Hi all,

Well I've now been the proud owner of my vRS CR DSG for a whole 4 days now, and am loving it. I've been chatting to someone here at work who used to own one, and he has recommended considering putting winter tyres on it for the winter. I wanted to know what the thoughts of you all were. Is it worth the cost and would you recommend it, or is it an expensive thing to do considering the benefits gained?

Thanks

Graeme

Edited 18 September, 201213 yr by smigg

Depends where you live and whether you really need to keep driving through winter. I have a Scout with winter tyres, and the amount of assurance is excellent - they work very well and are also better on wet and cold roads - not just snow/ice. I also like cleaning and repairing the wheels off the car when not in use.

Many members of the forum have bought a set of 16" steel wheels with 205/55R16 winter tyres to protect their alloys and narrower sizes perform better and are cheaper than the 17 or 18" wheels on the VRS.

Against that there is the space needed to store them and the cost - you are looking at the thick end of £600 for a full set of tyres and wheels.

I personally rate them highly when the temperature drops. Normal silicon tyres are effective down to about 4 degrees but the winter tyres are effective well below that figure. Even if it does not snow I put my winters on when the temp drops; better traction, better corner grip, better wet performance, better braking etc etc. I've been running them for 2 winters now and I can honestly say the the confidence I get from them is worth every penny.

They are not cheap but neither is skidding into a ditch. Alot of people opt for a second set of smaller steel wheels with winter tyres as this is a more cost effective option than buying 18" winter tyres and paying anything up to 50 quid a year for the tyre changeover. Bare in mind tho, if you go down this option you will have to get 16" steel wheels as a minimum to clear the vRS size brakes.

Fitz.

There's plenty of pics @ http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/215362-show-us-your-winter-wheels/page__st__90__hl__+wintersport#entry2576011

Cough.

'Silica'.

Winter tyres are made with more natural rubber & advanced silica compounds.

George

EDIT,

You were right.

Silicon Dioxide is known as Silica.

Cough.

'Silica'.

Winter tyres are made with more natural rubber & advanced silica compounds.

George

Doh

...the cost - you are looking at the thick end of £600 for a full set of tyres and wheels.

But don't forget that all the time you're using your winter tyres, your summer ones aren't being used, so the cost isn't really £600+, it's more like £200 or whatever the rims cost. Even then, if you use steel rims, you're reducing the wear and tear on the more expensive summer alloys through the winter. I'm sure you get the idea - basically you can save some money overall provided you can find the £600+ up front.

I changed over for the first time last winter and although we had minimal snow in the NWE we had plenty of rain and I noticed a increase in grip in the cold and wet over the summer tyres.

Lots of threads on this subject already. Divides option as follows:

a] I've been driving x years and I never needed them in the past, don't see what all the fuss is about, drive properly FFS, costs arm and a leg, not needed in the uk, managed fine in the winter of '67 with a morris 1000 running on milk-bottle-tops blah blah etc.

b] Best thing since sliced bread, should be compulsory, I can drive up vertical glaciers now no problems, can't believe how great they are, saves miles on my summers, winters are not just for snow etc, what a great excuse for a second set of rims and general car geekiness.

I was in camp A until last year when I switched allegiance to B.

Edited 18 September, 201213 yr by rob_e

Thanks all. I guessed this would be one of those topics that completely divided opinion. Not sure what to do and guess I'll think on it a bit more. Never really suffered in the winter in my old Focus Estate until last year when I couldn't get up the road to my house due to the snow. I'm now thinking that this will be worse this year with the traction control etc. kicking in as well as wider tyres on the vRS. Hmmm decisions, decisions. Thanks all.

If you can afford them go for it.

I couldn't and tbh I managed quite well on new summer rubber in the two previous very bad winters, -17C and 18" of snow.

Thanks Aspman. The other problem I have is storing them as I don't really have the room to, although if they do become a necessity then I'm sure I could find room somewhere.

