Not a very good pic but here you go:

Must wash those wheels some time :eek:

Cheers for that Ricko, never got chance to see what it was before I had them changed.

Snowy night picture with dirty car wheel tyres. Federal 205/50/16 at 36psi

Will try harder with pictures when not shaking with the cold.

Federal 205/50/16's update: So far, after a brief week-end play curtailed by heavy snow-falls, from a comfort perspective the best combination of pressures seems to be 34psi front, 32psi rears.

I decided against "speed-trials" due to the state of the roads.

I like the look of those Mathepac !

Is your car lowered?

I like the look of those Mathepac !

Is your car lowered?

Ever so slightly - KW coilovers all round adjusted for road use (!!!), I can't raise the suspension any more at the back, hence the search for comfy tyres / tyre pressures.

Snowy night picture with dirty car wheel tyres. Federal 205/50/16 at 36psi

Don't forget to put the wheelnut caps back on

Would be interested to see an overall photo of the car with these fitted.

Steve

What difference does this make?

What are the benefits of doing this?

cheers

... the ride quality and rattles were doing my head in, always crashing over the slightest imperfection in the road.

Today I have just changed my tyres from Pirelli Pzero Neros to 205/50/16 Falken 452's and the ride quality is MUCH better than before and now seems to have much more grip over rough and uneven roads and they aren't even worn in yet! (only done 40 mile on them!)...

The problem and the benefits are as per the original post by Dexterous above and I can vouch for the improvement in my slightly different car with Federal 205/50/16 SS535's.

Don't forget to put the wheelnut caps back on

Would be interested to see an overall photo of the car with these fitted.

Steve

Thanks.

Will do pics, once the snow clears and I can wash her.

The problem and the benefits are as per the original post by Dexterous above and I can vouch for the improvement in my slightly different car with Federal 205/50/16 SS535's.

:shhh:

Here's a potted history of the tyres and wheels saga on my '04 Fabia vRS:

(Remember I live in the sticks and rarely if ever get much time driving on motorways or main roads. This is a self-imposed restriction from my Scooby days in order to preserve my pristine licence )

Stage 1 (As purchased) :

Wheels: Audi TT 17's fitted with 205/40/17's, with 330mm AP Racing brakes.

messed with tyre pressures, still had problems as described by Dexterous

Stage 2:

Wheels, tyres and brakes as above, then fitted rear ARB.

messed with tyre pressures, still had problems as described by Dexterous, but they seemed worse

Stage 3:

Fitted 312mm brake (downgrade!) and original wheels and tyres. I had to change the brakes as the stock wheels would not fit over the 330mm brakes.

Wheels: Fabia vRS OEM wheels fitted with Michelin Pilot 204/45/16's.

messed with tyre pressures, still had problems as described by Dexterous, but noticed a slight improvement over the 17's with rear ARB

Stage 4:

Faced with having to replace two of the Michelins, which were just about legal, and having spent a good deal of money and a huge amount of time, I was on the horns of a dilemma, then I read the post at the top of this thread by Dexterous and previous posts by Sharkrider (amongst others) and went shopping for Falkens, which I ran for a while on one of my Scoobys.

The whole world must now be buying these feckers as they are now the same price as so-called mainstream tyres - EXPENSIVE.

Then on the off-chance, I contacted a guy who used to fit tyres on the Scoobys for me and he recommended Federals (made by Semperit?). He happened to have 5 of the right size in stock.

So I bought Federal 205/50/16 SS535's and fitted them to the OEM wheels.

Note for self: Supplier has Federal 205/50/16 SS595's, road-legal slicks in stock that might make it to the 'Ring if I can find a generous sponsor or maybe they could be an item for a future GB.

Messed with tyre pressures and settled on 34psi front and 32psi rear (unloaded) for max comfort and I am now a happier but much poorer bunny.

Notes of Caution to Any Potential Investors:

The tyres are noisy on certain surfaces, very noisy on some, but nothing I can't live with.

There is an improvement in the crashing and banging over bumps, but not elimination, and again I can live with the residual harshness (most of my teeth aren't my own anyway ) and the car is much more controllable and drivable at normalish speeds on bad roads.

I bought 5 tyres, but silly me, the spare won't fit in the wheel well so there's a steelie with a Michelin Pilot in there at the mo.

Note to self: (others please read too) Go on the scrounge for a Fabia vRS OEM alloy - maybe some kind person with a decent alloy excess to requirements would bring one to the 'Ring in exchange for some extra pocket money.

I have yet to do a stress test of the new set up. The snow at the weekend messed that up, but hopefully by next week-end normal service will be resumed over a mix of roads.

:shhh:

You're welcome.