Reducing wheel size?

[KenONeill]

1 hour ago, nta16 said:

I don't think the central bore size is on the wheel

OK my mistake on the centre bore, but it is as important as the quoted figures.

[varooom]

Here you go @Spudskoda here are the wheels that should fit your car.

I would absolutely recommend checking your car was indeed registered before 29.05.2011

 

You should then be able to just fit one of the choices below that takes your eye.

I do highly recommend that you try to get a quote from your dealers for 17" Alloys, that way they might send you the part numbers in the quote 😁

[Spudskoda]

18 minutes ago, varooom said:

Here you go @Spudskoda here are the wheels that should fit your car.

I would absolutely recommend checking your car was indeed registered before 29.05.2011

 

You should then be able to just fit one of the choices below that takes your eye.

I do highly recommend that you try to get a quote from your dealers for 17" Alloys, that way they might send you the part numbers in the quote 😁

 

Cheers @varooom getting a quote for the wheels from the dealer is a damn good shout to make sure I get the correct code for my exact vehicle.

 

Can I just clarify, are we looking for build date or date of first registration here?

 

The date of first registration was 20.09.2011 according to the V5 - not sure where I would obtain the build date from unless it is secreted somewhere on the vehicle, or built into the VIN code somehow !?!?

[varooom]

2 minutes ago, Spudskoda said:

Cheers @varooom getting a quote for the wheels from the dealer is a damn good shout to make sure I get the correct code for my exact vehicle.

 

Can I just clarify, are we looking for build date or date of first registration here?

 

The date of first registration was 20.09.2011 according to the V5 - not sure where I would obtain the build date from unless it is secreted somewhere on the vehicle, or built into the VIN code somehow !?!?

It's 100% build date, as the car may have sat waiting for transport and possibly sat in a dock for months.

Mainly for safety sake to make sure the possible combos fit your car.

 

As for obtaining the date, if you also ask dealer for quote, they might even supply you a list of PR Codes, and in the document you should have a build date.

They can do this when they use the parts program, just a few mouse clicks to "print" a PDF off.

As seen in the example (of mine) for Date of Production

TMBBF73T4F9051575.pdf

[Spudskoda]

Oooooooooo now that is very interesting, I bet you can't guess where I am going this weekend now 😄

 

Thank you very much for your guidance here @varooommate, if I decide to go with new 17s rather than new rubber on the 18s (bit of a 50/50 battle going on in my head atm) then this will be gold standard information to be armed with when choosing the right wheels.

 

All the best buddy. 👍

 

[varooom]

Good luck this weekend, hope you have a kind dealer, even without a printout a date would be helpful for you at the least.

 

🤝

[Spudskoda]

23 minutes ago, varooom said:

Good luck this weekend, hope you have a kind dealer, even without a printout a date would be helpful for you at the least.

 

🤝

To be honest mate, I would be prepared to pay for the printout if they didn't want to let me have it free - thanks again buddy, you're a star man.

[EnterName]

17 hours ago, varooom said:

It's 100% build date, as the car may have sat waiting for transport and possibly sat in a dock for months.

Mainly for safety sake to make sure the possible combos fit your car.

 

As for obtaining the date, if you also ask dealer for quote, they might even supply you a list of PR Codes, and in the document you should have a build date.

They can do this when they use the parts program, just a few mouse clicks to "print" a PDF off.

As seen in the example (of mine) for Date of Production

TMBBF73T4F9051575.pdf 75.68 kB · 3 downloads

I know I'm odd, but I remember reading the VIN decode on my vehicle and thinking how useful it would be if car dealers allowed you to spec new cars you intended to purchase via the options on the VIN decode. I mean, there's stuff on there you don't even know existed.

 

Sadly the reverse seems to be the case, and car spec variations are being trimmed down to make manufacturing easier.

 

[PetrolDave]

31 minutes ago, EnterName said:

car spec variations are being trimmed down to make manufacturing easier.

