Hi all,

 

Skoda driver since 2015 but first time poster. I’ve just changed from a 2019 Fabia to a 2020 Scala 110 TSI SE (so 16 inch wheels). All good so far, but I have a question about tyres.

 

Basically, although it is used, the Scala only has 2.5k miles on the clock (I gather it was a press car sitting in a locked down shopping centre for most of 2020) which is a hilariously low number of miles to think about changing tyres.

 

But:

 

It came with Michelin energy savers which I *hate*. The grip is poor in almost all Scottish conditions, and I wouldn’t even say they’re whisper silent or so good on MPG that it remotely makes up for it…but this is based on 210 miles of driving.
 

I was looking around, and I can get the latest Vredestein Quatrac (not to be confused with the older Quatrac 5s or Pros) all seasons in XL for £64 a tyre, or the non-XL Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons gen 3 for £73, both of which is *much* cheaper than they would have been in the Fabia Colour edition’s size. It’s fairly mild around here, but Scottish winter can throw you a curveball, and 5c wet days at least are common. Like most cities, there are a load of potholes here too, plus we sometimes head up a hill in winter for some walking.

 

So I’ve pretty much concluded all seasons are enough, as I’m in an apartment with no place to store dedicated winters, but I was wondering your opinions on whether the XLs (stiffer and more durable, but with alleged noise, comfort and fuel economy trade offs) are worth it? XLs are usually more expensive, but this XL set is £35 cheaper and the reviews of the two brands/models are comparable - but XLs usually only *required* for cars much heavier than this. Clearly putting up with significantly increased harshness for several years is a bad deal, but if a pothole or two costs me £75 every six months, the marginal fuel savings will be long gone. Some people say they can’t notice XLs being noisier or harsher to ride on, others apparently can.
 

Thoughts and opinions gratefully received!

 

PS: As noted, I’ve only driven this around a city for 200 miles so far, but the start/stop won’t engage citing ‘high power consumption’. Has this happened to anyone? Was fine on the Fabia. I figure the battery may not be optimum if it didn’t turn a wheel for so long, but it was serviced by an approved used dealer a week before I took ownership, so not sure if a fault…

 

Thanks in advance etc etc 

@cwm2g - OK, on XL tyres, these are really only necessary for heavily laden cars or cars which spend long periods on high speed roads (think several hours on autobahn at 100mph+, not just the Scottish motorways.

 

On the battery, maybe take the car to a good fast fit place or a local garage, and ask them to do a deep load test. Most of them will do this for free, on the understanding that they get the business if you need a replacement battery.

Thabks

5 minutes ago, KenONeill said:

@cwm2g - OK, on XL tyres, these are really only necessary for heavily laden cars or cars which spend long periods on high speed roads (think several hours on autobahn at 100mph+, not just the Scottish motorways.

 

On the battery, maybe take the car to a good fast fit place or a local garage, and ask them to do a deep load test. Most of them will do this for free, on the understanding that they get the business if you need a replacement battery.

Thanks! I appreciate the response. 

Yep, I know XLs are overkill for this car, I was just wondering given the associated durability and price upsides if the downsides of noise/ride/fuel was *that* noticeable in the real world, mainly. 
 

RE: battery, yes, good shout. I’m not sure about what warranty covers, but if the battery was not up to powering the stop/start and I’ve had the car for two weeks, should I be telling Skoda to investigate? When I first got it I had a warning on the dash that the power was low and to charge by driving it/turn off infotainment, but that message stopped after a day. I’ve seen a few of these stop/start posts on VW group forums (Polos get it a lot apparently) so not sure if it’s a known issue with the 1.0 TSI/ smaller batteries and more and more infotainment these days, or something more sinister with my particular car. 

@cwm2gWelcome to the forum.

Given how you will use the car i would go with the XL's.

 

I do not notice the economy as worse or the noise or the ride.  Probably because they are not actually.

I notice a tyre that is hopeless for All Season / All Weather use in Scotland and these are the ECO type tyres cars arrive in the UK with from the factory usually.

 

XL Tyres are perfect for Scottish Winters / Summers / All Year and all Seasons.

Best fit All Weather ones.

That is because any additional protection from potholes is a good thing. Then the correct tyres for UK road conditions.

