I have always fitted winter tyres to my cars for as long as I can remember. My octavia Vrs has 18" wheels but as the spare was a 16" steel rim I just bough another rim and fitted 205/55 r16 snow tyres. This way I can leave the alloy in the boot as a spare and when I swap them back over the steel spare is left with the winter tyre on and saves storage for a winter rim/tyre.

We bought a Fabia Vrs TSi last November too for my wife. As the wheels are 17" and it appears that only Pirelli make a 205/40 r17 snow tyre which costs £150 I did the same with hers. Just bought another 15" steel spare for £45 from Skoda and put 2 Avon 195/55 r15 snow tyres on which cost £120. So for an extra £15 I got a rim and 2 tyres! The only problem I found with the Fabia was that the DSG gearbox wouldn't let you choose the gear and kept reverting to 1st gear which made the wheels spin. No matter what I did it wouldn't chance into 2nd for better traction. Apart from that they make a difference in stopping distance in the wet as well as the snow so I would recommend fitting them to anyone. It does put a smile on your face when you pass 4x4 drivers who don't bother fitting winter tyres because they have 4 wheel drive. Just means 4 wheels spinning with no traction!

Welcome to the forum.

 

No idea why your Twincharger did that, because they behave pretty well in the snow.

Plenty of Snow or Winter Tyres available in 205/40R 17 and no need to pay lots.

 

215/40R 17 can be a good choice for winters on a vRS if not going to 16" rims, again loads of choice of tyres,

Maybe more suitable to keep on longer due to a Suitable Load & Speed rating for a vRS come the warm days where you want a blast.

 

george

 

eg,

Tyres marked M+S, not proper Snow Tyres but work OK in Winter & are £50 each, actually good all year.

marked 215/40R 15, actually the same size as others 205/40R 17

no wheel spinning or staying in 1st with the DSG.

Starting to look round for Winter tyres for one of the VRS, the Octy actually, already have a set of winters ready for the Fabia which I used last year.

 

Got those from Openeo who were very efficient and reasonable ie £56 delivered for the 205/40-17s V rated.

 

Looked around at UK based distributors but cannot see anyone who matches the price and availability for winters, would go for the Nexens for this car as well, the Vredestein seem to be the only ones who do W/Y rated winters, not that I would recommend 150+ in winter conditions but we know what insurance companies can be like? 

Would you consider 215/40R 17 if actually not with a greater total diameter when measured side by side with some summer 205/40R 17?

 

They will surely have stock coming in shortly, as others will.

http://www.mytyres.co.uk

Nankang Snow SV-2 in stock in 215/40R 17, V rated.

http://www.camskill.co.uk

Would you consider 215/40R 17 if actually not with a greater total diameter when measured side by side with some summer 205/40R 17?

 

They will surely have stock coming in shortly, as others will.

http://www.mytyres.co.uk

Nankang Snow SV-2 in stock in 215/40R 17, V rated.

http://www.camskill.co.uk

 

Thanks George,  I like the idea of 215s but as they are not OE I just have this fear that if I had a prang insurance would say "oh, over-tyred, contributing factor" and use as an excuse to pay out less.  I know you have researched and 215 is standard fitment on similar polo sized VAG cars but insurance companies can be picky.  Octy has the 18s on it and I will use the neptune rims, already have one spare and might get another. 

 

Looked at both these sites and I think Openeo has the edge and despite being based in DE and PL were quick to deliver.  

Well if that is what your Insurance Underwriter will say i would change insurance because you have no idea what else they will try to say.

 

george

Well if that is what your Insurance Underwriter will say i would change insurance because you have no idea what else they will try to say.

 

george

 

Been with LV for years, Civil Service thing, 75% discount and under £300 for the VRSs Fully Comp.  Expect they would be fair but the insurance assessor they use, or another party use, might be pedantic.

Nothing to be pedantic about,

fitted with the correct Load & Speed Rating legal tread & correct size & type of rims for the vehicle.

Tyres fitted to meet the rims size and vehicle weight.

Vehicle examiners are not morons.

 

This OME stuff is a joke,

any insurance company wanting a driver to use ECO r Summer/all Seasons tyres during a UK winter needs exterminated.

If that is there requirement & expectation they could be sued for Corporate Responsibility in the event of life changing injuries..

 

george

I had/have a pair of winter tyres for my now sold fabia. They was great when we had some snow. I put them on whilst i had some wheels refurbed during normal and surprisingly normal weather..they was HORRIFIC in normal road conditions in my personal experience i couldnt wait to get them off! Driving at a normal speed on bendy roads could sometimes cause the ESP to kick in because the grip was that poor. It could have just been my experience, but once my normal alloys/tyres were back on the car everything was fine on the same roads i had issues with. Id stick to winter tyres in the winter. 

I've got a full set of Avon winter tyres for the Fabia in the garage at home, and in the last winter I couldn't fault them. The car went up hills that many 4x4s couldn't, and I only had issues when it came to frozen, compacted snow on an incline which had been polished by other idiots, but to be honest, I can't think of many things that could handle that!

 

There's then the whole argument of it's not just snow, it's when the road is below 7 degrees. When I was leaving work at my old job, I'd be finishing around 8 - 9pm over the course of winter, in which the roads were often damp and greasy at that time, but the gritters hadn't yet been out. Yes, there was a huge noticeable difference in grip both when pulling away, going around bends and stopping.

 

With regards to fitting, Halford Auto Centre swapped mine over, cost me £20 for all four summer tyres (which I supplied) to be fitted and balanced. And then there's the cost in general, the full set cost me £250 new and fully fitted. I'm expecting at least another two or three seasons out of them, and the total cost of my summer tyres (very lightly used) came to £65 for a set of premium brands, which I'm expecting to last a similar period of time! So just shy of £320 for tyres to last at least two years... I'm not complaining!

Weather cooling down, roads getting wet. Time to dig the winter boots out

And then we're going to get an Indian summer