Cheers Mort, great price! You had any experience with them?

Thanks

Got my last 2 tyres from them. Quick delivery (to work address too), I usually order from MyTyres but they were so much cheaper at Camskill I gave it a go. No bad words to say about them at all. Just remember you'll need a local tyre place to fit them which can vary in price. But I doubt it'll be £40 per corner, so you'll still save on the price you have.

(PS: I guessed the size you need/want for 17's as I have the stock 16's, so check the other prices if that's not the tyre/size you're after - even the Goodyears there are cheaper than the price you had for Toyos)

Whatever the standard size is for Fabia vRS alloys (16")

Possibly! 205/45 R16

That's the one!

You have 17" wheels fitted which has altered the manufacturers design. What wheels did you fit? Do they have the proper inset/offset compared to the original wheels? Has the speedometer been re-calibrated to correct the under-read error you get going from 16 to 17 inch wheels? You may be going 7% faster than your indicated speed.

Rather than trying to improve the handling as it stands with an ARB, I would suggest better tyres. Decrease tyre pressures in winter to 32PSI all round.

If you are losing traction then either [a] the car is setup wrong, or you are going too fast for the road conditions. Do you drive with traction control on or off?

The VRs has massive low end torque, it also has lift off over-steer , so your entry speed to a corner, roundabout on public roads needs to be slow in poor weather conditions. If you enter a corner too fast for road condition it will under-steer, when you lift off to scrub off speed it can snap into over-steer, the result looks messy and is dangerous.

If you use tyre cleaning products, make sure none is getting onto the tread pattern. Personally I think these tyre dressing chemicals should be banned.

You have 17" wheels fitted which has altered the manufacturers design. What wheels did you fit? Do they have the proper inset/offset compared to the original wheels? Has the speedometer been re-calibrated to correct the under-read error you get going from 16 to 17 inch wheels? You may be going 7% faster than your indicated speed.

so long as you fit the appropriate size tyre, going up a wheel size doesn't have to increase the rolling radius - going from a 205/45/16 to a 205/40/17 only changes the speedo reading by 0.5%, which given it's built-in inaccuracy is more than likely totally acceptable

Cheers moggytech, i've compared the speedo to a sat nav there is a difference of 2 mph. So if i reduce the pressure to 32 psi will it that much difference? Also what tyres do people recommend, after mort's great find i can probably get a more expensive set, albeit just the front's for now.

If you go with the Proxes, you'll probably find you need them harder than normal (about 36F, 34R) otherwise the shoulders will wear out in next to no time...

I didn't realise there was so many different factors when choosing some tyres!

I haven't changed the tyres since I bought the car in November last year. Currently I have Kumhos on the front, and Bridgestones on the rear 205/40R16 running 32PSI all round.

Car is standard (no remap standard alloys etc)

I would say the handling is excellent in the dry and average on wet/greasy roads. I always drive slower than what I think my driving ability can handle (comes from driving a classic car as well which has terrible handling in the wet).

Compared to expensive super cars, the VRs handling is not that great, but for a £12500 hot hatch it's pretty good. The problems start when you start to modify the car. Race teams spend thousands in research and track time to test a modification. Hobby tuners tend to have a different approach [a] Does it look cool Does it 'seem' to handle better.

Don't get me wrong, modified cars can handle better and this is good for track days. However, modified cars are sometimes worse than the standard car (Chav Tuning)

Any car that has serious power will be twitchy on anything less that dry tarmac. If you watch the Top Gear tests, done by The Stig who is an excellent driver, you will notice a 4 second difference between dry and wet lap times. I would treble that to 12 seconds for a good driver, and go to 20 seconds for an average driver.

Power/Skill/Grip.

Safe driving.

the current tyres are 205/40ZR17 84w xl, if I put on 205/40R17 84W XL TL are these identical, as they have different letters for speed rating?

Just want to confirm before I buy them!

the current tyres are 205/40ZR17 84w xl, if I put on 205/40R17 84W XL TL are these identical, as they have different letters for speed rating?

Just want to confirm before I buy them!

I would recommend the following site for the best information (The guy knows his stuff)

Car Bibles : The Wheel and Tire Bible Page 1 of 2

I would recommend the following site for the best information (The guy knows his stuff)

Car Bibles : The Wheel and Tire Bible Page 1 of 2

Yep, that's a good site.

Incidentally, I never got my Fabia to lift-off oversteer. I've managed it with a Golf I and a Mini though. It can really catch you out if you are inexperienced- I was with the Mini.

The RARB will make the car more susceptible to it, so wait a while, sort the tyres, get used to those. If you find the car is still understeery, then get the RARB. I never felt the need, but the kind or roads I usually use don't challenge handling much.

Well I've changed the tyres, which seem to be better in these conditions. So thats a start, just want it too warm up a little then I may invest in a rarb!

So cheers everyone for there advice!

Ive had a quick scan through the thread but I dont think anyone has mentioned alignment. If the alignment is out it can vary the under or over steer. Its worth getting a 4 wheel alignment done by a specialist if you can afford it & tell them how you want it to handle. Factory settings are set to encourage the car to understeer so that mr average numpty dosent corner beyond his limits & to ensure that lift off oversteer is unlikely to happen. Your local tyre dealer or Skoda dealer will only use these settings, certainly restore it to that but if you want more out of the car see a specialist.

I have used Powerstation for many years & they always give me what I want. Bit of a drive but worth it & theres usually something in the workshop of interest !! PowerStation Give Rich or Dirk a ring.

Once you start changing anti roll bars etc then a geometry tweek by a specialist means you get the best out of it.

Stuart

I had a Whiteline RARB fitted last year and I would HIGHLY recommend it.

I am not a highly skilled racer or anything, but the bar significantly reduces understeer and makes the whole car feel a lot more neutral in cornering.

Even on the stiffest setting (as recommended by my wife) it does not oversteer and is safe (unless you are CRAZEEEEE).

To avoid oversteer always brake/accelerate BEFORE a corner - NEVER in one. If you aim to travel through a corner at a constant speed (without lifting off/braking/accelerating) then you should not oversteer.

I have also had the 312mm brakes and KW1 coilvers fitted and these too are great mods.

I am running on standard power for the time being, but I would definitely recommend all 3 mods even if you do not increase the standard power.

Incidentally, I never got my Fabia to lift-off oversteer.

Quite right. You might be understeering initially (and therefore applying extra lock), and by slowing down allow the front wheels to gain optimum traction, causing the front to snap round a bit and point in the direction you're steering - but this isn't oversteer as such; the car's just going the way you're telling it to!