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THE Winter Tyres Thread


Niall

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Winter is coming, I have a Mk2 Octavia, what are my options?

1 - Risk it on my current rubber, drive sensibly and carefully and see how I manage

2 - Keep some snow chains/autosocks in the boot, drive sensibly and carefully and see how clean I can stay every time I transition between deep snow and clear roads

3 - Get setup with some proper "winter" tyres, drive sensibly and carefully and manage.

What are winter tyres?

Tyres specifically formulated for use in lower temperatures. They are made of softer compound rubber which massively outperforms "summer" tyres below 7 deg C. At this point the rubber used in summer tyres starts to harden and become even less grippy. Winter Tyres come in a variety of flavours, some are designed to perform best in deep snow whilst others are designed with a tread pattern better suited for a variety of winter conditions. Read online reviews and pick the ones you think will meet your requirements.

What are the advantages of winter tyres over chains and autosocks?

Chains and autosocks are for emergency use in snow and require to be removed for tarmac. Winter Tyres can improve the roadholding and therefore safety of your vehicle throughout the winter months, whether it snows or not. Cold, wet, standing water, snow, ice, winter tyres can cope with these situations better than normal tyres. Do you live somewhere where it is routinely and consistently below 7 deg C for several months of the winter? If so winter tyres may be for you.

Winter Tyres are not just for snow!!

Yeah, yeah, surely they can't be that much better?

Well if you won't take my word for it, watch this:

RWD BMWs normally lambasted as being "rubbish for snow" in the UK, safely negotiating a 90 degree bend at 20mph!

Convinced yet?

Could make all the difference between being involved in an accident and not.

OK, I'm convinced, but its going to pricey, right?

Kind of. There is undeniably an upfront capital cost in buying the additional tyres, but whilst they are on you will be resting your "summer" tyres so they to will last longer before needing replacement. Dependent on your annual mileage you could get several seasons out of both sets. Cost over the life of the vehicle is the same.

My Octavia is front wheel drive, can I just use two winter tyres on the front?

You can, but it is not recommended and some would say downright dangerous. The back wheels will have lower grip levels and under lateral cornering forces release grip sooner. If you think you can get away with it, on your head be it. It is not recommended.

OK, what are my options?

Two choices, use your current wheels or buy wheels specifically for your winter tyres.

If you're running 17s or 18s you may find that four tyres to fit the existing profile are more expensive than buying another set of wheels in a cheaper profile (15s or 16s) and the tyres. May depend on how long you keep the vehicle too. Say changing tyres costs £5 per corner thats £40 a year (2 x £20) or £120 over three years, at which point you could have bought a second set of wheels and have full control over when you change between tyre types (say the snow comes early or stays late).

An extra set of wheels, what do I need to know?

16" wheels will fit on all Octavia 2's

15" won't fit on the VRs, and depending on who you speak to, some other models too.

The specs you need if looking for second hand wheels (the cheapest option) are as follows:

The wheels must be 5 stud with Stud Diameter PCD of 112 and ideally an offset ET 50.

Using eBay there are filters on the left hand side of the page to filter your choices based on this information. Generally other VAG cars based on the same platform (Mk2 Leon, Mk5 Golf, etc) will be suitable donors. Steel wheels are generally cheapest, though not everyone can live with the looks and may prefer another set of alloys. Though as my wife said the other day to our friends who laughed at putting steels on their 3 series Coupe, "what would you rather, get home, or look good in a ditch...." Steels can be made to look better (dependent on your own opinion) with OEM Trims from Skoda or Centre Caps from VW vans.

What are the "ideal" VAG OEM steel wheels?

The VAG "winter wheels" are part no. 8PO060102703C these are 16" x 6J width, so meet the Octavia manuals stated requirements for snowchains.

If you can live with buying more expensive slim-line chains if and when you think they may be required (if ever) then you can order VAG wheels part no. 1K0601027A03C that are 16" x 6.5J.

