Well the dealer called to say the wheels and tyres were ready. Well they were not of a make I've ever heard of before, Semperit?! - and I told them what makes I wanted!!! Oh well they are over £100 each on Mytyres yet my dealer charged me only £487 for the four rims and tyres fitted (so £64 per tyre with rims @ £57). They are noisier yes but were fantastic on the roads that were not gritted like this one:

The VW Caddy van centre caps also look great I think.

Speedo now shows 81mph when sat nav shows a real 70mph... oh well.

We also found a car to go look at today and drove 3 hours north to see it and bought it! One mint 2004 VW Golf V5 2,3 petrol automatic with only 44,000 on the clock is now ours - with not a stone chip or scratch on it and polished to within an inch of it's life! Love the noise that five cylinder makes - had one years ago too. It will be used as a "truck" for some renovations to be done to a new house just bought. Was a total bargain too.

Looks great. I've just glued my Skoda badges on. Will show pics when in situ soon....I hope.

What size tyres did you buy?

Mike

Hi Johann,

congrats on the Golf 'Classic' find

Semperit are an old Austrian tyre manufacturer and have been manufacturing winter tyres for many years

Edit just looked them up; there part of the Continental empire My link

Regards,

TP

Edited 30 November, 201015 yr by The Plumber

Looks great. I've just glued my Skoda badges on. Will show pics when in situ soon....I hope.

What size tyres did you buy?

Mike: 205/55 R16 as they are the cheapest an most common according to what I've read on here. You can see I've yet to do the badges!

TP: ah! So they are Austrian!!! Then I'm ok with them. Phew.

Semperit is now a tyre brand of Continental AG.

Semperit! Now that brings back memories of my youth. They used to be very good budget tyres. No idea what theya re like now but nice to know the name, at least, continues.

Mike: 205/55 R16 as they are the cheapest an most common according to what I've read on here. You can see I've yet to do the badges!

TP: ah! So they are Austrian!!! Then I'm ok with them. Phew.

that explains the 81mph = 70mph then.

You won't break any speed limits then

Sat nav speed is only accurate in a straight line and level btw.

Mike

Edited 30 November, 201015 yr by rockhopper

that explains the 81mph = 70mph then.

You won't break any speed limits then

Sat nav speed is only accurate in a straight line and level btw.

Mike

Yep. Better like that for sure! The size is one of the two sizes that TP suggested and Skoda approves.

The size is one of the two sizes that TP suggested and Skoda approves.

For use with snow chains.

As I read the manual there is no recommended size for winter tyres which is where all the confusion stems from. SUK must think it doesn't snow over here because the don't supply us with the tyre info that Europeans are given.

I have the 215/60 R16's waiting to which I can only fit snow chains on the rears.

Mike

Semperit are good. Been around for many years.They are actually one of the leading manufacturer's of gloves, latex but they do a few others.

Tyres are just another product they do.

Yep, nowt wrong with Semperit. Seem to remember my father's old Alfasuds coming on Semperits and Klebers - both well respected budget makes. The Matadors on my Annapurnas are also part of the Continental empire, gave another confident performance in the snow that now covers Manchester this morning.

I think supplies of 'Winter' tyres are going to be increasingly hard to find - not to mention expensive. Going to be far more popular now we have have had a second winter with lots of the white stuff.

I bought my winter tyres in September and watched as the prices went up bit by bit. Last time I checked they were now £30 a corner more than what I had paid. If you buy them do I what I did and get them earlier in the year. Don't wait until November unless you want to pay more for them.

This mornings Auto Express. Some poor chap put winters on his Laguna and then Admiral wanted an extra £230 for 'Modifying' his car. They were not alone another company upped it's prices because of winter boot fitment too.

Only reaffirms my incredibly dim view of the banditry that is the Insurance industry.

The VW Transporter van centre caps also look great I think. ...

Hi

Thanks for the photos. Very helpful.

Now I know what I want for my winter wheels to protect the nuts and the hub centre.

Didn't really like the look of the cheaper plastic covers, and the salty road muck seems to get between the plastic cover and the wheel, which results in more, not less corrosion.

What do the centre caps cost, or are they off ebay?

Regards

Fred

What do the centre caps cost, or are they off ebay?

I can give you the part number once I'm next to the car but they are £15 or so EACH from VW when bought new. Or less than £20 a set from eBay. There are normally tons of them on there so no point buying new ones. Plenty of van drivers out there replace the standard T5 steel wheels with alloys, so there is a steady supply of centre caps.

I can give you the part number once I'm next to the car but they are £15 or so EACH from VW when bought new. Or less than £20 a set from eBay. There are normally tons of them on there so no point buying new ones. Plenty of van drivers out there replace the standard T5 steel wheels with alloys, so there is a steady supply of centre caps.

Thanks

In TP's Tyre Guide there is a link to this website that calculates the difference in fitted size. For my car it is:

So a 24,8mm difference in diameter and a 12,4mm reduction in ground clearance.

And in inches:

Edited 1 December, 201015 yr by 900000

Surely your 3.8% overread in speed is on top of the already quite optimistic standard speedo readings which explains your indicated 81 mph when the true speed was 70 mph. We checked our speedo. At a genuine 70mph the speedo reads 75mph .(Yes that is on a dead straight and flat Lincolnshire motorway by sat nav ).........Got to dig the car out now ....an extra 9 inches of snow last night. :(

Got to dig the car out now ....an extra 9 inches of snow last night.

Harvey must be a much happier snow monster than mine then! He is dripping in the snow!

This is all he had on yesterday before driving to the dealers to get his winter boots:

Harvey must be a much happier snow monster than mine then! He is dripping in the snow!

This is all he had on yesterday before driving to the dealers to get his winter boots:

Talk about Just-in-time winter boot management. Well done, you will need them this afternoon and tomorrow.

Talk about Just-in-time winter boot management. Well done, you will need them this afternoon and tomorrow.

The Monster is now safely tucked away at home and won't move much in the next few days until everything has thawed again.

Boring.....

Bit like my Polo at the moment

Mike

Boring.....

Bit like my Polo at the moment:rofl:

Mike

I was out in it this morning in a Fabia I 54 bhp shod with Chinese M+S tyres 2 hours to work, 2 there and due to a very strong chance of getting cut off from home, left early and spent another couple coming home

Mind I got up the Garrowby; others turn round without trying :p However if anybody is not needing a 4x4 Monster shod with winters over the next few days, can I borrow it

Regards,

TP

I was out in it this morning in a Fabia I 54 bhp shod with Chinese M+S tyres 2 hours to work, 2 there and due to a very strong chance of getting cut off from home, left early and spent another couple coming home

Mind I got up the Garrowby; others turn round without trying :p However if anybody is not needing a 4x4 Monster shod with winters over the next few days, can I borrow it

Regards,

TP

Sounds like Johann's is free...

Mike

Sounds like Johann's is free...

Mike

hehehe... the Monster might be tucked away whlist I'm at work, but alas I was wrong. I do need to go make a house call tonight in South East London...