Not only manufacturing but also getting Type Approval, with so many options and variants the cost of Type Approval soon mounts up. This is why car companies like Kia have always offered a limited number of specs and options.

[varooom]

1 hour ago, EnterName said:

I know I'm odd, but I remember reading the VIN decode on my vehicle and thinking how useful it would be if car dealers allowed you to spec new cars you intended to purchase via the options on the VIN decode. I mean, there's stuff on there you don't even know existed.

 

Sadly the reverse seems to be the case, and car spec variations are being trimmed down to make manufacturing easier.

 

I think that some will be in the minority like yourself, maybe 0.1% would like this (to pull back the wizard's curtain)
I am lucky in that I have spent years tinkering with ETKA, and all that time I have wondered why there was never a toggle switch for changing a specification(s) of a car to see what retrofits can be done.

 

The holy grail would be seeing both ends of the "machine" where you input human readable car specs to most of the population and the geeks can get the PR codes out the other end, that would be a retrofitters wet dream.

 

 

@PetrolDave Yip type approval is a nightmare, sometimes VAG show these in their files, pages and pages of.

[Spudskoda]

So, I went to the Skoda dealership over the weekend, and they were very helpful and accommodating, the parts desk guy was happy to give me a print out of the spec of my car, and also the original wheels fitted to the car, which turned out to not be the ones currently fitted, but another of the same size but different design . . . . . curious!

 

He also had a look on ETKA and whilst he was able to find that there were 17" options for the Superb, he would confirm that they would fit my car, as he kept referring back to the ET figure being different, and that my specific car was intended to run on 18" wheels with the ET 46 offset . . . . 

 

I also spoke to a couple of tyre fitters and was able to establish that each tyre has a dB rating between 69 and 73 and that there are options for lower dB tyres in both 17" and 18" options.

 

Much to ponder before I shell out my hard earned moola, I want to make sure that I am doing it to make an improvement, not just to "try it out" so to speak.

 

Thanks to you all for your input, advice, guidance and providing me with gold standard information and links - you're all very kind.

[Ootohere]

@Spudskodai am curious as how you can make sure what you are doing will make an improvement because an Manufacturers Label on tyres from their testing has nothing to do with the noise you get inside a car it is an 'Exterior tyre noise rating'.

You will only know once they are on and you are using them. 

[nta16]

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

 

I don't know if things have changed with the tyre label testing but when it first came out you needed to take the test results label with a pinch of salt, a tyre I had on previously had  below average ratings yet it was the best tyre I ever had on the car, the replacement tyre scored higher on the labelling (not that I took too much notice of that) but was lower ratings than the previous tyre in my experience of driving the car with them fitted.

 

Perhaps things have changed and improved with the label ratings but roottoot's post doesn't suggest so.  Tyres not designed for sports style driving or those designed not to wear the tread too much generally to me are often nosier.  Comfort tyres of a good make tend to be comfortable and less nosier but you'd have to check with drivers of your model and style of driving in the same size as you want.  Even a tyre of the same make and model may vary within the range of sizes.

 

We're just about to change tyres that are only just 5 years old (fitted 4.5 years ago) still with plenty of tread left but splitting on the sidewalls, the car sits outside and the tyres only run 32k-miles, not a good combination, so we don't need to worry about very hard wearing tread too much.

 

[KenONeill]

1 hour ago, nta16 said:

tyre label testing

It#s a waste of time, because it's all manufacturer self-certification.

[nta16]

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

 

18 minutes ago, KenONeill said:

It#s a waste of time, because it's all manufacturer self-certification.

I'd forgotten about that, thanks, plus aren't the tests done on new or not too used tyres, I forget as I too thought it's quite meaningless to the consumer and it must go back a few years now.

. 

[SurreyJohn]

16 hours ago, Spudskoda said:

I also spoke to a couple of tyre fitters and was able to establish that each tyre has a dB rating between 69 and 73 and that there are options for lower dB tyres in both 17" and 18" options.

