I’ve just bought my first car at the age of 43. A very sensible (and luxurious) Superb 1.8 petrol estate Elegance with automatic gearbox. It’s only got 24k on the clock and I love it. I live in London and won’t be doing huge miles but when I do, they’ll be mostly motorway miles on journeys of 4 hrs plus. 

The Elegance came with the Skoda Trinity alloys and the previous owner had some Kumho WinterCraft 225/40 R18 92V tyres fitted which are showing very little wear. I can feel/hear quite a bit of road noise and I’m reading that these tyres aren’t the best for noise, fuel consumption or braking in general (especially in the wet). As the amount of miles I’ll be doing in winter/snow will be very, very limited indeed - I was looking to change tyres.

But looking at some forums (Honest John for example) there’s a lot written about the very hard ride of 18 inch alloys, the fact this car weighs over 2000kg, should never have been fitted with 18 inch alloys, and this ‘premium look’ is something manufactures do knowing that’ll it’ll lead customers to buy more and more tyres. The front end of this car is heavy etc and will eat low profile tyres like this for breakfast. 

SO - I was thinking of changing to 16 inch alloys and a suitable tyre and maybe putting the Trinity’s onto eBay or similar. Does anyone have any thoughts or experience re this. I’m not too bothered about looks (although the Trinity‘s look very nice) - just more interested in ride comfort, road noise and fuel economy.

I’m also not sure what 16 inch alloy would fit. I’m mindful of keeping the Speedo accurate and I LOVE the park assist automatic parking function and wouldn’t want to throw that out. Any help/advice much appreciated.
 

I have 16” winter wheels and you definitely feel the difference from 18” wheels. Yes they look nice. Comfort is nice on 16” with 205/55/16. Get yourself some all season tyres. There is a Superb breaking by @ashskoda. He may have a full set of 16” wheels 

You have started 2 threads with the same title.

I have just replied to the other...

Two tonnes? don't know where you've seen that but they're nothing like that; my 3.6 V6 with 4x4 and DSG comes in at 1660kg so you could probably knock at least 150kg of that for yours.

 

I find the 18" fine, I use Cross Climate tyres.

1 hour ago, StuH78 said:

Two tonnes? don't know where you've seen that but they're nothing like that; my 3.6 V6 with 4x4 and DSG comes in at 1660kg so you could probably knock at least 150kg of that for yours.

 

I find the 18" fine, I use Cross Climate tyres.

DGVW for the combi is 2.1 tonnes.

3 hours ago, Nmh said:

I’ve just bought my first car at the age of 43. A very sensible (and luxurious) Superb 1.8 petrol estate Elegance with automatic gearbox. It’s only got 24k on the clock and I love it. I live in London and won’t be doing huge miles but when I do, they’ll be mostly motorway miles on journeys of 4 hrs plus. 

The Elegance came with the Skoda Trinity alloys and the previous owner had some Kumho WinterCraft 225/40 R18 92V tyres fitted which are showing very little wear. I can feel/hear quite a bit of road noise and I’m reading that these tyres aren’t the best for noise, fuel consumption or braking in general (especially in the wet). As the amount of miles I’ll be doing in winter/snow will be very, very limited indeed - I was looking to change tyres.

But looking at some forums (Honest John for example) there’s a lot written about the very hard ride of 18 inch alloys, the fact this car weighs over 2000kg, should never have been fitted with 18 inch alloys, and this ‘premium look’ is something manufactures do knowing that’ll it’ll lead customers to buy more and more tyres. The front end of this car is heavy etc and will eat low profile tyres like this for breakfast. 

SO - I was thinking of changing to 16 inch alloys and a suitable tyre and maybe putting the Trinity’s onto eBay or similar. Does anyone have any thoughts or experience re this. I’m not too bothered about looks (although the Trinity‘s look very nice) - just more interested in ride comfort, road noise and fuel economy.

I’m also not sure what 16 inch alloy would fit. I’m mindful of keeping the Speedo accurate and I LOVE the park assist automatic parking function and wouldn’t want to throw that out. Any help/advice much appreciated.
 

Read this thread:

 

Brilliant. I’ll get reading! Wow - loving the shared knowledge on here. Thank you. 

32 minutes ago, chimaera said:

DGVW for the combi is 2.1 tonnes.

That's the maximum weight allowed when fully loaded and it's actually 2297kg on mine.  The kerbwight plus the standard 75kg person is 1736kg for mine so a 2wd 1.8 is going to be at least 150kg less than that.

2 hours ago, StuH78 said:

That's the maximum weight allowed when fully loaded and it's actually 2297kg on mine.  The kerbwight plus the standard 75kg person is 1736kg for mine so a 2wd 1.8 is going to be at least 150kg less than that.

And the tyres must be able to cope with the max DGVW, which makes the OP's concerns about 2 tonnes valid.

Then get a tyre with a 91 rating.  There isn't much between the Superb and a Golf of the same age when it comes to weight.

1 hour ago, StuH78 said:

Then get a tyre with a 91 rating.  There isn't much between the Superb and a Golf of the same age when it comes to weight.

Not legal: 92 is the minimum type approved load index for the Superb 2.

