Hi all, orded 4 195/ 55/ 15 steelmaster winter tyres (made by AVON tyres) and 15"steel rims according to skoda the 15" rims will fit , Has anyone fitted 15s to a fabia vrs? and does anyone think the speedo will be out and if so by how much. Any info would be great.

You can use a tyre calculator like this one to find out the difference.

should be 195/50's really for the speedo or 185/55 so you will be a little out, im running 15's with 195/50's

should be 195/50's really for the speedo or 185/55 so you will be a little out, im running 15's with 195/50's

I'm running 195/50/15s too, mostly because that's what Skoda fitted to the Sport, and that it's a more common (and therefore cheaper) size. If you look at the tyre calculator I posted a link to, the 195/55/15 is actually closer to the 205/45/16 than our choice of 195/50/15. So Sherlock VRS - your speedo will be hardly any different to what it's reading now.

I'm running 195/50/15s too, mostly because that's what Skoda fitted to the Sport, and that it's a more common (and therefore cheaper) size. If you look at the tyre calculator I posted a link to, the 195/55/15 is actually closer to the 205/45/16 than our choice of 195/50/15. So Sherlock VRS - your speedo will be hardly any different to what it's reading now.

Yes, I found it quite strange that my wife's Polo 9N came with 195/55 X 15 alloys from the factory (option) but most cars that I've looked at seem to have ended up with 195/50 X 15 - whither that is just to save money at tyre changing time or a genuine VW money saving idea I don't know, though her 1.4 75PS would probably rather the 195/50 to "improve" gearing!

should be 195/50's really for the speedo or 185/55 so you will be a little out, im running 15's with 195/50's

Completly understand the comment about the 195/50's but why would 185/55's be a better fit. I known they come up with a better fit on the calculator but since the 185/195 referes to the width of the tyre,why does the rolling radius change??

Completly understand the comment about the 195/50's but why would 185/55's be a better fit. I known they come up with a better fit on the calculator but since the 185/195 referes to the width of the tyre,why does the rolling radius change??

The 55 part of 185/55/15 refers to the height of the tyre as a percentage of its width, so on a wider tyre a 55 profile will give a taller side wall, although not that much of a difference between a 185 and 195 to be fair.

The 55 part of 185/55/15 refers to the height of the tyre as a percentage of its width, so on a wider tyre a 55 profile will give a taller side wall, although not that much of a difference between a 185 and 195 to be fair.

Got ya! Thanks. I though the I hadn't realised the height was a percentage. Thought it was an absolute value.

I'm running 195/50/15s too, mostly because that's what Skoda fitted to the Sport, and that it's a more common (and therefore cheaper) size. If you look at the tyre calculator I posted a link to, the 195/55/15 is actually closer to the 205/45/16 than our choice of 195/50/15. So Sherlock VRS - your speedo will be hardly any different to what it's reading now.

This is what i thought as i work at a skoda dealership and our parts told me that the 195/50/15 was a direct replacement for the alloys but i could not get any so i plumped for the only ones i could get which were 195/55/15 and went on your link and found the 55s were only 0.8% out and the 50s were -2.5% out comparing them with standard vrs tyre sizes, i find this very strange. So in theory the tyres ive orded will run a more true speedo reading than the ones skoda recommend

I've had two fabia's with 15" factory wheels both with 195/50 tyres. I find the car a little undergeared on the 195/50's and the speedo under reads quite a lot according to my satnav! I think Skoda fitted this size of tyre because they were a cheap size. The current Fabia II now comes with 195/55's like the Polo. I think I will change to 195/55's when I need new tyres :S

how strange didnt realise that, everywhere i looked on here said 195 50's lol

That's because that is the size the factory chose to fit to non vrs cars with 15" wheels. IMHO I think the overall rolling radius is too small, certainly on a vrs!! Skoda have now chosen to fit 195/55's to the new Fabia's

Hi to all!

I am new on here, but wanted to let you know-

I have just fitted 195/65 R15 (Dunlop Graspic DS2) on vw alloys to my NON VRS Fabia...(1.4-16v) problem I got was the tyre rubbing inside the rear arches rear part, Removed the arch inner plastic, hammered a bit, replaced the arch inner plastic and not a problem since. To be honest I would not buy that size of tyres for a fabia, but I got them from my previous car Volvo V70, that I sold during the summer. Hope this helps to someone, and please forgive my bad english, I'm from Latvia,

Andy.

Hi to all!

I am new on here, but wanted to let you know-

I have just fitted 195/65 R15 (Dunlop Graspic DS2) on vw alloys to my NON VRS Fabia...(1.4-16v) problem I got was the tyre rubbing inside the rear arches rear part, Removed the arch inner plastic, hammered a bit, replaced the arch inner plastic and not a problem since. To be honest I would not buy that size of tyres for a fabia, but I got them from my previous car Volvo V70, that I sold during the summer. Hope this helps to someone, and please forgive my bad english, I'm from Latvia,

Andy.

What size were the originals??? 195/50 R15? If that's the case you spedo will probably under-read by something in the order of 10%

I'd also be worried that if you went over a bump you could still have the tyres rubbing on the inside of the wheel arch.

Yes, the originals are 195/50, but already tested a fully loaded car 5 peeps+ christmas gifts in the boot= no rubbing at all.

to add- the suspension is still original height, so looks a bit like a jeep...

And in my case I don't go on a motorway so in the town or on a snowy backyard it does not make that much of a difference!

If I need to go somewhere further, I will use my satnav, so I definately know how fast I'm going.

And since I bought the tyres new for my Volvo a year ago and never got round to fitting them, I just used them for something rather than letting them rot in my garage...

That's why I added that I do not recommend this tyre size for a Fabia.

Quick update got new wheels for wifes fab vrs we fitted 195/ 55/ 15 steelmaster winters on a set of new steel rims and went a blast to find some snow didnt have to go far and i will say one word AWESOME. They perform better than i could imagine bearing in mind i did 15 years at a 4x4 centre as a techy, i stopped on a steep hill and tried to set off and no problems grip is immense and braking is fantastic my only thought is its possible to get to confident with them. Speedo is only 2mph out at 30 mph so the sat nav says (reading 30 on speedo and satnav says 28) so all in all everything is good, Can well recommend these tyres, i got them from "the pit stop" at Huddersfield West Yorkshire (proper set of lads)

I think that only way to drive in winter while having fitted winter tyres, is to continue to drive like you should be driving in winter - and just be amazed by the situations you can drive away from, I was parking in a heavily snowed up area in town today, but was only using the snow barriers to protect the car from others sliding across into it - and not trying to display the extra grip that the winter tyres gave me in as much as I could easily cross over the snow barrier into a clear spot and back out again.