I know the topic of winter tyres has been coverd to death but im struggeling to find any for less than £70 a corner so is there a need for 4 as IMO if its snowing heavy im not going to driveing above 10 mph if it was anything like last year at its worst. I realy want some snow tyres as i got stuck 3 times here in bradford and even struggeld to get my car on/off the drive.

I have found Kumho KW23 205/45/R16 87H M+S for £176.80 for 2

and Hankook 205/50/R16 91H for £145.38 for 2

I was looking at getting a set of fabia alloys and putting these on but I am struggeling to find some in poor condition that would just do for winter tyres to save costs all the ones i can find are in realy good condition and are wanting a good price.

So will 2 on the front do or do i need a full set ? has anyone only fitted 2 if so how did they find it handeld in the winter weather?

Edited 24 October, 201015 yr by Si Vxr

I`m using these http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?plid=m11b0s712p2876, and at that price - 1 at each corner.

I got hold of some used steelies for £55 for 4. Looks are important, but safety even more.

Edit: Ok, i see you have the 312mm conversion, so 14" won`t work. Hmm..

Can you fit 15"? http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?plid=m11b0s623p8431

Edited 24 October, 201015 yr by pagh

not sure i know the spare steel clears the brakes but thats a full size spare 205/45/R16 but 15s hmmmm not sure they are snug and i would hate to pay out for wheels just to try, you see my problem realy could do with a set of fabia vrs alloys i think or at least 2

not sure i know the spare steel clears the brakes but thats a full size spare 205/45/R16 but 15s hmmmm not sure they are snug and i would hate to pay out for wheels just to try, you see my problem realy could do with a set of fabia vrs alloys i think or at least 2

Try 195/50/16 on Camskill.

You can get them for 120 a pair

In an Ideal world you need 4. However as your car is Fwd you can get away with 2 front ones, as long as they are the same size (or have the same Rolling Radius).

So if you buy 205/45 16 you can buy 2 (I am tempted to). If you buy 205/50 16s, these will give you a bit more ground clearance, but put your speedo out, so you should buy 4.

Do you mean 205/50 15s ?

I know 15" wheels can fit on standard brakes, but I'm not sure if they can over 312mm discs.

Edited 24 October, 201015 yr by Jim H

I'd be surprised if it's legal to drive with different sized/rated tyres front to back - check with your insurers.

(I'm referring to a Fabia vRS here by the way - I know some cars deliberately have different sizes - my Atom does...)

Edited 24 October, 201015 yr by DRJ

Used Kumho KW23 tyres last winter. Fantastic. Lots of snow and very low temperatures with a track up a steep hill. Amazed how well they did. Stored over summer and getting ready to put back on now. They make steering noticeably heavier, but no noticeable wear over about 1200 miles. HTH

A coupe of years back Fifth gear did a feature showing why you're actually better off putting new tyres on the back.

Watch this

This is talking about regular summer tyres. Now imagine how much worse it would be with winter tyres up front and summer tyres on the back. If your front tyres are gripping in ice or snow, and the back wheels have no grip, the back end will swing about like a pendulum until you either spin to a stop or hit something.

If you do decide to go for winter tyres do it now (but don't put them on til temperatures are consistently below 7 degrees centrigrade). I've been watching the prices of winter tyres over the last few weeks and the prices are going up by about a tenner a tyre every week! Those Kumhos mentioned earlier were only £53 each on mytyres back in September - with the benefit of hindshight I wish i'd bought some then, but in the end I've just got a cheap set of 15" alloys and ordered some winter tyres.

If you've thinking of fitting winter tyres change all four. Not only are the tread patterns designed to cope better in the winter weather, but the tyre compounds operate at lower tempertures than summer tyres.

I think the main thing to be concerned about is braking. On that basis, fit 4 winter tyres to avoid locking a wheel. Otherwise, the ABS will go ape and you'll be no better off than if you'd left it on summer tyres IMO.

Whatever you do do NOT fit two winter tyres up front and leave the rears. You'll probably do a slow tailspin through the first T junction you attempt (to amusement of other motorists).

In theory, you could fit 2x16s up front and 2x14s or 2x15s on the rear. You'd have to make sure the rolling radius was very close though or again, the ABS might get upset....

As the existing spare has warnings all over it about exceeding 50mph, you "should" get away with just carrying the one as effectively, it's a space saver.

J.

If you do decide to go for winter tyres do it now (but don't put them on til temperatures are consistently below 7 degrees centrigrade). I've been watching the prices of winter tyres over the last few weeks and the prices are going up by about a tenner a tyre every week!

One tyre dealer near work wasn't interested in selling me winter tyres in September, but one near home got them ordered in for me, and I'm glad they did: they cost me around £85 each, and were around that on mytyres.co.uk. (Kumho KW27, 225/45 17 V). Now they're £111 a corner, so anyone wanting winter tyres should get them now.

4! Every time. Your car is designed to break with a matched set of tyres and you wouldn't uprate your front brakes by a huge degree and not also uprate your rears. There are quite a few videos and examples of why you shouldn't mix your tyres on the interweb. I can see why you might think that the extra traction is what counts, but honestly, it isn't worth not uprating the rears. Most wisdom on the web suggests that you should keep the more grippy tyres on the rear and they are usually talking about in the dry with regular tyres. The way I see it is that the braking and cornering of your car will be comromised, even if you get better traction to help you accelerate in poor conditions.

