Hi,

I've spotted a set of 18" Zeniths for sale at a reasonable price, and am considering using them as winter wheels with winter tyres on my (on order) FL Octavia vRS. Could anyone tell me if these will definately fit, and can I re-use the same wheel nuts & wheel nut covers? Essentially a straight swap for the 18" Neptunes?

Alternatively, if you think I'm completely crazy for thinking of using 18" wheels for winter use, please explain why.

Btw, winter tyres are practical for me - I commute 90 miles a day over A & B roads in Aberdeenshire daily, and in the winter these can get particularly icy/snowy, so every little helps.

Thanks,

David

Hi,

I've spotted a set of 18" Zeniths for sale at a reasonable price, and am considering using them as winter wheels with winter tyres on my (on order) FL Octavia vRS. Could anyone tell me if these will definately fit, and can I re-use the same wheel nuts & wheel nut covers? Essentially a straight swap for the 18" Neptunes?

Alternatively, if you think I'm completely crazy for thinking of using 18" wheels for winter use, please explain why.

Btw, winter tyres are practical for me - I commute 90 miles a day over A & B roads in Aberdeenshire daily, and in the winter these can get particularly icy/snowy, so every little helps.

Thanks,

David

Yes they will fit OK and if you use the same wheel nuts then the covers will 100% fit

The 18" winter tyres are pretty thin on the ground and very expensive.

Agreed, 18" winter tyres are very expensive, but 17" tyres are only £10 each cheaper, which isn't that much.

Example prices for 18" 225x40 tyres:

- Nokian WRG2 - £125 delivered

- Vredestrin Wintrac Xtreme - £130

- Cooper Snowmaster - £98 (?!)

I can't seem to see any good condition Skoda 17" wheels online for not silly money either.

16" wheels will clear your front brakes and 205/55R16 will give you more choice of tyres for winter.

Your spare will be a 16" wheel and the the details are:

The wheel (steel) is a 6.5J x 16, the PCD is 5 x 112, the offset (ET) is 50, and the part number of the wheel is 1K0 601 027A

Edited 4 January, 201016 yr by peter0976

Agreed, 18" winter tyres are very expensive, but 17" tyres are only £10 each cheaper, which isn't that much.

Example prices for 18" 225x40 tyres:

- Nokian WRG2 - £125 delivered

- Vredestrin Wintrac Xtreme - £130

- Cooper Snowmaster - £98 (?!)

I can't seem to see any good condition Skoda 17" wheels online for not silly money either.

18" Avon Ice Touring ST £101.50 from Camskill...........

16" wheels will clear your front brakes and 205/55R16 will give you more choice of tyres for winter.

Your spare will be a 16" wheel and the the details are:

The wheel (steel) is a 6.5J x 16, the PCD is 5 x 112, the offset (ET) is 50, and the part number of the wheel is 1K0 601 027A

16" steelies is the route I would go if going for 'Winter tyres (proper)'.

The primary reasons for this are 1) a taller sidewall to the trye to allow greater flex and thus improve roadholding and 2) being a narrower tyre (205 vs 225) there is a smaller contact patch on the ground, which will create a greater 'lb per sq in' on the road (snow) to give you better grip. Have a think on this; why do rally cars on the winter rallies, Finland etc. have tyres that look like super skinny space savers? - to be able to cut through the top surface of snow.

If any of our European continental members read this e.g magic62; no doubt they will confirm 16" with 205/55 are best for winter.

Can confirm this! .

BUT, if new, the 18" are just as good as the 16" winters. If they wear they will become worse faster than the 16".

Main reason I went for the 16" is: If I equipe my car for winter, there should also be a possibility for snow chains (mandatory in the ski regions I drive). And Skoda doesnt approve chains on any other wheels as their 6x16 ET50 not even on their 6.5x16 ET50.

My BBS are 6.5x16" ET50 and have a (special) chain approval of BBS. (only RUD Centrax chains).

Another main thing, Guy already mentioned, the availability of winter tyres in this size. It is one of the most common sizes nowadays and therefor prices are reasonable.

It does do something to the roadholding and the cars behaviour on the road, that should be no more than normal as it is a smaller/narrower tyre. But it doesnt affect the driving as much as some RS drivers say. At least not in my opinion.

I still do longer stints at way beyond 200km/h, car may be a little less stable in a straight line. But the normal Octavias also have 16" as standard and their topspeed isnt that much lower. It does feel a less secure in high speed (autobahn) bends, but therefor you can go of the throttle or use the brake. (driving still needs some common sense )

As much as I like the optics of my 18"s, I also like to drive my winterwheels. (car is faster!)

Edited 6 January, 201016 yr by magic62

Thanks for the replies, they've put me off a set of 18" wheels for winter. Wheels are expensive, as are tyres, but they'll look good.

I'll probably end up ordering steels with winter tyres from MyTyres. Hundreds saved, more appropriate for winter, and won't break my heard if I kerb them.

Bigger winter wheels are purey for the optics. I rather put safety first.

And you are correct, the optics part will cost a lot more.

Steel wheels if you slide into a kerb your more likely to let the tyre take the impact rather than hitting a solid wheel and buggering up the suspension, and if you hit it hard you can straighten a steel wheel out easy

Spray em white too