I've recently bought a Mk1 Octavia vRS, and due to a puncture today it now has 4 completely mismatched tyres. I would delve into it further but you'd only wonder why I don't end up screaming into a ditch at the first opportunity. Suffice to say, they do a great job of keeping the rims from scraping on the road, and not much else.

Hence, I thought I would treat the car to a present before winter (and remap!) and get four matching, high performance tyres. What do we recommend for winter driving then? My tyre choice experience is I'm afraid limited to very small, light cars, with small wheels, and as such I don't think it's relevant here.

My car is a standard vRS, will be having a Stage 1 remap soon, running standard wheels and everything else. Price, wear rates etc. are not a pressing concern as long as wet weather grip is good.

For overall performance I really like the Eagle F1s, but they don't wear that well.

I've tried KU31s which are a bit cheaper but don't have the same positive feel that the F1s do, and certainly a noticeable drop in grip.

For overall performance I really like the Eagle F1s, but they don't wear that well.

I ran the GSD3s on my 205 GTI for a while, the fronts lasted about 8,000 miles (including two 'ring trips and a couple of wet trackdays) before I had to replace them. I did really like them, but wondered whether they would suit the much heavier Octavia?

I ran the GSD2s on old 205, was very happy with them.

I rate them very well on Octavia, grip is excellent wet or dry and my ASR light very rarely flickers on (a lot less than the Dunlop SP 2000 sports I had on originally).

A good all season asymetric high performance tyre is the new(ish) Avon ZV5.

I bought a couple back in Febuary, and drove to Austria with them (through heavy rain, standing water, sleet and snow) and they performed very well. Probably my favourite tyre right now. I also love the KU31's, but they are very poor in sleet and snow (although excellent in normal wet/dry conditions).

I'm getting some proper winter tyres for this winter though, as last year was about as sketchy as I can handle! Gently sliding the car down a dual carriageway at 50mph was not fun!! Forward planning and luck had alot to do with survival then. I'd rather have physics on my side this time!

I'm getting some proper winter tyres for this winter though,

Such as? Do you mean like a European snow tyre?

A proper winter tyre such as a Nokian WR G2 copes with slush, ice and snow much better than an all season tyre due to the rubber compound used, they are really only recommended once the temperature has dropped to around (IIRC) 7 degrees.

Such as? Do you mean like a European snow tyre?

I mean a proper winter/snow tyre, and not an all-season/summer tyre. Such as:

Avon Ice Touring ST

Cooper Weathermaster Snow

Kumho KW23

Vredestein Quatrac 3

Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme

All in 205/55-16 with a V speed rating (149mph). Prices on those seem to range from £65 to £100. I obviously have some 16" steels though, so 17" winter tyres are more expensive. Not sure you will find as many options in 17" either.

One of the tyre sites sells steel wheels fitted with winter tyres can't remember which one

I mean a proper winter/snow tyre, and not an all-season/summer tyre. Such as:

Avon Ice Touring ST

Cooper Weathermaster Snow

Kumho KW23

Vredestein Quatrac 3

Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme

All in 205/55-16 with a V speed rating (149mph). Prices on those seem to range from £65 to £100. I obviously have some 16" steels though, so 17" winter tyres are more expensive. Not sure you will find as many options in 17" either.

Do you fancy a group buy as i need a set as well!

Ultimate Wet Grip, Excellent dry Grip, There's only one contender

UNIROYAL SPORT 2 (RAINMASTERS)

Nothing will beat them.

Ultimate Wet Grip, Excellent dry Grip, There's only one contender

UNIROYAL SPORT 2 (RAINMASTERS)

Nothing will beat them.

Snow??

Edited 19 August, 201015 yr by Gizmo68

Ultimate Wet Grip, Excellent dry Grip, There's only one contender

UNIROYAL SPORT 2 (RAINMASTERS)

Nothing will beat them.

Interesting, I've never heard Uniroyal mentioned as a contender before. I seem to recall my mother having a set on her Talbot Samba back in the 80s. Are they really that good?

Also, what size should I be looking for? I ask for two reasons - one, I forgot to look at the car before I came inside, and two - on my 205 GTI I've gone from a 175/65 to a 195/50 tyre and grip massively improved.

