Car came with ( its 12 months old ) Dunlop SP Sport 01 225/50 R17 94W.

I had decided on Bridgestone Dueler H/P Sport after checking reviews and also a colleage has a Tiguan and they are OEM on that amongst some other Soft 4X4's.

BUT,

When I went and spoke to a tyre specialist by chance the Bridgestone Europe Tech Guy was there and he said Bridgestone would not recommend ( even though their web site does ) the H/P as it was not OEM - he was though amazed at the fact Skoda had put the Dunlop SP Sport 01 on the Scout.

The reason for me researching a change of tyre is the car has 13000 on the clock and 3 mm on the fronts but for the last 2 months there is a vibration ( as if something mechanical is loose ) through the steering wheel - no noise just a vibration at any speed on any type of road.

Skoda checked it and said nothing to worry about.

Tyre Specilaist checked the tracking and front wheel balance.

Car going back to Skoda for another check this week as the vibration is becoming more noticable.

My Scout (2008) also has the factory fit Dunlop SP Sport 01 tyres all round.

It has just reached 24,000 miles and I am just on the front wear bars and about 1mm off the rear wear bars.

For me these tyres have met all my needs (including the recent harsh winter) in terms of grip, noise wheel rim protection and most importantly for me wear / longevity.

As a result I've been shopping around recently for a full set, best quote so far is £549.94 fitted.

Seems like you've 2 issues (which may be linked):

1. Vibration - obviously you aren't happy so should ensure you get it resolved. New tyres may be the solution but only you can find this out by changing them, and if they need changing anyway there's no reason not to.

2. Tyres - I'm not familiar with the tyres you mention but you should fit whatever tyres you want assuming they are fit for purpose, ie they meet relevant legislation, are speed and load appropriate, and are the correct size. The fact they are not an exact replacement for what came as new isn't something I'd lose sleep over; in fact I doubt many people have exactly the same tyres their vehicle was supplied with.

Anyway, just my two pennies' worth on a quiet Sunday afternoon after watching a wet Moto GP

The vibration could be due to the tyres. Try swapping the fronts for the backs and see if the problem goes away - if it does then you know it's due to the tyres.

I don't know why people have it in for the Dunlop SP01s - sure they are not an offroad tyre, but at a 50 profile is never going to be ogress oriented. The Dunlops on my Scout have been quiet and the handling seems fine. Your supplier has a point - I think you take a risk when you move away from OEM tyres, because they have been tested and all tyres are different when it comes to stiffness, weight and noise, so you might end up with a combination which is worse than OEM - but it won't be unsafe provided you have the right size and rating.

I've looked at the tread pattern for the H/P Dueler and it looks very much like the bigger sizes of the RE050 - more offroady except the name. I wouldn't mind experimenting with them though.

I used to work in the tyre industry and have never been one for adhering to OEM fitment unless there's a special homologation (e.g. N0 suffix on Porsche etc.). There's not a lot of choice of on/off road hybrid patterns at the default size 225/50 R 17 with Dualer H/P being quite expensive; but fortunately there's more at a 55 profile including the Pirelli P6 allroad which was homologated for the first generation Audi allroad. Whilst these are not renowned for their longevity (on the heavier allroad anyway) you can comfortably find other patterns at about £100 per tyre.

225/55 R 17 has an almost identical diameter to the 245/45 R 18 that I have fitted. With the narrower tyre there should be slightly more room on lock, although I've never yet had any issue on compression during a turn. You'll also find that the actual/GPS speed coincides with the speedo.

I've ordered my winter tyres in 225/55 R 17 if that helps so I will be interested to see how that affects the ride.

Any pics of the Scout riding on 18's?

Any pics of the Scout riding on 18's?

Not got a photo on this PC, and it's back on the 17" Proteus just now trying to wear them out in time for the CWTs arriving in October.

If you search under "Scout"+"allroad" you should find a picture I posted in Nov/Dec.

Unsurprisingly, the car feels a lot more planted (for a non-vRS Skoda anyway) and less wallowy on the 245/45 R 18s