I know the 205 vs 225 thing has been done to death by now but I'm confused by XL tyres.

A lot seem to only come in XL or reinforced now, 'normal' tyres seem to be harder to come by. I'm sure there's no issue with having XL vs normal, but does the vRS need them? Many conflicting reports online of stiffer sidewalls or not, better turn in or no difference and harsher ride / tram lining compared to normal tyres. But, nothing definitive as to what the real world difference is.

Anyone have any experience with this and care to comment?

Probably a bit more road noise.  They are designed for heavier cars and the vRS is not that heavy compared to modern stuff.

 

I had them on and moved to 'Y' rated non XL tyres as they were cheaper.

Might depend on the brand also, I have 205/50/17 93Y XL hankook v12 evo2s fitted all round and they aren't harsh or noisy unlike the the nexens of the same size and spec that were on it before.

Hankooks only cost me £66 a corner from tyre leader

I've been onto Skoda about this before. The MK1 Octavia vRS does not need XL rated tyres. They should come from the factory with 89V non-XL tyres which are what the car was type approved for. Fitting 93, or even XL rated tyres will have no safety issues, other then increased road noise and potentially more unsprung mass.

Edited 6 August, 201510 yr by rk696

I went for non xl in the end. Was cheaper and doesn't seem to have had any adverse effect (previous ones were xl)