I've driven a hire car Octavia 3 FL estate on most basic trim: cloth interior, 16inch steel wheels, B&W maxidot. It was really comfortable compared to my 18inch alloy wheel and higher spec Octy 3. :(  (I bought second hand, so couldn't choose to have smaller wheels)

 

Advantages of downsizing is more comfortable ride and cheaper tyres, all sounds great. Disadvantages would be floaty feel of car and looks worse, both okay by me. Anything else I've missed?

 

How do I go about downsizing?

Is 16inch steel or alloy going to fit my Elegance trim Octy?

Where can I buy the correct smaller sized Skoda rims? Link will be greatly appreciated.

Where can I sell the 18inch rims I no longer want?

Is there anywhere I can do a straight forward swap?

 

Is it going to affect my car's resale value? even though it'll make the car more comfortable.

Do I need to note this as a modification to insurance company? (even when buying SKoda OEM rims?)

How to update registration plate search results with new tyre size? (eg. Blackcircle)

 

Many thanks

Yes, they’ll straight swap (assuming you buy OEM replacements, you’d need to double check aftermarket offerings). Sell the old ones on eBay. Or here. Or keep them. Doubt it’ll affect resale.  Probably should inform Insurance, yes. Not sure why you’d be concerned about updating reg details on websites. The tyre size is written on the side. 

Check that 16" wheels will clear your brakes...

OEM 16" fit the 312mm disk brakes of the Octi (lower trim than vRS)

Is there a second hand market for these? As people upsize their wheels.

 

Oh, have to tell insurance company...... not too keen on increasing my insurance cost.

 

Would 17inch 225/45 be as good? it will be the same width as existing ones, websites are aware of this size and hopefully don't need to mark the car as modified to insurance companies.

As long as you choose a Wheel & tyre size which is already available as standard for the O3 then I see no need to declare anything to the insurance company because your car is still in a homologated specification.

 

I would imagine you could shift a set of 18" wheels (provided they are in mint condition) for the O3 quite easily on Gumtree, eBay or similar.

Have a look for the Leon 3 rims, they fit perfectly. That's what I did to get my 17" set

What would be the best way to do this? dealer purchase the new OEM wheels and then ebay the old set? or ebay both times?

 

Is there any online resource to match those who want to downsize with those who want to upsize?

 

re insurance. I'll give them a call and see......

My suggestion would be to buy new from a trustworthy source like SuperSkoda or your Skoda garage.

The superskoda website sells the OEM wheels for a decent price.

This way you know they have not been knocked damaged, scratched etc.

It will obviously cost you more this way but I think the cost is worth the peace of mind especially if you plan to keep them for the long run.

 

Once all is good & fitted to your car, ebay the 18" to free up the garage space & cashback.

 

 

You can buy OEM alloys but from the original manufacturer for about half the price than Skoda (e.g. Dezent TD wheels are sold as OEM for the Golf).

However, this can take some time & knowledge to choose the correct size, ET, tyres etc from the online websites.

I spent many weeks looking for the right winter tyres for my car to be sure I got the correct ones & it was quite stressful.

In the end, next time I think I would save my time & just pay extra for the simple option.

I'd keep the original tyres and wheels to refit, so when you come to sell/ trade the car, it's in standard condition. Just my opinion

But it's up to you.

9 hours ago, wyx087 said:

 

How do I go about downsizing?

Is 16inch steel or alloy going to fit my Elegance trim Octy?

etc

 

Easy place to look at is the Skoda Octavia Brochure, or your owners handbook, which lists all sizes certified by Skoda for the Octavia irrespective of trim.

 

The 18" tyre will most likely be 225mm wide, the next size down in rim is a 225/45 on a 17"rim again used on the Octavia. 

 

You can go down to 16", but it depends on the design of the alloy & how far out the face is dished outwards. & the inside face of the rim will be very close to the caliper & wheel balance weights placed there might interfere!! (Common problem with single rim balancing or hiding the front rim weights)

 

Having a 225 wide tyre & 18" rims as factory spec & down sizing to 205mm wide on a 16"rim will cause insurance issues as a general tyre as you have just removed 40mm width of grip from the car on each axle... 

 

Most aftermarket  alloy wheels use 60deg taper or cone seat bolts. The VAG OEM use radius or ball seat bolts. No problem, just keep a set of 5 OEM for the OEM spare wheel in the boot.

 

Other problem is that the centre bore usually on aftermarket is wider & generic, so a plastic spigot ring is use to reduce the hole to our correct 57.1mm CB. Plastic rings can cause problems I got a set of deep aluminum ones made for £150ish.

 

Plus side of aftermarket alloys, you can get lighter weight, better built & cheaper cost.

 

I got two sets of Team Dynamics Pro Race wheels (1.2 for summers & 3's for winter) for my MK7 Golf estate, each is 2 to 2.2kg lighter for the same size 17"x7" as OEM. inc. Michelin tyres including one set with Alpin A5s I paid about £1,000 to £1,300 per set, so about £2,500 max for 8 alloys & tryes all made in UK & better than the made in Turkey VW factory ones

12 hours ago, fabdavrav said:

Having a 225 wide tyre & 18" rims as factory spec & down sizing to 205mm wide on a 16"rim will cause insurance issues as a general tyre as you have just removed 40mm width of grip from the car on each axle... 

