My RS Wagon comes with 19 inch wheels with a 225/40R19 93Y spec. Here in Australia there is no wheel option.

A regular wagon comes with 18 inch wheels with a 225/45R18 93Y spec.

I would not have chosen those wheels myself if given the option. To me they are less attractive, noisier, firmer, probably more susceptible to rim or tyre damage and provide little handling benefit that I am going to notice.

Yet today, checking out tyre prices I see that replacements (from Bridgestone) will probably cost $349-$385 vs $276-292 for the 18 inch rims, or $152(F) and $212(R) for my previous car - a Honda S2000 with 16 inch rims.

It will definitely pay to have regular wheel alignments and to avoid potholes.

 

What do you other owners think about this issue?

 

Those prices are per set of tires? I would definitely stay on 19 inch rims. They suits the RS much better than the original 18 inch. I think hitting a pot hole with 18 or 19 inch rims wouldn't make a big difference.

The 19" wheel and tyre combo does result in a stiffer ride around town and more pronounced road hum/roar on the open road as compared to the 18" set up based on my test drive of both on a vRS Estate.

 

The 19" equipped test drive unit was DCC equipped but I did not have the chance to fiddle with it that much to see if it would make a noticeable difference.

 

In NZ, the 18" rims are standard for the vRS.  In the Autocar UK test of the vRS Diesel, one of their testers commented that if it were his personal car, he would go for the 18" rims although they were not even listed as an option for the UK.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 6 July, 20214 yr by CKO

4 hours ago, TheUltraRunner said:

Those prices are per set of tires? I would definitely stay on 19 inch rims. They suits the RS much better than the original 18 inch. I think hitting a pot hole with 18 or 19 inch rims wouldn't make a big difference.

Per tyre - fitted and balanced. (Australia dollars, of course).

A wheel alignment (essential in my view) adds another $65 or so.

Edited 6 July, 20214 yr by DaveFromSydney

That’s the problem with choosing big rims, and 40 profile tyres, they tend to be expensive compared to more common family sizes

 

But as a comparison Bridgestone in UK in 225/40 R19 93Y are:

Turanza T005 £119-140 (Aus$ 218-257)

Potenza Sport £144-165 (Aus$ 264-303)

 

It does rather depend on volume in different countries, so looks like it is higher in Australia 

But Skoda has a habit of fitting strange size wheels, example in the UK some of the smaller SUVs get the rare 215/45 R18 size, and these rare sizes have little choice and expensive tyres

 

Edited 7 July, 20214 yr by SurreyJohn

Reviving old thread, but I wouldn't worry about "rare" sizes such as R19 225/40. Škoda, Mercedes, BMW now use that size as factory standard on some of their cars so it's not going to be rare in the future.

37 minutes ago, zetzet said:

Reviving old thread, but I wouldn't worry about "rare" sizes such as R19 225/40. Škoda, Mercedes, BMW now use that size as factory standard on some of their cars so it's not going to be rare in the future.

Might be less rare, but doesn’t instantly make them fairly common on replacement tyre market.   Where people swap to winter tyres, and sensibly rotate their position when refitting, it can be 50k or 60k miles before they need replacements which might be 5 or 6 years away.

 

Your local tyre centre is probably not going to stock the size, and therefore might be few days delay getting replacements if you have a puncture.

 

So might not be as expensive, but still not something cheap you can pick up locally same day you get a big puncture.

 

3 hours ago, SurreyJohn said:

Might be less rare, but doesn’t instantly make them fairly common on replacement tyre market.   Where people swap to winter tyres, and sensibly rotate their position when refitting, it can be 50k or 60k miles before they need replacements which might be 5 or 6 years away.

 

Your local tyre centre is probably not going to stock the size, and therefore might be few days delay getting replacements if you have a puncture.

 

So might not be as expensive, but still not something cheap you can pick up locally same day you get a big puncture.

 

Of course, it's an R19. Most places stock R16's and R17's, not to mention all the SUV's that got crazy popular recently. All car tyres will become more rare.