16 inch rims for vRS winter tyres

[domhnall]

6j for use with 205/55 R16 or 7j for use with 215/60 R16 on a Yeti.

yup that's what I meant. Thanks. I didn't have the numbers handy and couldn't be bothered looking them up as we were up half the night with our young son and a vomiting bug :'(

I had 6J with 205/55/R16 on my Octy and they were fine. Transformed the car totally in the winter. The smaller tyres looked silly on the yeti though so they're now on an A3

[benjamino]

What tyre pressures would you recommend for a 205/55/16 winter tyre on a 2008 Octy vRS TDI?

Edited 1 November, 2011 by benjamino

[Gizmo]

What tyre pressures would you recommend for a 205/55/16 winter tyre on a 2008 Octy vRS TDI?

Does the vRS have 16" tyre pressures inside the fuel filler flap?

If so simply add 0.2bar to the pressures.

[benjamino]

Does the vRS have 16" tyre pressures inside the fuel filler flap?

If so simply add 0.2bar to the pressures.

Mine doesn't have the 16" pressures, only 17" and 18".

[cheezemonkhai]

Just called my local Skoda dealer to get a price for 16 inch steel wheels, as I was thinking of getting a set to put winter tyres on. Parts guy goes off to speak with technician and comes back telling me that Skoda do not recommend fitting 16 inch steels with winter tyres to vRS and I should use 18 inch tyres on my standard rims. Is this right? Anyone else encountered this? From my reading on the forum I had the impression that 16 inch steels were the right way to go for winter tyres. Is this another case of the dealer not knowing what they're talking about? I haven't checked handbook yet but will do that next.

Sarge.

Not going to read the whole theread, but utter carp.

Skoda in Germany suggest 16" wheels with 6J width rather than 6.5J so you can use chains.

The 18" tyres will cost a fortune and grip less well.

[cbr600]

Fitted my 16 inch fitted with 205/55/16 Avon ice touring and believe it or not my mpg seems a lot better than with the 18 inch alloys and summer tyres ,unless with the smaller wheels it is sending the computer all to ****.

[blank]

16" is definitely the way to go on a vRS. Mine last year:

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

I noticed an improvement in fuel economy too, think it must be the narrower tyres.

[weyland]

I'm just getting my head around wheel sizes as it's something I've never really looked into before. Sounds like we people are saying to go with 6.5x16 6J (this means nothing to me!).

Does anyone have any pointers on specific wheels for sale that I can look at so I know what to go after? I don't mind steelies but like the look of the alloys above in blanks post

What are people thinking about the MyTyres deals? Looks like it will work out at about £480 delivered for steel rims with AVON ice touring ST rubber

Edited 2 November, 2011 by weyland

[rickj]

Just called my local Skoda dealer to get a price for 16 inch steel wheels, as I was thinking of getting a set to put winter tyres on. Parts guy goes off to speak with technician and comes back telling me that Skoda do not recommend fitting 16 inch steels with winter tyres to vRS and I should use 18 inch tyres on my standard rims. Is this right? Anyone else encountered this? From my reading on the forum I had the impression that 16 inch steels were the right way to go for winter tyres. Is this another case of the dealer not knowing what they're talking about? I haven't checked handbook yet but will do that next.

Sarge.

[rickj]

hi.i have just fitted 4 new 16" winter tyres to new rims,No probs fits lovely.

Edited 2 November, 2011 by rickj

[rob_e]

The 18" tyres will cost a fortune and grip less well.

Expensive, yes, but grip less well? Not sure I agree..

The smaller footprint of a 16" is probably better when you're actually driving on snow, so this would be valid if you were driving on snow all of the time, but in reality for the last few winters I've done thousands of miles on cold wet icy tarmac, and less than a hundred where I was actually driving on snow. IMO the increased grip you'd have on cold tarmac with the wider tyre would more than offset the benefit you'd get on snow with the narrower tyre.

[FIBAMAN]

I would say that is a load of b******ks! There are a lot of forum members running either 16" steel, or an alternative VAG alloy wheel with winter tyres, and I would be willing to bet none have had any problems.

Although you can fit winter tyres on the standard vRS wheel, the cost would be outrageous, plus they will not be anywhere near as effective as a winter tyre on a 16" rim due to the much lower tyre wall height. Also, by the time you have paid out for the tyres to be changed back and forth several times, you could have got yourself a 2nd hand set of VAG wheels of the bay. The other advantage is if you wanted to refurb your vRS wheels you would have a set to use during the process, only downside imho is storage.

Tbh I wouldn't even entertain a new set of steels from the stealers, I got a set of Audi A4 wheels with summer tyres fitted to them, both wheels and tyres are in excellent condition, I paid £130 including postage.

[FIBAMAN]

16" STEELS WITH AVON ICE TOURING, V/V & BALANCE £117.50 EACH DELIVERED FROM MY TYRES, IN A FEW DAYS.

[cheezemonkhai]

16" is plenty wide enough for dry tarmac and on ice where you have minimal grip, the more pressure you can put on a given point, the better. It's still going to be the square root of nearly nothing mind without spikes etc on polished ice. FOr the 18" there is no option to fit chains if it got really hairy.

On the snow, the 18" will grip less well as we agree.

Still each to their own.

[paul380]

16" STEELS WITH AVON ICE TOURING, V/V & BALANCE £117.50 EACH DELIVERED FROM MY TYRES, IN A FEW DAYS.

Ditto!

[charles]

if you decide not to bother swapping rims you can get snowtyres 225/40/18 to fit straight onto std alloys as I have done.

'Cooper Weathermaster' tyres. had them on last year and they worked really well despite the 40 series profile.

[OU51]

16" STEELS WITH AVON ICE TOURING, V/V & BALANCE £117.50 EACH DELIVERED FROM MY TYRES, IN A FEW DAYS.

Ditto!

Sorry for bumping the thread slightly, but are Octavia Mk1 wheels the same fitment as the Mk2? I'm trying to get a set for my 51-reg vRS.

Reason I ask is that I searched on mytyres and all the results I'm getting for 16" steel wheels & tyres together when I choose Octavia 1U 1781ccm 110 kW BJ.: 09.1997-02.2009 are closer to £170-£200 each.

The only cheaper ones come with tyre makes that I've not heard of and I'm not sure if they'll work as well.

[OU51]

Opps, didn't help that I choose the wrong model (150bhp instead of 180bhp vRS)! But still the prices are the same. According to mytyres.co.uk the Mk2 has a different hole spacing - is the following correct...

Mk2 = 6 x 16 5 x 112.00 x 57.00 ET: 50.00

Mk1 = 6½ x 16 5 x 100.00 x 57.00 ET: 42.00

Edited 7 November, 2011 by OU51

[Gizmo]

Yes that is correct, MKII Octavia wheels will not fit a MKI.

[OU51]

Thanks for replying.

I'm confused now by mytyres.co.uk as the tyre size they list are the same for both models (205/55 R16) but the total cost for each wheel is £20-£40 more and the Mk2 wheels list more tyre choices than the Mk1 even though they're the same size!

E.g. Avon Ice Touring ST 205/55 R16 91H is £85 or £107 including a Mk2 wheel, but they don't list that tyre at all for the Mk1 size wheel!

Maybe I'll get the tyres separately and look to eBay for some 2nd hand wheels.