Here's my effort - metal grey VRS with 17x7.5 ET45 BBS Himalaya in anthracite, with 225/45R17 Ultragrip 8. As noted above, all worked well but the clearance between the balancing weights and front brake calipers is critical. The road noise and ride seems to have improved a bit over my stock 18" wheels with Conti Sportcontact2.

 

They look very good with the metal grey, good choice..!

I also think that the 17" look fine on the vRS (and I would probably have fitted 16" if it was possible).

 

 

With regards to the discussion about whether you use winter tyres or not one thing to consider (aside from getting stuck at the bottom of a hil) is the cold & wet weather performance improvements of winter tyres.

Most summer tyres only have rotational grooves (which dont push water away from the tyre, just into a channel in the middle).

Winter tyres will have deeper grooves which push water away from the tyre & are capable of displacing larger volumes of water.

This will give better handling in the wet & improvements in stopping distances.

 

Having seen the chaos cause by the slightest bit of snow on my commute along the A127 when I was in the UK, I much prefer the European way where everyone fits winters & carries on as normal.

The other option is the narrower 17" wheel option - 205/50R17 which is an officially sanctioned size. I would have gone for that if I could source the narrower wheels (seem quite unusual).

Don't forget that using winter wheels also means your nice diamond cut wheels(us Gemini and extreme wheel owners) and are not exposed to the salty minging roads

Don't forget that using winter wheels also means your nice diamond cut wheels(us Gemini and extreme wheel owners) and are not exposed to the salty minging roads

 

 

Probable stupid question alert  :| What's the significance of them being Diamond cut? Are they prone to corrosion. My Anthracite Gemini's saw salt for 3 days before I took them off, didn't bother cleaning them at 3 days old, should I have? 

Diamond cut alloys aren't as robust as normal coating because the finish relies on lacquer sticking to lathe cut alloy with no primer or surface roughness to get a key. They are fine provided there is no mechanical damage i.e. stone chips or kerbing, but this is bound to happen at some point and water and salt can then get under the lacquer and cause it to delaminate. Then the alloy starts to corrode...

 

If you've taken a set of wheels off for storage I'd at least rinse/pressure wash them with clean water.

Some Pirelli Sottozero 3 225/40/18s going on the Pictoris wheels later this week...

P

Stuck my winter tread on last week , got them for my old Golf and luckily they also fit the Octy 195x65x15" rims shod with Goodyear Ultragrip 9's no clearance issues with calipers etc and just in time for the cold snap. I usually find my fuel consumption improves over the summer tyres as well , everyone's a winner !!

Resprayed Audi 17" Anthracite!

I first used winter tyres two years ago after getting stuck in a housing car park dropping my pregnant girlfriend off the year previously.

Didn't get stuck at all after that and kept good pace in the bad weather we had. Unlike everyone else at 5mph sliding into kerbs.

Not put them on the new car yet and I definitely noticed it this morning!

Resprayed Audi 17" Anthracite!

I need to get mine done they look excellent!

Unlike everyone else at 5mph sliding into kerbs.

 

If the roads are that bad, I just stay at home.  It's not worth the hassle - even if you have winter tyres on, others won't and instead of a kerb it could be your car they slide into...

If the roads are that bad, I just stay at home. It's not worth the hassle - even if you have winter tyres on, others won't and instead of a kerb it could be your car they slide into...

Unfortunately I didn't have a choice that night, new born baby son who ran out of milk...

I'd rather the choice of actually being able to get about, and choosing not to, than being stuck.

Especially if it snows while I'm at work etc.

Yep had that before - about 4 inches of snow in the day at home whilst I was at work - I wouldn't have done the last couple of miles without winters. Down in the lowlands of Manchester the roads were fine as there was only a couple of inches and the roads were well gritted, and plenty of traffic to clear the snow.

 

T'was a different story in 'ecky thump country in the hills though ........

If there's no pics it didn't happen!