These can both be fitted with 205/55 R16 tyres.

If buying second hand the part no, PCD, width and ET are all stamped into the wheel around the hub centre on the outer face of the wheel.

Will these different wheels affect my speedo reading?

Probably. Check out the Alloy Wheels Site which has a tyre size comparison to see what effect changing wheels will have on your speedo reading.

Can't I just get the tyres and wheels as a set?

If you can't face the hassle of sorting the wheels and tyres seperately then some dealers and the website "mytyres" will do steel wheel and winter tyre combo's to get you started.

Where do I get the tyres from?

What more do you want? Google for yourself or speak to your local dealer/tyre supplier!!

Niall

Edited by Niall
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Mods, can this be a sticky?

If anyone on the other boards wants to take the text and amend the vehicle specific details for other models, feel free!

The only Nov 2010 specific info would be that winter tyres are generally in short supply at the moment

See Autoexpress article

and some members are reporting that Skoda have reduced stock of the 6J "winter" steels.

Niall

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Niall,

If you want to add the part number for 15" steelies which fit Octy II's with smaller disc brakes i.e. not vRS as you say, it's 1K0 601 027C. They are 6J x 15 ET47 and take 195/65R15 tyres.

lard-ajc,

Yes, winter treads do make a difference but it depends on where you live and the roads you drive on.

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Here's a trick for buying tyres from Mytyres that worked for me. When I tried to buy my winter tyres - Nokian WRs - they would not accept a credit card and insisted on using a bank transfer. I was not happy with this and cancelled the order. I then reordered the tyres using the web site and it accepted my credit card no problem. Somebody else mentioned this and it may be because they initially took me to be a new customer, but on reordering, I was an established customer. A bonus was that between these two occasions, the price went down by £5 per tyre! Interestingly, although they never took the first payment from my card, it showed up as a pending transaction, and I had to contact Mytyres to clear this.

I am sitting here feeling really smug, as I bought my steel wheels from fleabay and got my winter tyres three weeks ago! I live in the peak district, so winter tyres are essential.

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Anybody managed to work out what the correct selections are to get a set of wheels and winter tyres on mytyres.co.uk for a 2004> Octavia Estate vRS Diesel.

This site seems to indicate you can fit 15inch rims to this car but the post above seem to be saying you need 16inch rims for a VRS.

Annoyingly I've ordered some 15inchers already, so could cancel if they're the wrong size, but now I'm not sure either way!!!!!!!!

Edited by psylsph
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Anybody managed to work out what the correct selections are to get a set of wheels and winter tyres on mytyres.co.uk for a 2004> Octavia Estate vRS Diesel.

This site seems to indicate you can fit 15inch rims to this car but the post above seem to be saying you need 16inch rims for a VRS.

Annoyingly I've ordered some 15inchers already, so could cancel if they're the wrong size, but now I'm not sure either way!!!!!!!!

Bad news, the uprated calipers on a vRS will be too big for 15" wheels.

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My Octavia is front wheel drive, can I just use two winter tyres on the front?

You can, but it is not recommended and some would say downright dangerous. The back wheels under braking will lock up sooner and under lateral cornering forces release grip sooner. If you think you can get away with it, on your head be it. It is not recommended.

I doubt the back wheels would lock up under braking as all Octys have ABS, but cornering could be an issue as you say

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I doubt the back wheels would lock up under braking as all Octys have ABS, but cornering could be an issue as you say

Don't do it unless you're up for a bit of wheel twirling......I had snow socks on the front this morning & got BIG oversteer on a couple of bends. I didn't even have to use the handbrake.... :rofl:

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I've got a spare set of 15" alloys that fit the car (They're OEM Audi but the offset difference is about 10 mm). Are a 91 load rating and a H speed rating enough?