 

The Octavia is sold with 16" wheels standard on some models so there no problem going from 18" to 16" as long as you take the same tyre size as the standard spec.

Narrower tyres are also approved for the Octy to allow safe fitting of snow chains for the winter.

So as long as you choose an official wheel & tyre size there should be no insurance issues.

You could buy exactly the same spec car from Skoda brand new so its OEM spec even though you might have swapped the wheels yourself.

Unfortunately I don't have the room to store 4 rims. They can only sit for a few weeks in the middle of my utility room, then must go.

 

Correct, 225/40 R18 is the current tyre size. But I wonder if 225/45 R17 will be worth the hassle, the size difference is only 1 inch, and tyre price only goes from £89 to £78, whereas 205/55 R16 will be cheap at £62. Also buying new 17inch rims, it'll most probably end up costing me quite a bit of money to downsize.......

 

I called my car insurance yesterday, I'd only have to pay the admin fee of £19.50 to notify change of wheel from factory fitted optional extra to lesser OEM wheels. Didn't ask about the decreased wheel contact with the road though.

 

 

I have found these ones on discount by clicking through Octy 3 on superskoda:

http://www.superskoda.com/Skoda/Wheels/NEVIS-16´-original-Skoda-Autoas-4pcs-set-of-rims

But Skoda website seems to suggest they are for Yeti rather than Octy 3?

https://eshop.skoda-auto.sk/eshop/en/b2c/rims/alloy-wheel-–-nevis-70j-x-16-5l0071496a-8z8x/0/1/24/43/252

I think I need a phone call to the dealer parts department to see how much they sell official Octavia rims for.

 

Ideally I find someone who want to upsize and just do a straight swap......

12 minutes ago, Gabbo said:

 

The Octavia is sold with 16" wheels standard on some models so there no problem going from 18" to 16" as long as you take the same tyre size as the standard spec.

Narrower tyres are also approved for the Octy to allow safe fitting of snow chains for the winter.

So as long as you choose an official wheel & tyre size there should be no insurance issues.

You could buy exactly the same spec car from Skoda brand new so its OEM spec even though you might have swapped the wheels yourself.

 

I know that the Octavia is sold in more basic spec with 16" & 205 tyres, I also know that the smaller sizes are accepted for snow/winter tyres.

 

However the OP is talking about a general/summer/all year tyre...& downsizing for all year when his car was speced at factory for 225/18R wheels.

 

Insurance might have a problem as they will ask "why are you removing 40mm tyre width all year from what the manufacturer specified when you got the car from factory?"

 

As soon as fit a different alloy to one the car came with from the factory you have insurance issues...reason is if you crash the car the insurance have to say replace your car, then buy a set of different alloys to match the ones you have which are different to the ones which it came with from the factory..

 

That's how most insurance in UK work anyway...had way too many discussions over the many years I've had modified cars & different alloys...

 

 

Octavia S & SE come as standard with 16" Velorum wheels (205/55 R16 91V) in the UK so you can buy this spec directly from the dealer.

No question about removing tyre width, just fitting standard factory available OEM Wheels & tyres.

I asked my insurer (in UK): If I were to replace the current factory fitted optional extra 18inch wheels with factory fitted lower spec 16inch wheels, is it okay? how much premium change?

Answer was just need to pay admin fee, and I can do it during renewal to avoid it.

 

Didn't ask about going from 225 to 205, but should be okay? I'd thought they are more for looks than actual grip.

 

 

Out of interest, what rims are '63 pre-FL Elegance trim fitted with as standard? 17inch 225/45's? what's the name of the rim?

 

Edit: Found a Aug-13 brochure:

S trim use 16" ‘Minoris’ alloys.

Standard SE trim use 16" 'Ilias' alloys.

Standard Elegance trim use 17" ‘Teron’ alloys.

 

So I guess I'll need to search for the cheapest of the 16's.

Edited 28 September, 20178 yr by wyx087

Teron alloys...with 225/45R17 tyres..

 

I notice the difference between 205 & 225 tyres on the Golf having driven one on 16" as a courtesy car..

 

& yes the tyres were decent ones & correct pressures as had for a day...

 

Its up to the OP, but if you got the car with 225 width tyres & then go down to 205. & add 1" of sidewall flex......if you drive "briskly" you will notice, if you don't drive that way maybe not then...

How much comfort would one notice going from /40R18 to /45R17? doesn't seem like enough. /40 to /55 seems like more worth it for the hassle I'll need to go through.

 

I don't often drive briskly, I used to with the old Merc C sportcoupe. It had 225/45R17 fronts and expensive 245/40R17 back, more comfortable than Skoda going through pot holes, I think it's the Skoda's rear suspension that's causing the problem. Character of the Skoda is more relaxed so with this car I usually just go with the flow of traffic. Adaptive cruise helps with the relaxed manner, because otherwise I'd have to do the footwork!

http://kouki.co.uk/utilities/visual-tyre-size-calculator