I've been trying to check the legality of changing the tyres the primary legislation appears to be The Road Vehicle ( Construction and Use ) Regulations 1986 as long as you comply the the sections about tyres not mixing radials and cross ply etc and ensuring they can support the maximum axle weight then they should be legal.

However I'd seen the same wet weather demo on 5th gear that JulieD posted and I'm of the opinion that it's either 4 or nothing or your back end will be trying to pass the front at every junction.

There are some off road forums that have whole discussion boards for tyres and wheels but I can't find anything about having 2 winter tyres or 2 off road tyres and 2 standard road tyres on the other axle.

if your interested, i have a set of 16" alloys i had fitted to my fabia there off of an Audi TT, in gun metal grey, few curb marks nothing major, but needs new tyres all round. if ur interested il get some pics up for ya =]

4 or none at all: The difference between grip front to back would be asking for trouble otherwise.

i have the 4 steelies ready, they are the 5x100's 16's with et 44 so are exactly the same as the one in the boot of my fab.

i too had the same problem, i purchased the car in feb and a week later it snowed, i had brand new Pirelli pzero's (not as good as i hoped, lose too much traction in the wet) on and i got stuck several times too.

Having said this, my choice for getting the right winter tyre is for grip in the cold icy wet mornings more than snow.

I’m after the best performance winter tyres and i have found great reviews on

Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D

Continental WinterContact TS830

Goodyear UltraGrip 7 Plus

Vredestein Snowtrac 3

i would defo go for 4 cheaper steelies 16"s and the money you save on these compared with alloys will buy your back two tires too (maybe)

i went to awesome in Manchester who let me try the mk4 golf spare 15" on the front of mine, it did fit, just and i mean just so i guess they will not fit a 312 kit ;-( but a mechanic there said they would be fine on the standards. i chose 16"s in the end encase i up rate the brakes in the future.

Best I can find for the awkward 205 45 16’s are on mytyres fitted at 130 ish per corner.

205 55’s are cheaper as are 195 45’s but im keeping mine stock. I know it will work :-) car is very low on coilovers so I dont want to risk the 55’s otherwise id get 195 55’s on normal suspension.

I’m after the best performance winter tyres and i have found great reviews on

Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D

Continental WinterContact TS830

Goodyear UltraGrip 7 Plus

Vredestein Snowtrac 3

i went to awesome in Manchester who let me try the mk4 golf spare 15" on the front of mine, it did fit, just and i mean just so i guess they will not fit a 312 kit ;-( but a mechanic there said they would be fine on the standards. i chose 16"s in the end encase i up rate the brakes in the future.

Best I can find for the awkward 205 45 16’s are on mytyres fitted at 130 ish per corner.

205 55’s are cheaper as are 195 45’s but im keeping mine stock. I know it will work :-) car is very low on coilovers so I dont want to risk the 55’s otherwise id get 195 55’s on normal suspension.

AutoExpress this week has tested those above tyres, as well as Pirelli winters, Vred Quatrac (All-season) and Conti Summer. The Goodyears came top with Contis 2nd. However I think they made a Typo error. Not one of the tyres are available in 205/55 15 as they said they tested, I think they were 205/55 16. It's just a shame that none of the tyres except the Pirellis are available in the size for the vRS.

If you are changing the size of tyres, I would make sure the Rolling Radius (Outside Diameter) is the same or very simular to the standard tyres. 205/50 16 and 205/55 16 will be much bigger.

AutoExpress this week has tested those above tyres, as well as Pirelli winters, Vred Quatrac (All-season) and Conti Summer. The Goodyears came top with Contis 2nd. However I think they made a Typo error. Not one of the tyres are available in 205/55 15 as they said they tested, I think they were 205/55 16. It's just a shame that none of the tyres except the Pirellis are available in the size for the vRS.

If you are changing the size of tyres, I would make sure the Rolling Radius (Outside Diameter) is the same or very simular to the standard tyres. 205/50 16 and 205/55 16 will be much bigger.

cheers mate,

i thought the 205 45 16's were standard vrs? thats why im paying 30 a corner more, for the wierd size tyre? ill be gutted if they are 205 50 16's as they would have been cheaper.

im not that worried, ive always had 205 45's on and they have been fine, but maybe my speedo is a little out as a result? :(

cheers mate,

i thought the 205 45 16's were standard vrs? thats why im paying 30 a corner more, for the wierd size tyre? ill be gutted if they are 205 50 16's as they would have been cheaper.

im not that worried, ive always had 205 45's on and they have been fine, but maybe my speedo is a little out as a result? :(

I think you've maybe misread that last post - 205/45/16 is the standard size, Jim H was saying that 205/50/16 or 205/16/55 will be much bigger

Looking at Tyre calculator websites.

50 profile (205/50 16) is 20mm bigger in diameter (3.4%)

55 profile is 41mm bigger in diameter. (7%)

Tyre sites say maximum of 2.5% difference.