My octavia was sodding useless in the snow on the tyres it came with (can't remember the type). Fitted nokians and it managed to go anywhere including unploughed roads on the day thousands of people got stranded overnight on the M8. Worth every penny (though it couldn't scale vertical glaciers) :lol:

Sent from my MZ601 using Tapatalk 2

How have people got on with their insurance companies & winter tyres?

Opinion here may be divided over the safety benefits they bring (in the right conditions), but do the insurance companies see it as a positive 'modification' or charge the earth for it?

Told them (LV insurance) and provided they complied with Skoda's recommended sizes and spec then no charge.

I'm a convert to winters having had to hike to the car and back as the michelins couldn't get up and down the hill to home. No problem with winter tyres, I can park on my drive.

Aviva insurance not bothered, don't even have to inform them as long as correct size etc.

Local fitter swaps all 4 rubbers on my drive for £ 30 so I've not bothered with steelies.

Plenty of good deals online but don't leave it too long as prices will start to rise very soon.

Edited 18 September, 201213 yr by Web Ferret

Total convert

Bought some Audi A6 alloys from eBay for £25 each

Bought 4 winter tyres from Camskill @ £46 each

Had them fitted for £40

If you can't bear to have steel rims get some 2nd hand Audi A3/A4 ones. The standard ones that people upgrade from are normally 16" with the correct offset for the Octavia, check the massive winter tyres thread that starts with details of offset etc:

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/182447-the-winter-tyres-thread/

I managed to get a set of 4 from ebay for £165 with summer tyres on last year, even managed to sell the summer tyres for £40.

However, for vRS you MUST get 16" not 15" due to the larger callipers. Even then it is quite close, so make sure the tyre fitter keeps the stick on weights away from the central part next to the callipers.

Certainly worth it for piece of mind, softer ride too on the winter potholes with some savings on fuel (partly down to lighter weight and lower wind resistance I suspect).

I am in camp B - the difference in grip is quite amazing!

Get a set of 16" rims, some tyre places will store your other set of wheels for you (would you trust them though?)

How have people got on with their insurance companies & winter tyres?

Opinion here may be divided over the safety benefits they bring (in the right conditions), but do the insurance companies see it as a positive 'modification' or charge the earth for it?

Directline are fine and don't charge anything for the switch over to winter tyres but they say to mention it when your doing the switch

I didn't bother taking my winter tyres off. They are still on there from last year. Before you laugh, it's ****ed it down all year so I've been quite smug with my grip

They'll see me through this winter, and the front's will probably need replacing next year. I'll wait until summer though and buy them then and just put fresh winter rubber on the front.

My "summer" tyres consist of a pair that have 2mm on the treads and another pair which are actually nearly new. The wifes car could do with some new tyres on the front, so thats where they will go and I'll bin the 2mm pair.

Edited 18 September, 201213 yr by g_tee

Directline are fine and don't charge anything for the switch over to winter tyres but they say to mention it when your doing the switch

Careful with insurance companies. If you are swapping your tyres for winter ones, i.e. keeping the standard alloys and swapping the tyres, then it is not a modification. It is not much different than switching brands when you replace your tyres, they are a consumable. I think there is even a section on the Association of British Insurers website that says swapping for winter tyres will not mean an increase in premium.

If you are running a different set of alloys that are not the same type as what comes as standard on your model then it is technically a modification. I know they are normally lower cost etc, but the foreign call centre person never understands. Best thing to do when you take out the policy is tick the alloy modification box, normally only adds £2/3 pounds to the premium then you are covered and can swap them over as many times as you like.

Stops the "admin charge" that some try and get from you when you do your duty and inform them you are switching wheels.

Told them (LV insurance) and provided they complied with Skoda's recommended sizes and spec then no charge.

I had to push it to the underwriter about that, then when they agreed had to get it in writing just to be sure.

Not had a charge since mind.

I can't beleive the power you guys give your insurance companies.

Checked with mine, they don't care. It's just tyres................