger who likes to charge.

Very good tyres though, I prefer the Ultracs I have on the front over the supposed "best tyre ever" Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymetric.

TBH if your only using the car to pull a boat on a slip on pebbles then pretty much any tyre will be OK.

I cant see how a off road biased tyre will help you in your current use.

Not sure if what you have on is a M&S tyre, but any M&S tyre (like wranglers/scorpions etc) would fit the bill.

Been the type of car it is then I cant imagine you using it in too harsh an enviroment.

Are you likely to use the car for any other off road use?

I quite often used my X-trail for work, visiting mobile phone base stations, mostly on hills etc. Never had a bother even with the standard tyres. I only upgraded just for that little bit extra etc.

Steve

Luckily my local tyre company (Supertyres) in Welwyn Garden City stock and sell Vredesteins. They're getting me a Quatrac2 in to have a look at the tread pattern (pic enclosed). Price looks good too - under £80 / tyre.

Tomo1971 - completley agree with your view that any M&S tyre would be ok; unfortunately the OE tyres on my Scout are Dunlop SP Sport 01s - which are a purely road tyre.

Tim

Luckily my local tyre company (Supertyres) in Welwyn Garden City stock and sell Vredesteins. They're getting me a Quatrac2 in to have a look at the tread pattern (pic enclosed). Price looks good too - under £80 / tyre.

Good to know you are able to find Vred's locally; well done. Price does look good.

Tomo1971 - completley agree with your view that any M&S tyre would be ok; unfortunately the OE tyres on my Scout are Dunlop SP Sport 01s - which are a purely road tyre.

I suppose for Skoda to have a 'road tyre' as OE is to be expected; but you'd have thought they ought to offer a mixed/off-road option, particularly considering the design spec of the car!

I've had a look at the Quatrac 2 today, tread pattern looks good so I've ordered a full set - which will arrive next Tuesday.

Now need to find a set of 6.5 x 16" alloys to fit them on .....

I've had a look at the Quatrac 2 today, tread pattern looks good so I've ordered a full set - which will arrive next Tuesday.

Now need to find a set of 6.5 x 16" alloys to fit them on .....

ebay? Why not just get some steelies?

Folks

Vredestein Quatrac 2 tyres now fitted with Fox 636 16" wheels - great service by Supertyres in Welwyn Garden City.

Tyres not quite as off-road biased as I wanted, but work MUCH better than OE Dunlops off road. They aren't noisy on the road, little bit more flex in the sidewall, but grip well.

The 636 is a five spoke like the original, but looks a bit more angular.

What do you think?

Tim

Look good

Another vote for Vredestein, very good tyres especially in poor weather conditions wet/snow.

tjs, interesting I've just been looking at this Quatrac 2. I'm wondering if you could answer a question for me. Does they have the snowflake/mountain symbol on them, ie are they suitable for snow?

I'm also interested in the online breakers for tyres. Do you have a link?

Thanks

tjs, interesting I've just been looking at this Quatrac 2. I'm wondering if you could answer a question for me. Does they have the snowflake/mountain symbol on them, ie are they suitable for snow?

I'm also interested in the online breakers for tyres. Do you have a link?

Thanks

Yes they have the snowflake/mountain symbol.

their website is . Vredestein this may help you find a local supplier (always been their drawback) We have a great supplier in our part of Scotland but other parts of the UK are not so fortunate. Don't like the idea of second hand tyres though..

Thanks. I've found online sources for Vredestein (e.g. Mytyres, Wealden Tyres). Previously I've been using Nokian tyres but I can't find them in a size/speed rating combination that matches the car. I was trying to see why Vredestein call them "all season" when they could call them winter tyres if they have passed the snow traction test.

I meant to say rims not tyres and after posting I tried to edit the post but for some reason the rich editor gives me a grey box without any text visible. I was also hoping to edit the rather rough sentence construction that occurred after I'd only changed part of a sentence :-(.

A press release from Vredestein (Vredestein) confirms that a number of their tyres carry both the M+S and snowflake symbols:

"The new law in Germany prescribes that in wintry conditions the vehicle's equipment must be adapted to the conditions. That is considered to mean - in addition to anti-freeze agent in the window washer system - suitable tyres as well. The media tend to explain that as an obligation to fit winter tyres.

Under European legislation a winter tyre must at least carry the code M+S (Mud & Snow) on the sidewall. The Canadians devised a different symbol, composed of a mountain and a snowflake crystal. This mountain/crystal symbol can only be placed when a test procedure has demonstrated that the winter tyre is better than a preselected reference tyre. Tyre manufacturers all over the world accept these requirements and the connected use of the mountain/crystal symbol. The Vredestein Snowtrac, Snowtrac 2, Wintrac Xtreme, Wintrac 4 Xtreme, Quatrac 2 and Comtrac Winter carry both the M+S symbol and the mountain/crystal symbol. So the Vredestein winter tyres comply with the strictest requirements. It goes without saying that sufficient tread on the tyres remains a precondition to drive safely through the winter. Under wintry conditions Vredestein recommends a tread depth of at least four millimetres on winter tyres."

There seems to be a common view that 'all season' tyres have less grip in summer than summer tyres, and less grip in winter than winter tyres. They are likely to wear out faster in summer, as they generally have a softer rubber.

I'll find out how long my Quatrac 2s last. After the first 1100 miles my opinion is that they are fine on-road (not noisy, good grip), and much better than the OE road tyres on the slipway and beach.

Symbols: mountain/snowflake, sun, rain, snow.

Thanks, I'd be interested to know how long they last. I've been using Nokian RW's on my car during the winter. For me, they've lasted for about the same mileage as their summer tyres. I've not tried them on a wet slipway or beach but they're much better on snow than any other tyre I've tried. They also seem pretty good in muddy fields. The downside is mostly the number of small stones they pick up in the sipes (tap, tap, tap,....).

Sadly they don't make them in a size that fits the other car :-(.