Chaps,

I've been doing some trawling of the net, looking for options for winter alloys to suit my Scout on 205/55R16 tyres. I don't fancy the look of steels, although I realise that practically they are probably the best bet. Also Skoda's alloys seem very pricey even for 16" ones. I'd like to get some Xion ones - as shown on another thread but they aren't available in the UK. I am looking for some robust, easy to clean wheels which would suit the Scout.

A couple of areas of interest. Firstly, I checked out Ronal, a German company that I noticed made the OEM wheels on my 2007 Octavia Elegance. The Ronal R42 looks pretty good in the 16" version - but the cost is a bit much at around £120 a corner.

The best I have found is Autec - another German company, which carries TUV approval for fitting of its wheels to VAG and Ford cars, and it markets part of its range as easy clean winter alloys - they all have suitably wintery names - Arctic/Nordic/Baltic/Zenit etc. The best bet so far is the Baltic. This is 6.5Jx16 5x112 ET50.

See: http://www.autec-wheels.de/design/rim/name/typ_b-baltic.html

They are approved for the Scout, and Autec has an online configurator which includes the (pre-facelift) Scout. Quite like the look of the Zenit Anthracites too, but the offset is only ET40.

These sell for about £80 each, which I don't think is too bad. What do you think?

Edited 23 December, 201015 yr by London Les

They look great!

I think this is where you probably would find some insurance niggles.

When using winter tyres on OEM wheels (steel or alloy) it's not a modification and no insurance company should argue the fact, as has been proved recently.

If you buy alternative alloy wheels then the insurance company would be within their rights to call it a mod and so charge a premium and admin fee.

I think this is where you probably would find some insurance niggles.

When using winter tyres on OEM wheels (steel or alloy) it's not a modification and no insurance company should argue the fact, as has been proved recently.

If you buy alternative alloy wheels then the insurance company would be within their rights to call it a mod and so charge a premium and admin fee.

But they are not doing any more

The Ombuldsman has become involved

But they are not doing any more

The Ombuldsman has become involved

Insurance companies are now not treating after-market alloys as a modification?

Thanks for the information Les, they look very good, but is there any information about ordering a set?

Mac

I'm pretty confident that with TUV approval for use with the car (the certs are available online), and no change in wheel size, insurers would be find it difficult to prove this is a performance modification.

I was thinking about buying through 'Race and Road' - if you google its the first hit.

Edited 23 December, 201015 yr by London Les

Insurance companies are now not treating after-market alloys as a modification?

As I said