Edited 4 April, 20215 yr by chimaera

He could use a 205/55-16 91V. Recommended by Skoda.

20 minutes ago, 26DIPP said:

He could use a 205/55-16 91V. Recommended by Skoda.

Only on some facelift models.

Going by the weight and load index probably all can use a 91, but the workshop manual states the 1.8 TFSI can.

I've gone 225/50r17  which is standard on a Passat and the difference was incredible. Road noise was terrible, now unbelievably better. 

Kept my winter 16" wheels on for some years now. Saved hundreds of pounds in tyres since.

Doesn't look as nice.... better for my pocket and the planet.

I like what @silver1011 did 17”. Best compromise of looks and comfort/costs. I believe there are a set of 17” wheels for the Superb,  if you manage to find a set for sale. Keeping in line with the original options. 

17’s.

On Aussie outback coarse chip and red dust and dirt roads, fantastic

 

They look fantastic @Rdkee! So you'd def go for the 17" over the 16"?

 

N

 

6 hours ago, Nmh said:

They look fantastic @Rdkee! So you'd def go for the 17" over the 16"?

 

N

 

I haven't used 16's, mine came with stock 18's. It was a very weird experience changing to 17's, it was like I was driving on clouds. Initially I could feel the tyre flex, but now don't notice it. 

I did go, 225/50 Passat standard, instead of the 225/45 Skoda standard, so slightly taller sidewall. The speedo is now also 100% matching gps speed. 

I also prefer the look of the 17 over the 18

 

Edited 6 April, 20215 yr by Rkdee

Here is my experience running 17" alloys on my Superb, as well as fitting slightly oversized tyres...

 

 

Update - I have found a situation where my 225/50r17 tyres will very lightly scrub the cabin side of the wheel arch. 

---- turning facing up a steep hill, steering wheel on full lock. Inside tyre can scrub.

On a flat lock turn there is definitely no scrubbing

I think this is because the car is weighting the inside of the turn rather than the outside. It's a pretty rare occurrence and even more rarely would it be done at anything more than walking pace, and then you would probably be weighting the outside of the car anyway. If I had Scout type suspension there would be no scrub.

3 hours ago, Rkdee said:

Update - I have found a situation where my 225/50r17 tyres will very lightly scrub the cabin side of the wheel arch. 

---- turning facing up a steep hill, steering wheel on full lock. Inside tyre can scrub.

On a flat lock turn there is definitely no scrubbing

I think this is because the car is weighting the inside of the turn rather than the outside. It's a pretty rare occurrence and even more rarely would it be done at anything more than walking pace, and then you would probably be weighting the outside of the car anyway. If I had Scout type suspension there would be no scrub.

 

If you've got 7.5Jx17 ET49 rims, then 7Jx17 ET45 might stop the rubbing. This has a 0.5" narrower rim which squeezes the sidewalls a little closer together, and the offset is 4mm less which would push the wheel out towards the edge of the wheelarch by 4mm.

 

7Jx17 ET45 is a common size on the Yeti

 

https://eshop.skoda-auto.cz/cs_CZ/hlinikove-disky/c/alloyWheels?q=%3AscoreDesc%3AcarType%3AYeti%2B%282013-2018%29%3AcarType%3AYeti%2B%282009-2014%29&text=#

Skoda Yeti 2014 2.0TDi

– Generation: 5L [2009 .. 2014] [EUDM] 

– Market: EUDM 

– Power: 168 hp | 125 kW | 170 PS 

– Engine: CEGA, I4, Diesel

– Options: Ambition, Experience, Elegance, L&K

– Center Bore: 57.1 mm 

– PCD: 5x112 

– Wheel Fasteners: Lug bolts 

– Torque: 120 Nm

– Thread Size: M14 x 1.5 

– Trim Production: [2009 .. 2014]

Tire	Rim
215/60R16 95H	7Jx16 ET45	2.2
225/50ZR17 94W	7Jx17 ET45	2.2

 

https://www.wheel-size.com/size/skoda/yeti/2014/

 

Edited 13 April, 20215 yr by Carlston

Changing ET will mess with castor and therefore the steering. Best avoided unless necessary to maintain alignment on a wider wheel.

There's clearly quite a lot of variables in play. I'm nervous about straying beyond any Skoda recommendations so my options are:

 

A) Keep my 18" Trinity alloys in the 225/40 R18 configuration but change out the Kumho WinterCraft tyres for a quieter, more fuel efficient option - (recommendations welcome). The front 2 tyres have dropped from 32 psi to 23 psi over the last 6 weeks so there's an issue there. 

or

Spend about £360 on a second hand set of Superb 17" alloys (see below) and go for a 225/45 R17 configuration. 

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SKODA-SUPERB-2012-2015-ALLOY-WHEEL-225-45-17-2/114678740855?hash=item1ab362b777:g:Wv0AAOSwltBgJDMw

 

But my question would be, is there really that much difference in comfort between the two options? I won't be doing a huge amount of miles. Am I going down quite an admin exhaustive route of buying second hand alloys which turn out to be pups (I'm no expert)? Then possibly getting them reconditioned? 

 

I know a lot of this is personal preference. The 16" alloy option does seem too small on a car of this size. So it's either stick or twist with the 17" option....