Octavia Scout MK2 TDI

[lard-ajc]

The year-round four season thing sounds good to me too; those goodyear vector 4seasons I found supposedly have the snow symbol too so should be good in winter, I'm not familiar with the Vredestein Quatrac 3s, so will check those out too - thanks for the suggestion!

I checked out the Vector 4season's performance ratings on various sites and they supposedly still grip 'almost' as well in the dry as the current/factory-fitted pirelli rosso zeros, so shouldn't be any less safe really. Interestingly, they also exceed the Pirellis in most other ratings I've seen, except perhaps noise, so my concerns over wear rate should be helped as well. I noticed in passing that the pirellis are not generally rated very highly at all in snow, which I guess is fair enough for a summer tyre, but at least it verifies that i wasn't just imagining it.

I'd looked at getting steel wheels too, the spare wheel/tyre I got as an option is steel so it seemed a very reasonable thing to me. I thought this would be good either for swapping to a second set of (winter) tyres or just to achieve a more common tyre profile, but it seemed my insurance premiums would increase quite a bit, as changing wheels makes the car count as modified.. <sigh>

Cheers

kev

if you find somewhere that stocks either of these could you post on here - ta

[silver1011]

Goodyear Vector 4Seasons

http://lovetyres.com/tyre/Goodyear-Vector-4Seasons

225/50 R17 V (98 XL) - £128.14 each.

Used them last week for my Dunlop SP Sport 01's, great service, best prices.

[Kev999]

Thanks once again for the replies; Hmm, maybe i should look at changing insurers then, mine were definate that if steel wheels weren't standard on my model then even main dealer ones were counted as modifications to the model, which is what their premiums were based on. But I'm not precious about alloys, and I'm sure the unusual wheel size is partly a factor in all this so if other insurers are more accepting...

I also found some goodyear vector 4season tyres here though not so cheap as the ones above (Thanks for that link Silver!): http://www.tyres-pneus-online.co.uk/car-tyres-GOODYEAR/VECTOR,4,SEASONS/225,50,R17,98,V,AO|XL.html - they seem to have some local fitters who will take delivery for you too, though fitting is extra and varies. Compare and contrast with their graph for my similarly priced current ones though, and you can see why the four-season ones don't look obviously second best in terms of summer safety either: http://www.tyres-pneus-online.co.uk/car-tyres-PIRELLI/P,ZERO,ROSSO,ASIMMETRICO/225,50,R17,98,Y,XL.html and its a similar story on www.tyrereviews.co.uk.

As an aside, I must give a massive thumbs up for the scout's suspension etc - I was badly cut up by a lorry on a round-about this morning; I was forced up onto quite a high kerb inches from the armco, and it was a big over-motorway type roundabout so we were going at some speed at the time. I expected bad things, especially with how tight everything was, yet the scout remained planted and rode it with no drama whatsoever! Yay!

Cheers

Kev

Edited 28 July, 2011 by Kev999

[Kev999]

Its been a while since I bought the Vector 4season tyres so following some more snow it seems worth an update.

 

Positives: I've noticed no deficiencies with performance in the dry, and yet they are lasting 'much' longer than the OEM pirelli zero rossos in terms of wear (I've used both year-round with the same driving patterns so it seems a fair comparison). In the wet they have been better under harsh braking and have certainly coped better when hitting standing water. In mud and snow their braking has been very good and the traction really excellent, not much tendency to slide sideways on corners either - the best tyres I've ever had in those conditions. On ice, I guess there are limits of what they can do for braking, but they have been surprisingly good for traction.

 

Negatives: the fuel consumption has dropped by at least a few miles per gallon on fast roads/motorways, presumably due to the compromise between winter grip and year-round rolling resistance. As plentiful mud happens year round on steep hills in Derbyshire, its a compromise I can easily accept - but maybe not ideal for those doing lots of motorway miles in the summer. Also, its hard to tell, but I think the ride is a tiny bit less smooth for those in the back with these tyres.

 

However, of the original four tyres, three haven't lasted long: surprisingly modest bumps/pot-holes put bulges in two, and a small thorn in the side wall has just done for a third. So it means that 'in practice', around the rural lanes of derbyshire (not off-road), I'm personally not seeing anything like the longevity (and therefore value) I'd hoped for.  They aren't cheap tyres and are not conveniently available at most local dealers, yet I feel the things that have ended their life are 'extremely' typical in any rural environment and have not been compounded by exhuberant driving either, so I see no reason why this won't happen again.  It may help in some cases if the Scout's wheels were a better choice - the low profile alloy setup doesn't seem the most suitable for less civilised roads; were I to have my time again I would (insurance permitting) budget to swap them with my first new tyres.

 

So, much as I like their performance, as I'm choosing the latest replacement tyre I'm seriously questioning if I shouldn't try for something either much cheaper or else more rugged, in the hope that I will be able to realise its value. 

 

Hope thats useful to someone,

Kev

Edited 6 January, 2015 by Kev999

[dunc69]

Another vote for All Season tyres on a Scout.

I have replaced the OE Dunlops with Falken Euro All Season AS200 225/50 R17 98V with rim protection.

Got them from Oponeo at £86 each.

So far I have been very impressed. Quiet, wearing well, no obvious change in fuel consumption, fantastic wet & now cold grip.

No issues in the dry yet either. I don't really push the Scout hard though. Save the vRS for that!

Cheers, Dunc

[Kev999]

Interesting Dunc, thanks - I don't think those were around last time I looked at the options.

 

They are usefully cheaper than the same sized goodyear 4seasons I've been buying, and still have the snow symbol, so I may well give them a try.

 

Cheers

Kev

[mountainandsea]

Hi all,

 

The factory fit Dunlop Sports didn't really ever inspire confidence, but it seemed a waste to change them until they wore out - in fairness they did 30K before being replaced at the start of December with Vredestein Quatrac 5's.  We've fitted Vredesteins to both our Octavias (and to a previous Audi A6) for some years and I've always been happy with them.

 

At £580 for four tyres fitted by my local dealer (Donside Tyres in Alford, Aberdeenshire) they're not the cheapest tyres out there but they are very, very good.  Straight away there was (as expected) less road noise and the handling is greatly improved.  Fuel consumption is improved by over 2mpg too, which is a bonus. We get a LOT of snow and slippery conditions around here and in the couple of snowy/icy periods since fitting them they've been superb.  Again, this is as expected - I had Quatrac 3's on an Octavia 4x4 and they were brilliant whatever the conditions

 

cheers

 

Ian

[Kev999]

Thanks Ian, thats useful to know. I can't find anyone very local to me who stocks Vredestein Quatrac 5's but they seem quite plentiful online so thats okay (thankfully I opted for a spare wheel when I bought the scout so its not too urgent). They seem a little cheaper than the goodyear 4seasons I've been using too, which is helpful.

 

Cheers

Kev