Hi there. Owner of a 2005 mk2 Octavia estate diesel 1.9 tdi. Slow air loss on two wheels due to decaying alloys. Is it possible / sensible to swap alloys for steel rims and appropriate tyres? Can't afford £400 for a set of new alloys.

One of the standard wheel sizes on the Octavia MK2 1.9TDI 105PS is 195/65R15 6Jx15 ET47 5/112 57.1

Steel rims can be ordered on their own or with fitted and balanced tyres, from mytyres.co.uk

Alcar 9165 6Jx15 ET47 5/112 57.1 steel rim (7.73kg) (Octavia MK2)

https://www.mytyres.co.uk/rims/details?vehicleId=183006013861926000&rimCode=ALCAR9165

Alcar 9165 6Jx15 ET47 5/112 57.1 steel rim with fitted and balanced Uniroyal RainExpert 5 195/65R15 91H (Euro label C A 71dB)

https://www.mytyres.co.uk/cw/bundle?vehicle_ids=182669563303826544&wheelId=SKWi-9165--D-124258&rimCode=ALCAR9165&tyreId=D-124258&wheelIdWithTpms=&season=so&rimType=steel

Octavia MK2 parts catalogue

https://www.lllparts.co.uk/catalogs/skoda/CZ/OCT/419/6

Edited 12 March12 Mar by Carlston

Just now, Chris66 said:

Hi there. Owner of a 2005 mk2 Octavia estate diesel 1.9 tdi. Slow air loss on two wheels due to decaying alloys. Is it possible / sensible to swap alloys for steel rims and appropriate tyres? Can't afford £400 for a set of new alloys.

Thanks Carlston. Much appreciated. Do you think there's any major difference in how the car will handle with steel rims and (bigger?) volume tyres?

1 hour ago, Chris66 said:

Slow air loss on two wheels due to decaying alloys

Getting them cleaned properly will fix the problem.

Thanks. AG Falco

Thanks AG. The garage I took my car to looked at the alloys (20 years old) and said they could be refurbed but would need redoing over time. Price per wheel looks about the same: new tyres and refurb or new steel rims and tyres. Maybe old school steel rims and bigger volume tyres going to be better on rough potholed roads?

You can also fit the same 205/55/16 rim from various VAG cars. These were factory tyre size on my 2005 elegance TDI with alloys. Check this for ones for sale and compare specs

3C0601027M/N

I do have a set of wheels with near minimum tread on winter wheels so you would need tyres. I can’t recall if they are VAG specific wheels I have had them on our Leon and maybe Octavia over the years. Based just north of Bham.

I ran steel wheels with winter tyres for a couple of years without any problem. Just make sure the centrebore/pcd and off set are suitable.

PCD - 5 x 112

CB - 57.1

Offset 47

https://www.wheelfitment.eu/car/Skoda/Octavia%20(2013%20-%202020).html

will give you possible tyre sizes and wheel size.

I have leaks in all my cars with alloys but have never had problems with steel. Have a people carrier thats been sitting for 5 years now and still air in tyres on steel wheels.

Alasdair

Thanks all for the great info. MOT tomorrow so I'll see what needs doing and take it from there.

Good luck with MOT

Alasdair

Update - MOT failed, but only on broken bulb on NS wing mirror! A good day! OK, so need new tyres all round either way. Going for steel rims. I'll do a bit of research to correctly ID rim spec.

If its any help I have been running GT radial tyres FE2 (summer) and my sons got GT radial all season on his Fabia. Both had them on for over a year and excellent tyres in dry and wet. All seaons are a bit more expensive but son likes them and very good in winter. There mid range but last set got discount if I bought online. Worked out at around £60-00 (summer) £70(all season) per tyre fitted.

Alasdair