Had a major service at Skoda Stourbridge and now car feels heavy and vibrates at motorway speeds.

[aerofurb]

I think that we should all remember that not everyone that frequents these pages is a vehicle expert (real or perceived...).

Some, perhaps many, come here because they want advice.

The OP admits he may have got it wrong but has taken the advice on board and immediately acted on it.

Job done in my book: education and the promotion of safety.

[HappyIdiotTalk]

Quick update.  I popped into Longbridge Tyres straight after work.  I explained what had happened and they agreed to have a look and removed the tyre.  They had a good look round but couldn't find anything obvious so popped it into a barrel of water to check for leaks.  Nothing, so they increased the pressure in the tyre up to 80psi and tried again, still nothing, so the only thing left was to take the tyre off and investigate inside.  Good thing they did too, there was a fair amount of debris (it looked like black foam or possibly the broken edge of polystyrene) all over the inside where the side wall of the tyre had been shredded when I drove it under inflated (so I was told).  It definitely couldn't go back on.

 

They had a couple of choices of tyre in the shop that they offered (budget and mid-range), but I've ordered a couple of Continentals and have the emergency spare on that was in the boot.

 

If you need a new tyre do get the exact same tyre as on the the other wheels - even if it means a days wait. Tyres perform differently and you are far better off using the same make/model tyres on all wheels. However, if there are already different tyres back and front then make sure you have the same make/model tyres on the same axles (same on front, same on back). 

 

Good luck

 

They said something similar so I asked them to order me in a couple of Continentals for the front.  This has been quite an expensive mistake.

 

(1) You should have stopped and investigated as soon as you noticed the problem. 

 

(2) Was this the Skoda product, or a third party one?

 

(3) My Skoda kit comes with quite specific instructions on how to do it. If you have the Skoda kit why not use the electric pump? It is very good!

 

(1) Noted for future reference.  I actually would have under normal circumstances, but I had to get to the school to pick up my daughter.

 

(2) No, I used to work at MG Rover and acquired it there some years ago... its probably a very old can as I left there 6 years ago.

 

(3) Dont think I have any of that in my Yeti, just an emergency wheel and tyre.

 

I think that we should all remember that not everyone that frequents these pages is a vehicle expert (real or perceived...).

Some, perhaps many, come here because they want advice.

 

Thats me!  I love my Yeti and I like driving it, but I'm not an aficionado - and this incident was just poor judgement on my part.  

 

On the bright side my last car was an MG ZTT with really wide low profile tyres that made it really difficult to drive when it snowed because the tyres just sat on top of the snow.  And to compound the issue it was an automatic so I had very little control over the spinning wheels. This has left me with a massive fear of driving in the snow and I never used to do it other than to get home if I was caught out in it.  My Yeti is the solution that that drama, and being a 4x4 I'm hoping it will be a lot easier and safer to drive in snowy conditions.  But even so I was slightly concerned about the crappy budget tyres it came with gripping in the snow, so I dont feel too bad about having to spend some money on the Continentals.

[Expatman]

An expensive lesson - particularly as you had a perfectly good spare in the boot! You have done the right thing by getting two new tyres for the front and I am sure it will be fine. However, if you really don't like driving on snow/ice you could have replaced all four tyres with All Season Tyres - Michelin CC, Goodyear Vector 4 Season Gen 2  or Nokian Weatherproof etc. (Auto Express website has some reviews)  and you would then be much, much more secure in winter weather. Four wheel drive is great BUT it is the grip of the tyres to the road surface that is most important and Summer Tyres are basically useless on snow/ice and it doesn't matter much if you have 2 or 4 wheel drive! Think about it, when you put your foot on the brake to slow down it is simply the grip of the tyres to the road surface that stops you and not the drive to the wheels. It's true 4 wheel drive can help in pulling away but all tests show that a 2 wheel drive car with winter, or the new all season tyres, is far better than a 4 wheel drive car with summer tyres. There are many videos on the internet which illustrate this.

Now, we might have a moderate winter and your new Continentals will be fine, however, if it is a cold winter then don't expect 4 wheel drive to be the great help you expect in snow/ice. Sorry but if you really hate driving in snow/ice than maybe you should go the whole hog and change your order to 4 of the latest all season tyres. Expensive but it would provide the reassurance you are looking for.

Good luck.

[Llanigraham]

 

(3) Dont think I have any of that in my Yeti, just an emergency wheel and tyre.

 

 

 

 

On the bright side my last car was an MG ZTT with really wide low profile tyres that made it really difficult to drive when it snowed because the tyres just sat on top of the snow.  And to compound the issue it was an automatic so I had very little control over the spinning wheels. This has left me with a massive fear of driving in the snow and I never used to do it other than to get home if I was caught out in it.  My Yeti is the solution that that drama, and being a 4x4 I'm hoping it will be a lot easier and safer to drive in snowy conditions.  But even so I was slightly concerned about the crappy budget tyres it came with gripping in the snow, so I dont feel too bad about having to spend some money on the Continentals.

 

(3) In that case you won't have the tyre pump. It comes when the car isn't supplied with the spare wheel.

 

Whilst a 4x4 might be off some help in the snow it is not always the answer. It will give you traction to get moving but does very little to help when you are braking or going down hill. Remember that gravity is the greatest force!!

[137699]

All the above is no doubt very true. The problem is however that a lot of tyre repair dealers just won't do it for whatever reason, so it's academic if it's possible or not. A friend of mine had a new Yaris without a spare and had to use the supplied sealant. He went to 3 tyre repair dealers and none of them would repair it. They didn't say they couldn't just that they wouldn't.

He gave up trying and bought a new tyre and a spare wheel.

 

Probably he tried all the big "chain" places I am guessing... I have never had any issues finding someone to repair a foam'd/gunk'd tyre but I avoid places like ATS, Central Tyre, KwikFit, Halfords & the like like the plague - and instead always head to independent tyre cenrtres.