205 55 16 Uniroyal Rainsport 2 can be had for around £50 each,are these any good in the snow?

205 55 16 Uniroyal Rainsport 2 can be had for around £50 each,are these any good in the snow?

Judging by their pattern they will be pretty useless in the snow.

The Vredestein Quatrac's are supposed to be very good and based on the performance I had with the ultracs I would be happy to give them a try although tyre choice not as crucial for the 4x4 Octy as got around rather well in the snow and ice last winter on a set of Hankook Evo 12's:D including some 4 wheel drifting Completely different story with the passat though so need to get another winter tyre for the front of that before the bad weather starts :yes:

Do you fancy a group buy as i need a set as well!

Yeah I'd be up for that Jay.

Looking for 4 of 205/55-16 winters (with the snowflake or mountain symbol to make them legal on the continent where needed). Prefer a V speed rating, but H will do.

The Coopers are the cheapest I've found so far, at £65 each from Camskill.

If we get just 5 people in, that's 20 tyres and potentially over £1000 for the seller! What you thinking?

I may be interested in a group buy as I will be putting the standard wheels back on for winter. They are correctly called cold weather tyres, snow/ice tyres have spikes in. They are reccomended for temperatures below 7 deg celcius. The tread pattern is different from a summer tyre to cope better with snow and slush, also the rubber compound is different. It is softer than a summer tyre and designed to work in lower ambient temperatures, so it doesn't freeze and tear like a summer tyre would.

There is a reasonable choice of winter tyres in 205/50 17, you just need to make sure you dont buy a run flat version. Prices are in the £85-120 range for 17s with a V speed rating. Remember that most places will need you to order cold weather tyres in advance in this country, as most people do not use them and limited numbers produced they are a special order tyre effectively.

Found the site i was looking for, mytyres.co.uk sell winter tyres on steel rims, start off at £75,20. My link Don't seem too bad??

Edited 20 August, 201015 yr by Raf_75

Another +1 for Eagles F1 GSD3's.

Although I have never driven them on an Octavia I have had them on 2 fabia with awsome resalts. I wouldnt drive with anything else.

As for snow grip though - its non exsistant. (as with most performace tyres)

Another +1 for Eagles F1 GSD3's.

Although I have never driven them on an Octavia I have had them on 2 fabia with awsome resalts. I wouldnt drive with anything else.

As for snow grip though - its non exsistant. (as with most performace tyres)

I don't doubt that they would be great on a Fabia, but the Octavia is a much bigger, heavier car, and has bigger wheels. I've not heard good things about GoodYear F1s on larger cars in general.

I had F1's on my E30 M3 and although they were great tyres you do indeed go nowhere in the snow with them fitted.

Are you after proper winter tyres (to cope with snow, ice and slush) or just an all season tyre that will cope during the winter? (but be more limited in any snow)

As there is a big difference to these tyres.

Edited 20 August, 201015 yr by Gizmo68

I've used a few winter tyres over the years.

Vredestein are very good in general. Use them on both car and van.

Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme however are by far the best I've used.

This topic was covered in a few threads several months ago, might be worth searching

For general info though. The rubber used in winter tyres has improved hugely in the last few years.

As a result, stubbed tyres are no longer used for general winter driving, and are now reserved specifically for permanent hard ice conditions.

Many European countries have changed their laws to make it a legal requirement to use winter tyres during the winter. If you use ones with studs, you can be fined though !

Edited 20 August, 201015 yr by snow_muncher

Are you after proper winter tyres (to cope with snow, ice and slush) or just an all season tyre that will cope during the winter? (but be more limited in any snow)

As there is a big difference to these tyres.

I guess what I need is some "all season" tyres that perform well in the wet. Decent water clearance and grip performance is more important - in the snow I can work from home, or fit snow chains!

This topic was covered in a few threads several months ago, might be worth searching

I did searches about ten different ways over two days, and couldn't find any results that related to winter tyre choice for an Octavia vRS.

Do you fancy a group buy as i need a set as well!

Any further plans for a group buy then Jay? I'm going to need these within the next couple of months.