Winter tyres - Superb L&K 4x4

[BJ72]

Hi. First time on here. I have a 65 plate Superb L&K 4x4 estate and am looking at either fitting winter tyres of possibly buying a set on winter wheels and tyres. The issue I have is lack of choice with the wheels that are fitted - the 235 40/19R tyres are quite a low profile for winter tyres (I think) so there is little choice. For example, the Michelin Cross-Climate does not come in this size.

 

My question, or where I need a little help or recommendation  is this: if I get a set of winter wheels and tyres, can anyone tell me what size I can put on this car to replace the original set without screwing up the handling, performance, ABS sensors etc on the car? I think there should be a combination of wheel and tyre that is the same circumference. I've tried calling a Skoda garage to ask, but may as well have phoned my Mum....

 

Thanks

[penguin17]

I've been using Vredestein Quatrac 5's for the last year and swapped them over from my previous to my current Superb and they've been faultless.  Yes there's a compromise over a sorted and separate  Summer/Winter setup but not by much.  It's not enough to make me regret fitting them. 

They didn't let me down on a FWD TDI Sportline during the 'Beast From the East' and have handled 276 bhp on my current car with no issues, even when it got into the high 20's and some spirited stints of driving.   They are significantly better in the wet and dry Vs the Pirelli P7's that were fitted at the factory.  

 

As you pointed out there's very little choice for this size of wheel.  I could only find the Quatrac 5's or Maxxis AP2's.  

 

Would I buy them again; yes!

Edited 20 November, 2018 by penguin17

[Q102]

I would buy a set of winter wheels/tyres. Can't help with the sizes you require.

Sensors won't get screwed up, just perform a tyre pressure reset

I think there a few threads about winter tyres on the forum

[BJ72]

Thanks for the replies so far. I had not considered the Vredestein Quatrac 5's. They seem well reviewed.

 

Now have a choice of: 

Hankook winter i*cept evo2

or

Vredestein Quatrac 5's

or 

Change them over to a separate set of wheels and tyres.

 

The latter is still my preferred choice. Just need to be pointed in the direction of a decent/viable tyre and wheel size........

 

[Howardv]

I’m on 235/40/R19 Continental ContiVikingContact 6. But not sure if you can get them in the UK

[Bud]

Try this:

 

Many pages of discussion on Winter Tyres

[BJ72]

3 minutes ago, Bud said:

Try this:

 

Many pages of discussion on Winter Tyres

Thanks Bud. That is just what I was looking for.....

 

Cheers

 

[Zid2000]

I was just in the process of figuring out winter set for the car arriving early January and I opted for Alutec Singa 6.5x16 5x112 ET41 in combination with  Dunlop Winter Sport 5 215/60 R16 95 H which matches smallest allowed wheel size on 150PS TDI. Alutec Singa has ECE certificate for fitting Superb III without any mounting kits.

[mfm959]

Just put a set of winter wheels on my 150tdi 4x4 L&K and running well. Bought them from https://www.mrwinterwheels.co.uk/index.php?pcode_from_q=Y&pshort=Y&pfull=Y&pname=Y&pkeywords=Y&search_performed=Y&q=Superb&dispatch=products.search&security_hash=77134c63656c6bb0620f6fa23571ab4e&features_hash=11-964

 

Got 17”x7J with Goodyear Ultragrip Perfect Gen 1 215 55 17.  Worked out cheaper than 4 x 19” tyres. 

 

No mounting kits or spacers needed as correct fit and alloys are apparently TUV checked for winter and SIII.

 

 

 

Edited 22 November, 2018 by mfm959

[BJ72]

52 minutes ago, mfm959 said:

Just put a set of winter wheels on my 150tdi 4x4 L&K and running well. Bought them from https://www.mrwinterwheels.co.uk/index.php?pcode_from_q=Y&pshort=Y&pfull=Y&pname=Y&pkeywords=Y&search_performed=Y&q=Superb&dispatch=products.search&security_hash=77134c63656c6bb0620f6fa23571ab4e&features_hash=11-964

 

Got 17”x7J with Goodyear Ultragrip Perfect Gen 1 215 55 17.  Worked out cheaper than 4 x 19” tyres. 

