Not the best photos, weathers rubbish as is the camera I used but taken a couple of very quick shots of the green machine with its winters fitted;

 

 

 

Car and wheels are darker in colour than the photos would suggest in the current light conditions.

 

Wheels are Alutec Grip in the correct OEM size of 6J x15 ET38 and made specifically for mounting on VAG hubs, so no need to change wheel bolts, fit shims etc.

 

Tyres Uniroyal MS Plus 77 185/60 R15 84T. Did debate going with the 195/55 tyre, as its also an approved winter size but decided to stick with the narrower profile in case we seriously get dumped on with snow this winter.

 

Handling is obviously not as sharp as with the factory 17's but the ride is smoother and quieter after the noisy Dunlop Sport Maxx, even with the Uniroyal's fairly aggressive directional winter pattern.

 

Liking the darker coloured alloys with the rallye green and black detailing :think:  but again after having the 17's on from new the OEM 15" set-up looks under wheeled for the car, however practically its the best option for the winter road conditions round here.

 

 

TP

Not the best photos, weathers rubbish as is the camera I used but taken a couple of very quick shots of the green machine with its winters fitted;

 

IMG_4638.JPG

 

IMG_4639.JPG

 

Car and wheels are darker in colour than the photos would suggest in the current light conditions.

 

Wheels are Alutec Grip in the correct OEM size of 6J x15 ET38 and made specifically for mounting on VAG hubs, so no need to change wheel bolts, fit shims etc.

 

Tyres Uniroyal MS Plus 77 185/60 R15 84T. Did debate going with the 195/55 tyre, as its also an approved winter size but decided to stick with the narrower profile in case we seriously get dumped on with snow this winter.

 

Handling is obviously not as sharp as with the factory 17's but the ride is smoother and quieter after the noisy Dunlop Sport Maxx, even with the Uniroyal's fairly aggressive directional winter pattern.

 

Liking the darker coloured alloys with the rallye green and black detailing :think:  but again after having the 17's on from new the OEM 15" set-up looks under wheeled for the car, however practically its the best option for the winter road conditions round here.

 

 

TP

 

It was the change in handling on the higher aspect ratio tyres, as the lower speed rating that I wanted to avoid so stuck with 17" and V rated.   Not sure how much worse the wider tyres would be in snow than 185s, hopefully fo rme not too bad.  Big fan of winters but use Nexens for All season, Summer and Winter variants.  Safe and enjoyable motoring.

Had debated sticking with 17's myself and may yet in the future give that route a try, however my experience with 1.2 HTP/TSI Fabia's in the snow tends to lean me towards a skinnier tyre, as there's little weight in the petrol variants unlike with the diesel, so even with quality winters they can still fairly quickly loose traction.

 

 

TP

Well a year on I'm back on winters but this time I'm trying the 17" winter tyre option, as during the summer my lad traded in his Fabia II for an Ibiza, so I let him have the 15" Alutec winters I ran last year, as they are also the correct winter spec for this car and sold his Fabia winters in exchange.

 

Plus having bought a set of Savio alloys, I was left with a spare set of Camelot alloys, so I decided to get some Nokian WR A3 215/40 R17 87V Finnish made winter tyres from Oponeo and had them fitted to these rims (by my Volvo dealer   ).

 

Been running this set-up for just over a week now and more than pleased with performance of these tyres so far, in the changeable weather the country is currently experiencing. You do notice the softer rubber when its warmer and entering a sharp bend (more side-wall flex) but otherwise there is little to choose between them and the summer tyre when it comes to ride and handling.

 

Only concern would be snow performance, as stated previously I cannot imagine a wide profile winter tyre on a light petrol car will be as effective as a narrow tyre, so will have to hope for a mild winter, or any snow falls are when I'm at home not work     

 

 

TP

Edited 14 November, 201510 yr by The Plumber

I think it the amount of good square edged tyre that makes for the gripping in snow so, as I said before, the choosing of 16/17" and 205/215 size over 15" and 185s will make next to no difference in the white stuff.

 

I use All Season of 3 of the cars and one has Winters, actually 155 width on the little corsa/spark, and it is more for having the big grooves for clearing standing water rather than snow but we might get a few days of good snow if the El Nino prediction comes to pass as in 2010/11 winter.

 

Hear good things about the Nokians but I have switched to sourcing from tyreleader rather than Oponeo but both good sources of All and Winter weather tyres.  Happy and Safe winter motoring!