could have done with some this morning, bloody snow

was on my way over to Newcastle and got as far as a place called Moota and just gave up. i passed 3 car accidents on the way home on a 2 miles stretch of road. in all it took over 1 hour to do a 20 mile round trip :'(

mind it was fun in the vrs, NOT. i miss the old diesel braking, its just not the same with an autobox although i guess i could just shift down using the paddles. whats the best method then? any tips for a n00b auto owner driving in snow??

Manual for snow as holds the gears? Not sure myself! Walk?

could have done with some this morning, bloody snow

was on my way over to Newcastle and got as far as a place called Moota and just gave up. i passed 3 car accidents on the way home on a 2 miles stretch of road. in all it took over 1 hour to do a 20 mile round trip :'(

mind it was fun in the vrs, NOT. i miss the old diesel braking, its just not the same with an autobox although i guess i could just shift down using the paddles. whats the best method then? any tips for a n00b auto owner driving in snow??

used the paddles!!!!!! I've driven in snow (and we have about 2 inch here this morning, havent beenout in it yet) went over the tops of the A66 a couple weeks ago in about 3 inch of snow.. you MUST leave it in manual to get the correct engine braking you need, or it will be just too tricky! you want the front wheels to slow you and gently pull you round corners ect, not change up in the middle speed up, and upset the balance of the car, forcing you to brake all the time! lol..

drive it in manual, exactly the same as you would a manual box in the snow...

I had winters on though (the nankangs) and they worked very well, there was a que of people trickling along real slow in the inside lane, I just drove past them on the fresh snow in the outside lane

how do you mean leave it in manual (auto n00b dont forget) i only ever use D

what concerned me was coming down from moota on the slope the speed didnt really drop and i found i had to brake coz the car infront was slowing. in the old diesel it would almost come to a stop unless you used the accelerator and no need to brake but in this car thats all i found i was doing which we all know isnt all that good on snow

EDIT just been on to avivia who say so long as the tyres are road legal theres no issue changing my alloys over for some with winter tyres on, thats good news

a mate of mines just gave me some vw 15" so now i just need to source some tyres, any recommendations of suppliers? local to me wanted £82 for some sunnys but plenty on here have used nankangs so thats what im after, mytyres any good? quick delivery and all that?

Edited 16 December, 201114 yr by the mad monk

how do you mean leave it in manual (auto n00b dont forget) i only ever use D

what concerned me was coming down from moota on the slope the speed didnt really drop and i found i had to brake coz the car infront was slowing. in the old diesel it would almost come to a stop unless you used the accelerator and no need to brake but in this car thats all i found i was doing which we all know isnt all that good on snow

EDIT just been on to avivia who say so long as the tyres are road legal theres no issue changing my alloys over for some with winter tyres on, thats good news

a mate of mines just gave me some vw 15" so now i just need to source some tyres, any recommendations of suppliers? local to me wanted £82 for some sunnys but plenty on here have used nankangs so thats what im after, mytyres any good? quick delivery and all that?

MY tyres have been excellent both times I have used them. They do charge an extra £15 delivery per corner though if you order steel wheels as well as tyres, that can bump the price up a bit

ive got some alloys spare mate so its just the tyres im after, i know its a bad time of year but are they generally quick, ie in a week or are we talking weeks

to leave it in manual, when in drive, push the stick over to the left, and its then in "tiptronic" and will only change gears when you flip the paddles (unless its at the limit of revs, either high or low)

sooo, for example going down your hill, just use the left paddle to flip it down to second, and you get loads of nice engine braking, if you want even slower without having to brake flip it to first

On the A66 in the snow, I was using 3rd at about 40 mph (when it would have been in 5th in "drive") going downhill, and the engine braking was maintaining that speed nicely without any throttle, when I wanted to slow further, a change to 2nd ect ..

hope this helps!

ah now i see what you mean, ive yet to try that method . im afraid ive gotten into the lazy way of driving, just pop it in D and thats it, infact ive only used the paddles 2 or 3 times since september and S once, way too noisy lol

what size nankangs did you use mate, 185 according to mytyres but some have used 195's so im a bit confused

also since these are 15" vw alloys ive sourced, im assuming they should just fit, no spacers/spigots or anything will be req

EDIT, just tried the wheels on, perfect fit and i noticed the spare wheel is 195/55/15 so thats the size ill buy

Edited 16 December, 201114 yr by the mad monk

ah now i see what you mean, ive yet to try that method . im afraid ive gotten into the lazy way of driving, just pop it in D and thats it, infact ive only used the paddles 2 or 3 times since september and S once, way too noisy lol

what size nankangs did you use mate, 185 according to mytyres but some have used 195's so im a bit confused

also since these are 15" vw alloys ive sourced, im assuming they should just fit, no spacers/spigots or anything will be req