I'm looking at these: http://ssl.delti.com/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?details=Ordern&cart_id=11920698.124.974&typ=R-147134&ranzahl=4&Breite=195&Quer=65&Felge=15&Speed=H&weiter=0&kategorie=6&Ang_pro_Seite=20&Transport=P&dsco=124&sowigan=Wi - Goodyear Ultra Grip 7+ - which are £213 a tyre on mytyres.co.uk, but €96 on the Irish site, looking suspiciously like blatent profiteering on the UK market to me.

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I've got a spare set of 15" alloys that fit the car (They're OEM Audi but the offset difference is about 10 mm). Are a 91 load rating and a H speed rating enough?

I'm looking at these: http://ssl.delti.com/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?details=Ordern&cart_id=11920698.124.974&typ=R-147134&ranzahl=4&Breite=195&Quer=65&Felge=15&Speed=H&weiter=0&kategorie=6&Ang_pro_Seite=20&Transport=P&dsco=124&sowigan=Wi - Goodyear Ultra Grip 7+ - which are £213 a tyre on mytyres.co.uk, but €96 on the Irish site, looking suspiciously like blatent profiteering on the UK market to me.

Two weeks ago before the snow came I looked on mytyres.co.uk as a friend was looking for some winter tyres, the same ones I have Continental WinterContact TS830 195/65 R15 were about £67 each, after the snow came they had gone up to £125, now thy are back down to £94.70.

Most of the other makes of winter tyres had also gone up in price but not to the same extent.

It looks like profiteering to me. Buy them during the summer for the best price.

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Two weeks ago before the snow came I looked on mytyres.co.uk as a friend was looking for some winter tyres, the same ones I have Continental WinterContact TS830 195/65 R15 were about £67 each, after the snow came they had gone up to £125, now thy are back down to £94.70.

Most of the other makes of winter tyres had also gone up in price but not to the same extent.

It looks like profiteering to me. Buy them during the summer for the best price.

Definately ripping us off.

I got a set of 4 Continental WinterContact tyres (205x55x16) at the weekend fitted to loose wheels for around £61 each at my local Kwik Fit.

Also got a set on Sunday for my astravan but they had to charge £9.50 extra per wheel as the wheels were on the van - still a really good price though.

Try your local tyre places first and leave the ripoff merchants with their stock.

BTW, the Conti's are really good.

Cheers

Dave

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Definately ripping us off.

I got a set of 4 Continental WinterContact tyres (205x55x16) at the weekend fitted to loose wheels for around £61 each at my local Kwik Fit.

Also got a set on Sunday for my astravan but they had to charge £9.50 extra per wheel as the wheels were on the van - still a really good price though.

Try your local tyre places first and leave the ripoff merchants with their stock.

BTW, the Conti's are really good.

Cheers

Dave

Surprised at youir Conti prices - these are advertised as 81.65 excluding fitting. How did you manage to get them for 61? Was it an instore deal or did you have vouchers or some such?

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Surprised at youir Conti prices - these are advertised as 81.65 excluding fitting. How did you manage to get them for 61? Was it an instore deal or did you have vouchers or some such?

I expected to pay the £81 each but when they were done, the guy had given me discount and it was £244 for the tyres on the loose wheels for the Octy and when I went back for 4 for my astravan it was £282 - same price for the tyres and £38 for valve and balance.

Just lucky they had just had a delivery of 205's and there at the right time I guess. I didnt pay online but I had to take a printout with me so I could get them at the internet price but he gave me a further discount - I did buy 8 tyres off him though.

Cheers

Dave

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Thankfully mytyres.co.uk have let me cancel. The 16" sets are much more expensive though.

If you ordered by mail-order, mytyres had no option but to accept your cancellation - See the Distance Selling Regulations, 2000 - this applies to all goods (except, I think computer software) ordered over the 'phone, internet or in writing. I have a synopsis of these regulations, should anyone want a copy.

