My new Conti TS850s on steel rims from mytyres.co.uk went on last night.

 

Yes,I know it's not cold enough yet but I'm busy next week and then having a knee op so wanted them on before that.

 

Think they look ok with the £23 wheel trims !! Got some Skoda emblem centres on order from ebay to help them blend in.

 

I got these from E-bay.DE for 180Euros

Travelling to work last night my maxi dot showed an OAT at 2.5 deg. Looking at my commuting time of day/night this looks like it may be the norm temperature for a while. Think I may fit my winters this weekend. However, intstead of pilling my alloys up on the garage floor with a blanket between them im thinking of buying some wheel bags. Has anyone bought any recently and from where would you guys reccommend getting them from. Seen some Skoda ones on Superskoda.com for 24.99 euro which seem pretty reasonable, but also some generic ones on eBay £14.99. Any ideas?

You can't go wrong for £360 delivered with Vredestein tyres and covers.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-x-Vredestein-Tyres-205-55R16-Alloy-Wheels-VW-Audi-/151157798955?pt=UK_CarParts_Acc_Wheels_tyres_Rims_Car_Wheels_ET&hash=item2331b4f82b#ht_352wt_1255

 

Just realised they are an auction so likely to rise in price!

No good, they are only 91 load rating, the Superb needs 94.

 

Shame, I might have bid on these.

Travelling to work last night my maxi dot showed an OAT at 2.5 deg. Looking at my commuting time of day/night this looks like it may be the norm temperature for a while. Think I may fit my winters this weekend. However, intstead of pilling my alloys up on the garage floor with a blanket between them im thinking of buying some wheel bags. Has anyone bought any recently and from where would you guys reccommend getting them from. Seen some Skoda ones on Superskoda.com for 24.99 euro which seem pretty reasonable, but also some generic ones on eBay £14.99. Any ideas?

 

Ours are on wheel trees, which keep each tyre separated and come with a cover. You can get one for the same money as those bags.

Well, just attempted to fit my winters but failed at the first wheel. Its corroded solid to the hub and not even budging with my full weight behind it. Think I may need re think how to get it off. Hope the others aren't like this. Easy as pie last year, but car was only 2 months old with about 4000 miles. Think I need s bigger hammer! !

Kick it in all area gently.Should work !

Kick it in all area gently.Should work !

Tried that, even tried prising it off with a lenght of wood. Tempted to try s bit of penetrative oil between the two. Not too much obviously in case it still doesn't come off and I have to leave it on again. Will try tomorrow as long as it's dry.

Undo all 20 bolts a full turn then drive forwards about 5' and brake sharply, this should break the corrosion, then remove wheels as normal.

When the wheels are off clean the corrosion from the hub and centre bore of the wheel and apply a THIN smear of copper slip to the centre bore chamfer of the wheel, this will prevent them from corroding together again.

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Undo all 20 bolts a full turn then drive forwards about 5' and brake sharply, this should break the corrosion, then remove wheels as normal.

Unless you plan on replacing all bolts, I do not recommend this method

A few sharp bangs on opposing sides of tyre with a rubber mallet should free them off ok. As above copper slip, or even better an alluminium based anti seize spray on all mating faces will stop this happening again.

Jack the car up, remove all but one bolt, lower the car down, jack it back up, remove last bolt and remove wheel. Works for me.

Just ordered my winter wheels and tyres from Bickerton Skoda. 4 x OEM 16" steels with 205/55 Conti TS850's on a 94 load rating. They were advertising a full set for £599.99 + delivery but I paid a touch extra to get the Conti's instead of a budget tyre. I did look at getting a set of Michelin Alpin from Costco but even with the deal they are currently doing they were going to be £494 just for the tyres. It seems the higher load rating is quite a bit more expensive.

However, Costco did come up trumps with winter tyres for my wife's car - 4 x 185/65 R15 88T Michelin Aplin A4's for £209 fitted! Bargain.

How much extra did you have to pay for the Contis? Was looking at getting a set from Bickerton but they stated they would fit Kuhmo's. Nothing wrong with them but would prefer the Contis

Edited 18 November, 201312 yr by Madafwo

I got 205/55 R16 Continental Winter Contact TS 850  with 16" steel wheels from MrWinterwheels.co.uk for £590. Naff website name but good price!

 

Coming from my 18" wheels, the 16" winter tyres are a completely different feeling, and noise. 

Edited 18 November, 201312 yr by hansep

Can you describe that different feeling and noise? I would expect them to be quieter and more comfortable, but are they?

I put contis on a week ago on Alloys. Car feels better, always hated the 18inch alloys I had. Noticed not change in mpg and no noise difference, maybe quieter? All good.

They are quieter, although my 18" were almost at the legal limit The noise is a bit more gruff though. Feel is interesting. Steering is lighter at all speeds and it has taken a little while to get the feel for the grip levels.

Can you describe that different feeling and noise? I would expect them to be quieter and more comfortable, but are they?

I ordered a new set of winters last week, and when looking then almost all winters were labelled the same or 1-2dB noisier than their equivalent summer, so personally I'd be surprised if you could tell the difference noise wise.

Cheers

Steve

Undo all 20 bolts a full turn then drive forwards about 5' and brake sharply, this should break the corrosion, then remove wheels as normal.

When the wheels are off clean the corrosion from the hub and centre bore of the wheel and apply a THIN smear of copper slip to the centre bore chamfer of the wheel, this will prevent them from corroding together again.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

 

Jack the car up, remove all but one bolt, lower the car down, jack it back up, remove last bolt and remove wheel. Works for me.

 

Finally got around to fitting my winters a few days after I last tried. To break the corrosion i decided to loosen all five wheel bolts about 1/2 a turn after breaking the initial torque, and then rocked the car sideways . Seemed to work as i got the wheel off in the end.

New tyres were a little bit scittish on the few 100 miles but seem planted now. Covered 800 miles in the first week and now covered a couple of thousand miles and all is good. Cant wait till we get snow to give them a good test. See if the Avon Ice Tourings are any good compared to my old Vredsteins.

 

new wheels from mytyres.com

before

after

new and old winters together

 

Just for laughs, can anyone guess what one of my old cars is under the snow next to my mates MK1 Octavia. It was only a week old too!!

Edited 8 December, 201312 yr by RichieJ

Mystery car = Alfa?

Mystery car = Alfa?

nope, not as up market as that, and a bit taller

Kia Sportage?

Smax?

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Lupo?