I'l have a dig through my photos

This was a few winters ago in Sheffield (back when I had my Peugeot), with my winters on I was one of the few people to escape from the bottom of the hill we lived on

I took ContiWinterContact TS 850, but all these tyres are so soft... I wonder how much the tread will last with my heavy foot..

Look on the other side, you will have better grip when it will be colder outside. But will wear out more quickly at high outside temperatures.

Normally winter tires are to be used when the temperature is consistently below 7 degrees Celsius. Or at least this is what I know.

 

Yep had that before - about 4 inches of snow in the day at home whilst I was at work - I wouldn't have done the last couple of miles without winters. Down in the lowlands of Manchester the roads were fine as there was only a couple of inches and the roads were well gritted, and plenty of traffic to clear the snow.

 

T'was a different story in 'ecky thump country in the hills though ........

 

Can confirm Rossendale winters are worse than lowland areas. Winter tyres for me.

Funny thing is even though I live in Scotland, we rarely see much snow in my area at all, last big fall of snow was four years ago and on that occasion nothing moved anywhere for days as the local council couldn't get even main roads cleared of snow.

I know winter tyres are really commonplace on the continent but winters around my area are more often than not wet and windy, hovering in and around zero with slush more likely rather than deep snow, whereas parts of northern england will probably see far more snow than us. Last winter it rained from October to March, hardly saw any snow at all. I've never had winter tyres on any car, not to say that they wouldn't be beneficial on some occasions but most of the time it is marginal.

Winter tyres aren't just for snow.

They cope better with cold temperatures, ice and slush better.

I can't get off my drive when it's icy/slushy/snow without clearing it first.

First year I put winter tyres on I stopped gritting the drive.

Ice, 4" of snow. Didn't stop me in the slightest.

+1 ^^^^^^^

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Funny thing is even though I live in Scotland, we rarely see much snow in my area at all, last big fall of snow was four years ago and on that occasion nothing moved anywhere for days as the local council couldn't get even main roads cleared of snow.

I know winter tyres are really commonplace on the continent but winters around my area are more often than not wet and windy, hovering in and around zero with slush more likely rather than deep snow, whereas parts of northern england will probably see far more snow than us. Last winter it rained from October to March, hardly saw any snow at all. I've never had winter tyres on any car, not to say that they wouldn't be beneficial on some occasions but most of the time it is marginal.

 

Winter tyres are not designed for snow. (there are special "snow" tyres for that)

Winter tyres are designed to give improved grip in cold & wet conditions.

when the temperatures are lower than around 5°C (meaning better stopping distances even in the dry)

The tread profile is also very different to summer tyres allowing them to displace more water or slush (meaning better wet handling & wet stopping distances)

The axial tread profile also means that they do provide much much better grip on snow compared with a summer tyre.

 

So really the conditions you describe (0°C with lots of rain) are very suited for winter tyres.

Edited 12 December, 201411 yr by Gabbo

Maybe they are suited but it hardly seems worth the effort and expense of buying new wheels and winter tyres with the normal winter conditions around here. The local climate is quite temperate, we rarely get any extremes of heat or cold, put it this way in this area you can reach the west or east coast in about an hour either way, which tends to mean being cloudy and wet is pretty normal!

If I had a decent set of spare wheels to hand or a bit more severe climate I might be tempted to try winter tyres, I'm not knocking the use of winter tyres at all, they are compulsory in many European countries and pretty much essential given the severity of their winters compared to ours. I have driven hundreds of miles on snow covered roads in Scotland with ordinary tyres, particularly on one occasion many years ago when I was stuck for a week in Sutherland after heavy snowfalls blocked and kept blocking all the roads south. It was spectacular and very, very quiet, got some great photographs that week, only problem being every time I pulled over to take a picture I had to dig the car wheels out of the snow so I could drive off again. But on that occasion the roads were largely salt and grit free which whilst a bit odd at first became much easier after a few days, just not used to not seeing any tarmac under my car wheels!

Well my winter steel wheels might not be going on. My alloys have corroded on and will not come off.