EDIT, just tried the wheels on, perfect fit and i noticed the spare wheel is 195/55/15 so thats the size ill buy

nankang SV2's, 205 45 17's still within tolerances, approved and supplied by my dealer, a check on the speedo with GPS shows it runs accurate at this size, instead of reading fast..

they were a little wolley until about a 1000 miles on, then when the temp dropped they really came into their own... working fantastically at the moment... they give a great deal of confidence in poor conditions was very slushy today, and I could drive normally, I've tried them on freshley fallen snow, and they were good, only condition yet to test them on is ice, but its gonna freeze the next few nights, and I'm on days, so will get a chance to try them on frozen backroads!

edit: agreed, 195/55/15's are an exact match to 205/40/17's

ive got some alloys spare mate so its just the tyres im after, i know its a bad time of year but are they generally quick, ie in a week or are we talking weeks

I've had them in a week or so on both occasions I ordered, but there are plenty places doign winter tyres in this country too now. I've got two local tyre places within a mile of here advertising winter tyres in the local paper and then there's the likes of black circles and camskills.

thats the tyres ordered, nankang sv2's so we'll see how long they take to arrive

ill just have to drive like a fanny till then, cheers for the help guys

vRS owners who are running winter wheel/tyres, can you help.

I have a set of 15" steel wheels and tyres from a Skoda dealer with Brigstone Blizzak 195/55 R15 tyres that i used on my Monte Carlo and i followed the skoda owners manual regarding tyre pressures, when fitting winter tyres add 0.2bar to normal.

Now got my vRS today and will fit my winter wheels over the weekend, but what pressure should i now use, as the normal vRS tyre pressures are higher than my Monte Carlo's and they use the same size tyre.

I hope this makes sense......

I found I had to run my winters quite hard like my summer tyres or they had too much sidewall squidge (can't think of a better description) for my liking

How do you store wheels with tyres on? infalte or deflate or leave them? and how do you stand or stack them up or wrap them? thanks

How do you store wheels with tyres on? infalte or deflate or leave them? and how do you stand or stack them up or wrap them? thanks

From what i have read, i store mine inflated at normal pressure and stored flat on there side in a dark location.

HTH....

I'm thinking of putting my summer wheels/tyres in the shed but it's a tiny shed, would stacking them be ok or better to not stack.

i have 15 inch steels, I am thinking of 175 or 185 wide tyres but worried 175 might be a too much stretch on 6 inch wide rims. 185-60-15 is my first choice or 175 with a slightly bigger profile....all depends on price of the tyres..or even 165

I'm thinking of putting my summer wheels/tyres in the shed but it's a tiny shed, would stacking them be ok or better to not stack.

i have 15 inch steels, I am thinking of 175 or 185 wide tyres but worried 175 might be a too much stretch on 6 inch wide rims. 185-60-15 is my first choice or 175 with a slightly bigger profile....all depends on price of the tyres..or even 165

I stack my original wheel/tyres whether this is good or bad i do not know.

I cannot advise you on which size tyre is best for your particular car, what i did was ring Skoda and took advice directly from them, i bought a set of steels for my vRS with 195/55 R15 Brigestone Blizzak tyres direct from rainsworth skoda for £500 (delivery is £20 for the set of 4) they sell loads, even on ebay.

For my vRS with the 195/55 R15 steel wheels/tyres i was told to use pressures between 34 - 36 psi, you have to tell your insurance that you have winter wheels/tyres on, as it is classed as a modification from standard, some insurance companies charge and some don't.

I am with Direct Line Ins and i did not have to pay anything extra, but they told me that i need to tell them when i put the winter set on and also to ring them when i revert back to my standard set, so they can remove the modification from my policy.

Still not had any bad weather here in leeds.. come to think of it, has anyone? ? ?

We had snow until about 4 days before Christmas. And the current weather of 70mph wind gusting up to 100 mph is pretty bad in my book

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You should store tyres inflated and standing upright like they would on the car. Thats the best possible way but I dont see any harm if you have to stack them ontop of each other.

I've still got oem wheels on with the normal 'summer' tyres.

I'm starting to think do you really need 'winter' tyres as the weather is mild and not very cold for this time of year. It was reading 14 degrees c on christmas day, what temperatures are winter tyres for?

I've still got oem wheels on with the normal 'summer' tyres.

I'm starting to think do you really need 'winter' tyres as the weather is mild and not very cold for this time of year. It was reading 14 degrees c on christmas day, what temperatures are winter tyres for?

Below 7c. Just been out tonight with a chap who works for a central tyre distribution depot and he said its the first year winters have been going out by the lorry load after people panic buying after last year. Ironically it is so far the warmest winter on record.

I almost considered putting my summers back on but with my luck, if i did it would be minus 5 odd by next week!

so above 7c, summer tyres work just as well/better than winters?....i think i'll leave my nornal summers on for the time being

Been thinking about putting my 17's back on too. I'll hold out till mid January and see

I've stored all my tyres on eachother and have never experienced any problems :-O.

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