17 minutes ago, Gmac983 said:

still be plenty of opportunities to run into standing water

That's why you drive differently according to the conditions, isn't it? Or is that a forgotten art?

 

1 hour ago, Breezy_Pete said:

That's why you drive differently according to the conditions, isn't it? Or is that a forgotten art?

 

Unfortunately it increasingly looks like a dying art. We all like to think we are at least competent behind the wheel. But, personally I would rather have tyres of any sort on the car with more than the bare minimum legal amount in typical UK weather. It’s an indisputable fact that in wet conditions stopping distances are greatly increased with heavily worn tyres. 

Edited 4 August, 20223 yr by Gmac983

@Gmac983 I have hit unexpected patch of standing water, despite driving to the conditions as @Breezy_Pete said.

 

Entry onto a dual carriageway via slip road in the dark whilst raining, a blocked drain had covered the road from one side to the other (slip) and when I clocked the let's say lake, I let off the power, and didn't brake, just let the car go straight.

 

Then again I did lots of miles and had experience, most people I used to say "put their brain in a pickle jar in the glovebox, as they won't be needing it"

 

Generally most people cannot drive for toffee, and would fall to pieces when the white stuff hits, or the rain comes down.

 

Edit: for clarity Pete's right about driving being a forgotten art.

Edited 4 August, 20223 yr by varooom

8 minutes ago, varooom said:

I used to say "put their brain in a pickle jar in the glovebox, as they won't be needing it"

That’s it in a nutshell. Too many fall into the “steering-wheel-holder” category.

Though perhaps a tyre with 3 or 4 mil of tread on would make an non-recoverable incident (on bare minimum tyres) a recoverable one. We can all make a misjudgement of conditions once in a while regardless of talent or otherwise.

20 minutes ago, varooom said:

Entry onto a dual carriageway via slip road in the dark whilst raining, a blocked drain had covered the road from one side to the other (slip) and when I clocked the let's say lake, I let off the power, and didn't brake, just let the car go straight.

Similarly.

Summer shower, slight dip on the A14 Newmarket bypass with blocked drains, water across all 3 lanes.

 

Saw the car in front panic brake and go into a tank slapper only narrowly missing the artic in the next lane, I just lifted completely off the gas and went straight though the puddle with no drama before braking to avoid the panic stricken driver in front.

A few years back in a little Corsa, coming back Xmas up the A1.  Lots of rain, and had to slow down to 50mph and keep it there for most of the way.

 

Lane 1 does tend to get deeper lorry treads of course, but there we many loons blasting down hitting the shed load of mahoosive walls of water on the stretch I was on.

 

People certainly didn't drive to conditions that night.

Decided to get booked in with ATS. Couldn't beat this offer anywhere else.

 

£193 all in for 2x Michelin Cross Climate 2. 225/45/17 

Edited 1 September, 20223 yr by Doctor_Strange

Michelin own ATS Euromaster and BlackCircles.  Nice when they have Michelin's cheaper than others and available.  Not always the case though. 

On 10/09/2021 at 13:11, Gaz said:

Car now shod with my first ever set of:

 

 

Gaz

 

Seeing posts on the All Season tyre thread, I thought an update would be timely.

Since fitting the CC2's nearly four years ago at 17k miles, I've had to replace two tyres, in January 2023 (24k miles - pot hole) and November 2023 (28k miles - puncture).

The GTI's now at 41k miles and tyres are at 3 & 4mm on the original two, and 5 & 6mm on the 2023 tyres. There's some very light perishing on the older two tyres, but nothing untoward IMO.

So if they started at 6.8mm, I've used 3.8mm in 24k miles on the most worn tyre. Pretty happy with that, all told. I still think I'll replace them with Pilot Sports when the time comes, but the new CC3 Sports might have put a fly in that particular ointment.

Gaz

Edited 7 July, 20257 Jul by Gaz
Confirmed a date I wasn't sure about.

Decision time, as I got an advisory at today's MOT for the OSF getting low. The NSF also got a mention, so I've got at least two to change.

The GTI's at 43,800 miles, so I'm quite impressed at getting 26,000 miles out of the CC2's 👍

I could get two CC3's/Sports (or four mebbe), but I'm quite tempted to get four PS4s's, or maybe try PS5's. Think I'll sleep on it.

Gaz

On 02/04/2026 at 19:06, Gaz said:

Decision time, as I got an advisory at today's MOT for the OSF getting low. The NSF also got a mention, so I've got at least two to change.

The GTI's at 43,800 miles, so I'm quite impressed at getting 26,000 miles out of the CC2's 👍

I could get two CC3's/Sports (or four mebbe), but I'm quite tempted to get four PS4s's, or maybe try PS5's. Think I'll sleep on it.

Gaz

Not sure how I missed this, but hopefully you went for the PS5s. I got around 6k out of my PS4s and my current PS5s are down to about 3.5mm after over 11,000 miles.

With the way I drive, that's impressive! They are due a change soon, so I'll probably launch it a few times to get my money's worth from them first!