 

Much to ponder before I shell out my hard earned moola, I want to make sure that I am doing it to make an improvement, not just to "try it out" so to speak.

 

Thanks to you all for your input, advice, guidance and providing me with gold standard information and links - you're all very kind.

The tyre test results are done to a set of parameters.

 

In practice you will drive at varying air temperatures, and on roads with different grades of tarmac. So the lab results will not match real world.  And noise in the car is different to if car drives past you.

 

If it was me, and wanted a quick comparison of tyres for all year use in UK, then the Auto Bild (a German motoring magazine) comparison is a good start. (Remember some tyre places have preferred manufacturers due to incentives or ownership, so might not give impartial advice).  If you live in south then perhaps look for those with better wet & dry than snow etc so adjust overall ranking depending on weather where you live.

 

https://www.tyrereviews.com/Article/2022-Auto-Bild-SUV-All-Season-Tyre-Test.htm

 

[nta16]

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

 

@SurreyJohn I agree with you.

 

But the link for the German motoring magazine appears to just be Mr. Triceps of Tyre Reviews.  Personally I don't think his testing is over closely related to really world road UK driving and I don't know if the track has the same sort of surface materials as a typical UK road (or the potholes) - but I could be wrong.  Perhaps his tests are a reasonable guide or reasonable rough guide particularly if you have the same car as he tests with.

 

Also the public reviews on his site do need to be studied for same vehicle and driving style and allow for it mostly being subjective, and the same tyre's use and wear will vary a lot with the car owners..

 

Tyres are a lot more complex car component than most people realise so in practice you do have to deal with generalisations unless you have the resources of things like a tyre company or wealthy race team.  In the end its all a bit of a gamble and you just try to increase your odds before buying but often you don't really know until you get close to replacing the tyre again and often by that time the same tyre has changed in some way so you start over.

Edited 13 September, 2022 by nta16

[Spudskoda]

17 hours ago, roottoot said:

@Spudskodai am curious as how you can make sure what you are doing will make an improvement because an Manufacturers Label on tyres from their testing has nothing to do with the noise you get inside a car it is an 'Exterior tyre noise rating'.

You will only know once they are on and you are using them. 

Herein lies the crux of the problem Roottoot.

 

I have googled reviews for the Firestone Firehawk SZ90 and many of the reviewers complain about "unbearable" levels of road noise not experienced by their previous or subsequent brands such as Good Year and Michelin, but as you and the other guys point out, until you actually test them on your own vehicle, you are relying on someone else's opinion.

 

This was one of the reasons I posted on here, to get a real world, Skoda driver's viewpoint of which tyres and wheels work well and offer a good compromise between grip, wear and road noise.

 

Honestly, the noise from these tyres is truly awful, by far the worst I have experienced in any vehicle I have owned in 33 years of motoring, as it is described in the reviews, if you are in the car for any distance / time, it is bordering on unbearable. 

[nta16]

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

 

Now you have the general overall information you might be best putting up a thread in the appropriate Superb section and see what other 4x4 owners find to be a quiet and/or recommended tyre.  Bear in mind a tyre that was great bought two years ago could have changed in it's build (or model) and you can get varations from just production too

 

Hope I've got the correct model for a quick look here too (with all the previous proviso from my last post. - https://www.tyrereviews.com/Tyres_For/Skoda/Superb-II-4x4-2.0tdi.htm

 

Edited 13 September, 2022 by nta16
spelling

[MikeTheThinker]

23 minutes ago, nta16 said:

you might be best putting up a thread in the appropriate Superb section and see what other 4x4 owners find to be a quiet and/or recommended tyre. 

Can I suggest this goes in the Wheels & Tyres forum as it's of interest to other models also?

 

[nta16]

29 minutes ago, MikeTheThinker said:

Can I suggest this goes in the Wheels & Tyres forum as it's of interest to other models also?