 

No mounting kits or spacers needed as correct fit and alloys are apparently TUV checked for winter and SIII.

 

 

 

Brilliant. That is exactly what a numpty like me needed. An actual shopping list of things to get that will work. Thanks!! Very much appreciated.

[penguin17]

3 hours ago, mfm959 said:

Just put a set of winter wheels on my 150tdi 4x4 L&K and running well. Bought them from https://www.mrwinterwheels.co.uk/index.php?pcode_from_q=Y&pshort=Y&pfull=Y&pname=Y&pkeywords=Y&search_performed=Y&q=Superb&dispatch=products.search&security_hash=77134c63656c6bb0620f6fa23571ab4e&features_hash=11-964

 

Got 17”x7J with Goodyear Ultragrip Perfect Gen 1 215 55 17.  Worked out cheaper than 4 x 19” tyres. 

 

No mounting kits or spacers needed as correct fit and alloys are apparently TUV checked for winter and SIII.

 

 

 

I can also highly recommend Mr Winter wheels.  I bought a tyre/wheel package from them in 2016 and the advice and info I got from them beforehand was spot on.  No problems with the purchase, delivery etc. 

[Q102]

Agree, Mr Winter Wheels are excellent. My steel wheels & winter tyres came from them a few years ago. Now it's finally got colder will be fitting this again this weekend

[Goblin]

You could go down to 18" wheels, my SEL Executive is on 18s, tyre size is 235/45/18, and I found loads of winter tyre choice. I've got Pirelli Sottozero on mine. If you go to 17" which would give better snow performance due to the narrower tyre, it'll be 215/55/17.

[Zid2000]

Just a word of warning in case you plan to take the car for the ski trip. Skoda officially says that only 16" wheels support snow chains. By carefully choosing thinner chains such as these 7mm ones you could probably fit them on 17" wheels, but I'd be very careful with 18" and above.

[BJ72]

OK. Now sorted via Mr Winter Tyres. For the record, went for black  alloy 17”x7J with Goodyear Ultragrip Perfect Gen 1 215 55 17, and as it's Black Friday I got 5% off.

 

All in about £800, so about the same as a decent set of winter 235 40/19R tyres would have been. Thanks all for your help and advice.

[mfm959]

4 hours ago, BJ72 said:

OK. Now sorted via Mr Winter Tyres. For the record, went for black  alloy 17”x7J with Goodyear Ultragrip Perfect Gen 1 215 55 17,

 

Sounds like you made the same selection as I did. The black 3T alloys look great on my black SIII estate.

 

Hope your 19”alloys come off easily, mine seemed as if they were welded on. Advice from a former breakdown mechanic came to mind (“needs a well placed kick”) and worked!!! 

 

The Goodyear’s are directional tyres so make sure you follow the rotation indication on the tyre (covered in the instruction leaflet with the wheel set from Mrwinterwheels.

[Bud]

2 minutes ago, mfm959 said:

Hope your 19”alloys come off easily, mine seemed as if they were welded on. Advice from a former breakdown mechanic came to mind (“needs a well placed kick”) and worked!!! 

Large knocking stick (length of 4"x2") from behind seems to work well.

 

Hopefully not teaching to sick eggs.  Apply wire brush around centre of the hub to clean off corrosion and then apply a little copaslip to the surfaces, between the alloy wheel and the centre of the hub, not on the surface of the hub where the studs go.  This should prevent dissimilar metal corrosion and make release easier next time.

[mfm959]

18 minutes ago, Bud said:

Large knocking stick (length of 4"x2") from behind seems to work well.

 

Hopefully not teaching to sick eggs.  Apply wire brush around centre of the hub to clean off corrosion and then apply a little copaslip to the surfaces, between the alloy wheel and the centre of the hub, not on the surface of the hub where the studs go.  This should prevent dissimilar metal corrosion and make release easier next time.

 

Thanks, good advice.

