Sad I know, but I was considering a set of winter tyres for the coming winter and the 225/40R18 summer tyres on my Zenith wheels are rather scary in the ice & snow.

The plan is to buy a cheap set of 16" wheel (steel or alloy) and fit a set of 205/55R16 winter tyres and swap out the full set for the winter. Trouble is I'm a little confused by how wheels are specified so I'd apprecaite some guidance.

I think the right spec is 6.5J x 16 on a 5 x 112 stud diameter and an offset of 50 (ET35?). Sound right? Not sure about the offset as I can't seem to figure out what is offset? I assume its the hub from the theoretical centre of the wheel to allow differnet widths to fit evenly.

What about centre hub diameter - that has me foxed.

If you get a set of steel wheels from an Octy then they should fit as they'll be the right offset and pcd.

Offset is how much the wheel sticks out from the hub essentially. So, too small an offset means the wheel will sit too far in and could foul the brake caliper or suspension components. Too large an offset means that the wheel will stick out too much and possibly foul the arches.

As for centre hub diameter, iirc, that's just the hole in the centre of the wheel to allow it to fit over the hub.

ET (einpresstiefe) = offset. It is the difference between the center of the wheel to where the wheel is mounted on the hub.

Official Skoda sizes for 16" are: 6.0 x 16 ET 50 or 6.5 x 16 ET 50. With the restriction for the latter not to be able to put snowchains on.

However, I dont think they are to strict in GB, at least not as strict as in Germany .

So you should be able to use VW/Audi wheels with an offset of 40 at 6.0 or 6.5" width.