Fine by me but it's up to Spudskoda and then I wonder if someone would say its (forget the word, like spamming(?)) having the same thread subject in three different threads.  I'm never against cross-referencing information, I often do it with hyperlinks then the reader can decide if they want to go there.

 

[varooom]

19 hours ago, Spudskoda said:

So, I went to the Skoda dealership over the weekend, and they were very helpful and accommodating, the parts desk guy was happy to give me a print out of the spec of my car, and also the original wheels fitted to the car, which turned out to not be the ones currently fitted, but another of the same size but different design . . . . . curious!

 

He also had a look on ETKA and whilst he was able to find that there were 17" options for the Superb, he would confirm that they would fit my car, as he kept referring back to the ET figure being different, and that my specific car was intended to run on 18" wheels with the ET 46 offset . . . . 

 

I also spoke to a couple of tyre fitters and was able to establish that each tyre has a dB rating between 69 and 73 and that there are options for lower dB tyres in both 17" and 18" options.

 

Much to ponder before I shell out my hard earned moola, I want to make sure that I am doing it to make an improvement, not just to "try it out" so to speak.

 

Thanks to you all for your input, advice, guidance and providing me with gold standard information and links - you're all very kind.

Glad they was able to supply your PR Codes to you.

 

As for the wheel choices, odds are he is not sure really (or covering himself)

The car when configured may have been 17" as standard, with optional 18" but even if it came with 18" as standard for your model, those cars on 17" are still on the same frame and suspension setups more than likely.

 

I am sure someone with more experience or time will be able to verify the different offset values and report back that it will be ok.

 

Best of luck with your journey!

[SurreyJohn]

32 minutes ago, varooom said:

 

The car when configured may have been 17" as standard, with optional 18" but even if it came with 18" as standard for your model, those cars on 17" are still on the same frame and suspension setups more than likely.

A quick way of checking is to look at the specs on a Skoda website for another country, eg Skoda.de or Skoda.ie etc.   They tend to have smaller wheels as standard, with the larger sizes as options.  Fitting big wheels as standard seems to be a British thing.

 

I once heard a dealer say can’t have smaller wheels as wheel bearings are different.  The idea that different bearings for same weight of car are country specific baffled me.   Remember many European countries have smaller rim winter wheels, but outside diameter of tyres should be about the same.

 

 

[Spudskoda]

12 minutes ago, SurreyJohn said:

A quick way of checking is to look at the specs on a Skoda website for another country, eg Skoda.de or Skoda.ie etc.   They tend to have smaller wheels as standard, with the larger sizes as options.  Fitting big wheels as standard seems to be a British thing.

 

I once heard a dealer say can’t have smaller wheels as wheel bearings are different.  The idea that different bearings for same weight of car are country specific baffled me.   Remember many European countries have smaller rim winter wheels, but outside diameter of tyres should be about the same.

 

 

Cheers @SurreyJohn

 

Do you have any experience of navigating these overseas Skoda websites mate?

 

How might I find out information about what wheels were fitted to say ROI Superbs in 2011/2012?

 

Mine was built in August 2011 which apparently is right on the cusp of the change from "B" to "C" in the fitment categories . . . . 

 

I think the sensible thing to do initially is post in the Tyres forum and see if other Superb owners have changed their 18" tyres to a brand which offers much quieter road noise, then take things from there.

 

Thanks again everyone for your patient and detailed explanations, recommendations and guidance, I genuinely appreciate it.

[SurreyJohn]

Looking up the other European countries websites is good for knowing alternatives of current models, and the wheels catalogue includes recent models eg Octavia mk3 and Fabia mk3.

 

If you want to know about older cars, probably best to look at used car website (their equivalent of auto trader), but it is going to be more of a trial and error exercise (unless someone knows links to archived brochures from abroad)

 

https://www.carzone.ie/search?make=Skoda&model=Superb