 

[Macsamillion]

Can anyone post pictures of 17" alloys on the car. Debating whether to get all season tyres with original wheels or get myself the winter wheel /tyre package. On the Mr Winter wheel site now.  Living in the Uk (Scotland) the weather does not get that bad that making the choice between function and styling is so important . Having just received my new 280 sportline im loathed to dump those stunning 19" wheels . Terrible I know.... 

[penguin17]

7 hours ago, Macsamillion said:

Can anyone post pictures of 17" alloys on the car. Debating whether to get all season tyres with original wheels or get myself the winter wheel /tyre package. On the Mr Winter wheel site now.  Living in the Uk (Scotland) the weather does not get that bad that making the choice between function and styling is so important . Having just received my new 280 sportline im loathed to dump those stunning 19" wheels . Terrible I know.... 

Vredestein Quatrac 5’s 

[BJ72]

24 minutes ago, penguin17 said:

Vredestein Quatrac 5’s 

I don't think that is terrible..... the black 17" alloy wheels I've ordered are certainly not going to improve the looks of mine either, and that was a consideration - hence the reason I didn't save a few hundred quid and opt for black painted steel ones. I drive down to the Alps a fair bit, so do legally need winter tyres, but my main consideration is that winter tyres are miles safer - not just in the snow & ice, but also in the generally wet, ****ty winter weather we get over here. If you've not driven on them before I think you'll be surprised.

 

Aside from the safety aspect, my thinking is this: if you opt for the two set of wheels you can change them over yourself (at the cost of a torque wrench if you don't already have one) saving £160 - £200 a year to swap over the tyres. You also don't use your 'nice' alloys in all the crap weather, road salt etc and save your summer tyres for 5/6 months of the year. If you sell the car you can also sell the winter set separately and probably get a few hundred £ back if they are in decent nick.

 

I'll stick before and after pictures on here when they arrive.

[Bud]

 

20k miles do i put them back on?

[boydeee]

@Macsamillion I've got the same 17s as @Bud on my 280.

 

I have the 18" Pegasus as standard on my SEL. The 17s still look good! The caliper clearance is quite comical though 

 

 

[ewlmr]

Might be overkill for the UK but Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3's also come in 235/40R19.

 

 

[penguin17]

4 hours ago, BJ72 said:

I don't think that is terrible..... the black 17" alloy wheels I've ordered are certainly not going to improve the looks of mine either, and that was a consideration - hence the reason I didn't save a few hundred quid and opt for black painted steel ones. I drive down to the Alps a fair bit, so do legally need winter tyres, but my main consideration is that winter tyres are miles safer - not just in the snow & ice, but also in the generally wet, ****ty winter weather we get over here. If you've not driven on them before I think you'll be surprised.

 

Aside from the safety aspect, my thinking is this: if you opt for the two set of wheels you can change them over yourself (at the cost of a torque wrench if you don't already have one) saving £160 - £200 a year to swap over the tyres. You also don't use your 'nice' alloys in all the crap weather, road salt etc and save your summer tyres for 5/6 months of the year. If you sell the car you can also sell the winter set separately and probably get a few hundred £ back if they are in decent nick.

 

I'll stick before and after pictures on here when they arrive.

Well I think the 'miles safer' statement is a little bit OTT.  I've used both and can honestly say I've never become stranded or had an 'oh 5hi7' moment with either dedicated Winter or all-seasons; actually driving in the worst conditions for years, on the all-seasons.  I think for 75% of the UK, all-season tyres are more than adequate for Winter use and I'd only consider buying another dedicated set of Winter wheels/tyres if I moved to the Highlands or other similar areas that are notorious for experiencing the most severe of Winter conditions for prolonged periods.  Similarly if I lived in remote locations and *had to* keep mobile then I'd opt for Winter tyres but would also opt for a capable off-roader to stick them on too.  

 

You also don't need to have Winter tyres for driving 'legally' on the continent.  There's a few all-season tyres with M+S/3PMSF markings/certification.  Though in the Alps and countries who get a few months of snow and sub-zero temps, Winter tyres would be best. 

 

 

 

 

Edited 23 November, 2018 by penguin17