I had XL's on Mk2 Fabias because the OEM fitment was XL,s and have them on my Suzuki SX4. 

 

Just run the comfortable tyre pressures. 

 

Still got a bulge with my reinforced sidewall Maxxis AP2 all seasons, but then you can do that with even the strongest of tyres.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/459372-fabia-vrs-mk1-170bhp-extra-load-tyres

 

 

Suzuki with 16" Wheels and XL tyres and just away to fit new ones.

 

&

17" wheels / tyres, Extra Load Michelin 6 on my max speed 93 mph Corsa but it is a heavy EV. 

& there is no spare wheel with the car.

88V on front and 88H on the rear.  Fuel consumption so Range with an Electric car no worse than the ditch finder Michelin Primacy 4 the car came with or the CrossClimate i put on before these.

 

EDIT.  NOVEMBER 2022.

Front Michelin Alpin 6 now replaced as hit a big pothole and got a bulge.  T

hankfully it was XL tyres fitted.  As no spare wheel in the car. 

 

 

Edited 3 November, 20223 yr by roottoot

1 hour ago, roottoot said:

 

Was that taken at Arnold Clark Toyota/Peugeot in Ayr?

Edited 19 November, 20214 yr by AnnoyingPentium

2 hours ago, roottoot said:

@cwm2gWelcome to the forum.

Given how you will use the car i would go with the XL's.

 

I do not notice the economy as worse or the noise or the ride.  Probably because they are not actually.

I notice a tyre that is hopeless for All Season / All Weather use in Scotland and these are the ECO type tyres cars arrive in the UK with from the factory usually.

 

XL Tyres are perfect for Scottish Winters / Summers / All Year and all Seasons.

Best fit All Weather ones.

That is because any additional protection from potholes is a good thing. Then the correct tyres for UK road conditions.

I had XL's on Mk2 Fabias because the OEM fitment was XL,s and have them on my Suzuki SX4. 

 

Just run the comfortable tyre pressures. 

 

Still got a bulge with my reinforced sidewall Maxxis AP2 all seasons, but then you can do that with even the strongest of tyres.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/459372-fabia-vrs-mk1-170bhp-extra-load-tyres

 

 

Suzuki with 16" Wheels and XL tyres and just away to fit new ones.

 

&

17" wheels / tyres, Extra Load Michelin 6 on my max speed 93 mph Corsa but it is a heavy EV. 

& there is no spare wheel with the car.

88V on front and 88H on the rear.  Fuel consumption so Range with an Electric car no worse than the ditch finder Michelin Primacy 4 the car came with or the CrossClimate i put on before these.

Thanks for this, it’s very helpful. Yes, Michelin Energy Savers are those exact tyres you speak of. We won’t see a lot of snow in Glasgow (…touch wood), but these are bad even on the couple of days it’s been 6c and drizzling - and it’ll definitely be like that a lot more between now and May. The Kumho Ecstas that came with my Fabia were significantly better summer tyres IMO, and more than fine in those sorts of conditions. 

Since the 16inch SE Scala is a bit softer wallowy than the 17 inch SEL anyway, I figure a touch of extra sidewall stiffness might not be such a bad thing, so long as they don’t roar like the full winters I’ve driven on in some other parts of the world. As Glasgow seems to have graduated from potholes to full blown canyons lately too, any extra protection might be worth the minor drawbacks. Cheers! 

 

 

Full Winters or All Weathers are not like the tyres of old and i have used Winter or Snow tyres since the days of Town & Country tyres and then Stirling Winter Remoulds.

Commonly Directional tyres now that work as tyres should. 

I ran TIGAR Snow Tyres all year on my Volvo S60 and Avon Snow Tyres for 3 years on my Alhambra more recently.

No noticeable wear on any off them in over 40,000 miles of use including 3 summers.

I ran my Picanto automatic for 6 years with Avon IceTouring tyres on it and they were great.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/459700-avon-wv7-snow

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/382657-maxxis-ap2-all-seasin-tyres

 

Just revisiting an old post on here but for the life of me I can't find Pirelli Pzeros without XL or Extra Load....my two fronts are non XL but I bought those last year but I can't find anywhere that sells what I'd call normal ones anymore. Any ideas chaps?