Mac

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Hi All,

If anyone is stil after winter tyres & steel wheels, i've just ordered Vredstein Snowtrac 3's with steel wheels for £112.80 from Mytyres. They're 205/55/16 91T's so speed rating is lower but then they're still good for 115mph. Not that i'll be doing that anyway. The Snowtracs look to have good reviews so hopefully they'll do the trick as i'm off up to Yorkshire for Christmas!!

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Contacted my local branch of Kwik-Fit on Tuesday re getting some winter tyres.

They told me that that they were out of stock but would be getting some in in the next day or so and that they would be £394 for four (down from over £520) so I asked them to get me some.

I then came across this thread when I was looking for what wheels to get off eBay (I order from my dealer in the end).

So when Kwik-Fit rang me back this morning I quoted the prices that I had found on this thread - they wanted to know which branches had supplied and what speed rating they were (I presumed that they were Continental Winter Contact TS830 size 205/55R16 91H) but was unsure as I could find the rating quoted. The chap started to get a bit annoyed with me as he had been on the phone over 7 minutes and I couldn't give him a definitive price (as different prices had been quoted on the thread), he said that he would need to see an invoice for the price paid and not what people had claimed to have paid.

I then quoted what FatblokeVRS had said about ordering online and then popping round to have them fitted.

The problem now is that I can't find them online although they have them in stock locally.

Edited by spider47
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Contacted my local branch of Kwik-Fit on Tuesday re getting some winter tyres.

They told me that that they were out of stock but would be getting some in in the next day or so and that they would be £394 for four (down from over £520) so I asked them to get me some.

I then came across this thread when I was looking for what wheels to get off eBay (I order from my dealer in the end).

So when Kwik-Fit rang me back this morning I quoted the prices that I had found on this thread - they wanted to know which branches had supplied and what speed rating they were (I presumed that they were Continental Winter Contact TS830 size 205/55R16 91H) but was unsure as I could find the rating quoted. The chap started to get a bit annoyed with me as he had been on the phone over 7 minutes and I couldn't give him a definitive price (as different prices had been quoted on the thread), he said that he would need to see an invoice for the price paid and not what people had claimed to have paid.

I then quoted what FatblokeVRS had said about ordering online and then popping round to have them fitted.

The problem now is that I can't find them online although they have them in stock locally.

Hi

The tyres were the Continental Winter Contact TS830 size 205/55R16 91H and they were the only winter tyres listed at that size.

The online price was £81.65 each but there was an additional charge of £9.50 per wheel for valve and balance. I called the guy at Kwik Fit and as I had loose wheels he said if I printed off the page showing the online price, he would do them for that price without the valve and balance charge. I suppose it is down to the individual branch. When I got them fitted to the loose wheels (didnt need a valve as the wheels were new) he had given a further discount and the tyres were £244.96. I got another set the next day and as the wheels were still on my van,because of the extra work involved, they had to charge the additional valve and balance of £9.50 per wheel (online price) which is £38. The total was £282.96. I think I got the discount because I was buying 8 tyres.

Unfortunately, I only printed the one copy of the page and gave it to the guy for his records or I could have sent you a copy. The page has changed now and the winter tyres are no longer on it. They were on it on Friday 3rd Dec - they may be able to check back for you.

If you can get the online price of £81.65 + £9.50 per wheel, that is still a good price.

Cheers

Dave

Edited by FatblokeVRS
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Just had a set of Michelin Alpine 4 195/65/15 fitted to my Octy 4x4 £97 all in (fitting, valves, balance and nitrogen) for each corner, at COSTCO Croydon.

COSTCO had loads of Winter tyres in stock and the beauty as a member when I want to go back to original tyres they will not charge to change over.

These new tyre feel great to drive on I'm now hoping the weather does not improve for a few months.

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Just picked up 4 x steels from my local dealership (Farmers Leicester) and I'm expecting my tyres to arrive from Germany (reifen.com) on Tuesday.

I'm not too sure what my VRS is going to look like with black steels :S

Also, my insurance company (AXA) was cool about fitting the steels + winter tyres :thumbup:

Cheers,

Shaun.

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