Common sense prevails -

http://www.smmt.co.uk/articles/article.cfm?articleid=22819

Unfortunately that article doesn't cover it. that only refers to winter tyres, presumably on the same rims. many of us are running a different set of wheels from those factory fitted ones.

Those who are running Audi/VW/Seat ALLOYS might be falling foul of the 'modification' definition. those who have bought OEM steel wheels may not, especially if they were supplied by a skoda main dealer.

worth considering all the implications of winter wheel choices, perhaps?

Hi FatBloke - I have a '56 plate Octavia Elegance Estate with the Sport Suspension and 17" Pegasus Alloys. It's a new car to me (bought in the summer). We still run our previous car which is an '02 plate Fabia Estate 1.9TDi. For that I invested in a pair of steel wheels with Vredestein Snowtrac 2 tyres for use in the winter months and fit them to the front axle between about Oct/Nov - Mar/Apr. Anyway, in the recent prolonged spell of snow up here in Aberdeenshire the Octavia behaved like a sledge, while the trusty Fabia barely slipped once. What I'd like to do is invest in a set (or a pair at least for the front axle) of snow tyres for the Octavia, but I wondered whether they would be best fitted onto 17" wheels, or whether it would be more sensible to switch the wheels to a narrower, thinner wheel size since in my experience these behave better in the snow. Then I stumbled across your post...

I don't suppose you have a link to where you read the advice quoted? It makes perfect sense to me, but I'd like to get the lowdown on it before shelling out. Pegasus Alloys come in at £140 a corner - seems a bit steep if they're not going to do the job!

Cheers,

Dave

Hi

Someone has already found out all the relevant info.........

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/181765-steel-wheel-info/

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Dave

I used autosocks up here in Scotland during the worst of the bad weather we just had. Only thing I can say about then is that they are staggeringly good. I was even assiting a 4 x 4 which was stuck.

hope you notified your insurance company! Snow socks are indeed very very good. but I have just had fitted a pair of Cooper snow tyres 225/40x18 onto the vRS std alloys, amazing difference.