I'm late to this party too. I always change two at once. Always fit the new ones to the back and move the back to the front. I replace then at approx 2 mm. For the first time ever I have twosets of wheels with summer tyres and winter tyres for the Karoq. The winters are vredestein on the standard karoq wheels, have done 3 winters now, probably about 9000 miles and two showing slight wear and to still look new. The summer wheels have one Bridgestone, one budget and two Kormoran tyres on. They are what came with the wheels which are audi a4 wheels. I'm away to get 4 tyres for it before the mot in a few weeks. The fronts are 2mm and 4mm, the rears are 6mm and 7mm but are showing signs of perishing which I do not like. Probably would pass mot though. But as this car is a forever keeper it's getting a treat. I'm expecting to go for uniroyal rain expert, I've never had any problems with them in the past.

11 hours ago, daviemck2006 said:

I'm late to this party too. I always change two at once. Always fit the new ones to the back and move the back to the front. I replace then at approx 2 mm. For the first time ever I have twosets of wheels with summer tyres and winter tyres for the Karoq. The winters are vredestein on the standard karoq wheels, have done 3 winters now, probably about 9000 miles and two showing slight wear and to still look new. The summer wheels have one Bridgestone, one budget and two Kormoran tyres on. They are what came with the wheels which are audi a4 wheels. I'm away to get 4 tyres for it before the mot in a few weeks. The fronts are 2mm and 4mm, the rears are 6mm and 7mm but are showing signs of perishing which I do not like. Probably would pass mot though. But as this car is a forever keeper it's getting a treat. I'm expecting to go for uniroyal rain expert, I've never had any problems with them in the past.

Not that it matters in this particular instance as @Gaz's GTI is a 230, but for cars with a front diff, you really need to change both front tyres at once. It's the same story for AWD cars.

I always replace both tyres on the same axle. My vRS currently has around 3.5mm on the fronts and 5mm on the rears, so I will most likely get the rear tyres put on the front, and get some fresh rear tyres.

On 13/05/2026 at 02:51, OccyVRS said:

Not sure how I missed this, but hopefully you went for the PS5s.

I did indeed:

Asked them to look after my alloys due to the recent-ish refurb, which they did 👍 But because they were paying attention, they reminded me that one wheel has a buckle 😢 That'll be from the pothole I clumped back in 2023 😡

Gaz

PS: Interestingly, I got a subsequent email from them with a 'Vehicle Health Check' attached. I specifically unchecked the VHC box at the time of ordering, as I didn't want one. A couple of odd points on it though:

Firstly, the NSR tyre has an 0524 date code. The last new tyre it had was in November 2023! Fickle thing this ol' space-time continuum 🙄

And it's the same for the Spare. It's a 2018 GTI, which I've had since new. The spare's never been out of the car, but it's apparently 3 years and 4 months old. Maybe it's getting younger..... maybe it's a girl, not a boy..... maybe I should call her Christine! 🤷‍♂️

G

Edited 20 May20 May by Gaz
VHC update

14 hours ago, Gaz said:

I did indeed:

Asked them to look after my alloys due to the recent-ish refurb, which they did 👍 But because they were paying attention, they reminded me that one wheel has a buckle 😢 That'll be from the pothole I clumped back in 2023 😡

Gaz

PS: Interestingly, I got a subsequent email from them with a 'Vehicle Health Check' attached. I specifically unchecked the VHC box at the time of ordering, as I didn't want one. A couple of odd points on it though:

Firstly, the NSR tyre has an 0524 date code. The last new tyre it had was in November 2023! Fickle thing this ol' space-time continuum 🙄

And it's the same for the Spare. It's a 2018 GTI, which I've had since new. The spare's never been out of the car, but it's apparently 3 years and 4 months old. Maybe it's getting younger..... maybe it's a girl, not a boy..... maybe I should call her Christine! 🤷‍♂️

G

Maybe it’s not from your car? Certainly, it’s had a NSF and OSR replaced at the same time (well, the odds of having the same batch…), and then different visits for the OSF and NSR - very, very random. Still, it’s probably from an MQB car - just look at that rear alignment!

Those Dallas wheels were never my favourite - I looked at a 2020 GTI with them, and they were absolutely knackered! If I got the car, I’d have put some Pretorias on there. Come to think of it, I might put some Pretorias on my vRS… same thing anyway, just with a larger arse. I don’t regret the choice, or a Cupra, but when pushing on hard I do sometimes wonder what life would be like if I’d gone team stiff suspension and not team sensible.

6 hours ago, OccyVRS said:

Maybe it’s not from your car?

Those Dallas wheels were never my favourite

I think you're right. Looking back a page, I had the CC2's fitted in September 2021, two of which were still on the car. So 0921 is the latest possible date code any of them could have 🙄 Could explain why I got a health check I didn't ask for.

I don't like the Dallas wheels at all. Those on my car are Milton Keynes.

Gaz

22 hours ago, Gaz said:

Firstly, the NSR tyre has an 0524 date code. The last new tyre it had was in November 2023! Fickle thing this ol' space-time continuum 🙄

My wife's Fabia, same tyres gained tread depth between two subsequent ticksheets and the non-existent spare tyre often had a reported tread depth. 😄

9 hours ago, Gaz said:

I think you're right. Looking back a page, I had the CC2's fitted in September 2021, two of which were still on the car. So 0921 is the latest possible date code any of them could have 🙄 Could explain why I got a health check I didn't ask for.

I don't like the Dallas wheels at all. Those on my car are Milton Keynes.

Gaz

I did some Googling - some places shown your wheels as Dallas, while others show something entirely different for Mk7 Dallas! Either way, a lot of diamond cut to get improved by the quality UK road network.