MOMO R GO GO

[Latte]

16” MOMO alloys shod with Hankook 205/45 genuine winter tyres. Tyres supplied in 2 working days by mytyres from Germany to my local garage. The tyre fitter asked me if I had ever used winter tyres before. I hadn’t. He said prepare to be surprised.

Since running them in the thermometer has been above 7 degrees so I cant really comment on the cold grip but the wet grip is fantastic, a league ahead of the SP max summers. Steering feel is a bit woollier but you tune in to it.

However the revelation is in ride and noise. Now granted most of this is down to going down a rim size and up a profile but the difference is astonishing. SWMBO says what have I done, it feels like a different car from the passenger seat. The ride has gone from rock to firm. The driving culture gone from pothole dodging to not bothered mate.

The huge drop in road noise is the biggest change though, its like stepping into a much more refined car. Gosh I wish I had done this 12 months ago. Unless it gets a track day then the poor Dunlops will be staying in the garage.

And yes I have told my insurance company!

[pearce_jj]

Interesting that the road noise is so much lower. Do those have a 'scrub bead' on them? It's hard to tell from the photo but they almost look a bit stretched over those rims?

[Latte]

No scrub beads on these tyres.

My friendly tyre man tells me these tyres on these rims are close to the “95% rule” at 93%.

Its a 205/45/16 on a 7.5J ET35 16” rim, which I am told falls just inside the recommended limits for rim, tyre and car.

I am no expert here and so have taken advice since I had the rims. I had to have new 4mm longer radius-seated bolts to comply. These quality rims have radius seats like OEM alloys, while most aftermarket alloys apparently have taper seats.

They are very close to the stock wheels/tyres diameter, and sat-nav seems to bear this out.

There seems to be lots of pitfalls for the unwary with wheel/tyre/bolt/car/caliper/wheelarch/rimsize/offset so I strongly recommend either being an expert (which I am not!) or taking the advice of one.

[fabia55]

looks alright.. like a boy racer type of rim..

[Latte]

Interestingly the original wheels were complete b------s to get off as they were fused on to the hubs.

There was no way whatsoever I would have got them off at the side of the road with a flat.

The tyreman says don’t you ever think of servicing your car?

I said i just spent £200 on a Skoda service!

Well he says they must be able to do it by computer now without taking the wheels off, cos these have not been off guvnor.

[barrheadred]

I said i just spent £200 on a Skoda service!

Well he says they must be able to do it by computer now without taking the wheels off, cos these have not been off guvnor.

£200 for a dealer service suggests it wasn't a big service.removing the wheels isn't a requirement on a basic service at most dealers

[Latte]

Wouldn't it be good though, if a dealer thought lets whizz the wheels on and off, as the customer would be stranded with a flat. And while we are at it we'll put a smear of copper grease on.

[barrheadred]

Wouldn't it be good though, if a dealer thought lets whizz the wheels on and off, as the customer would be stranded with a flat. And while we are at it we'll put a smear of copper grease on.

yep but afraid very rarely happens.time is money and all that

[Kevsta]

I didn't have the 205/40 R17 long enough to really notice the difference in road noise or ride, but switching to the Michelin Alpin A4 195/50 R16 I did notice a big increase in grip. I've also had to test that in an emergency stop after someone failed to give way on a roundabout, simply just driving through.

Big thumbs up to winter tyres.

[Black]

Interesting finding. As far as I aware there is no real benefit of low profile other than styling. That is the reason why all manufacturers launch cars for journalists have the smaller wheels fitted. I predict in a decade or so we will all bedriving round with sensible tyre sizes and low profiles will be in the history section alongside the crazy wings 50s cars had.

[Can]

Lower profiles also tend to give a more deffinate turn in due to reduced sidewall flex but 90% of people wan't notice this. It doesn't help that skoda having to run softer than ideal suspension to fit into the VAG line up over shaddows this as well.

As with everything in a car its all about finding the right compromise.

[Latte]

I totally agree that its finding the right compromise for your needs.

On a track at 90%+ I would want the extra turn-in and feel of the 17’s. With the hankooks the turn in is less crisp, the feedback is less informative, though the cornering limits are ultimately much the same. The grip levels are much better in the wet, much better in the dry cold, slightly worse in the dry warm. But my Dunlop 17’s take a lot of warming up.

In my real world driving these winter 16’s win on similar performance with a complete step change in noise levels and comfort. I can actually hear the wind noise from the mirrors now, and I am really enjoying hearing much more from the engine. They have transformed my car and I am enjoying it even more and all over again. Some time back I was asking Briskodians to recommend a soundproofing supplier. Nobody told me it was this easy to achieve!

[Tech1e]

£200 for a dealer service suggests it wasn't a big service.removing the wheels isn't a requirement on a basic service at most dealers

Removing wheels isn't part of any Skoda service

[Tech1e]

Wouldn't it be good though, if a dealer thought lets whizz the wheels on and off, as the customer would be stranded with a flat. And while we are at it we'll put a smear of copper grease on.

As mentioned not going to unless time is allowed to do it. Besides half our cars don't even have jacks and wheel braces now

[the mad monk]

Removing wheels isn't part of any Skoda service

forgive my tech ignorance but how do they check the brakes?

[Latte]

"Computer, are the brakes worn?"

BEEP.

Computer says no sir, and its the only expertise we have these days so pay the bill and go.

NEXT!

[Confide]

I'd use my eyes to check the brakes... don't know about you guys x).

sent from the real deal

[the mad monk]

surly turning the wheel full lock wouldnt be enough to get ur head in and really see them?

also what about changing the brake fluid, isnt that done every 2 years on these?

for ease of access and also for the time it takes i cant see why they wouldnt do this although i can see lots not bothering going by the above posts, i guess it depends on the dealer and how thorough they are

[barrheadred]

surly turning the wheel full lock wouldnt be enough to get ur head in and really see them?

also what about changing the brake fluid, isnt that done every 2 years on these?

for ease of access and also for the time it takes i cant see why they wouldnt do this although i can see lots not bothering going by the above posts, i guess it depends on the dealer and how thorough they are

you don't have to take the wheels off to bleed the brakes.in a garage you can see the inner brake pads from the underside of the car when it's up on the ramp.what tech1e is trying to say is in the service schedule it doesn't say to remove wheels,grease hubs,re fit wheels.alrhough there is some things that require the wheels to be removed for other parts of a service I.e cleaning/adjustings brake drums

Edited 27 December, 2011 by barrheadred