Winter wheels on

[apmaman]

Fitted my winter wheels today. I was planning on putting them on at the end of the month but I took a puncture which was unrepairable, so stuck one winter wheel on as the spare, then ended up just sticking them all on....

[Wibb]

those tyres look massive!

[Leon-y-k]

Looks pretty smart! I love green

[Miffy84]

Awwwwww I so want my winter steelies in white now!!!! Got tyres on order and getting full set of genuine Fabia steels, but at £100 to powdercoat them they might just have to stay black :(

Looks awesome tho dude, like a little ice racer!!!

Matt

[Rsrob]

They look very nice the white wheels work well with the green

[nockmeister]

Ditto...they look brilliant with the green! What size are they, as Wibb says they look massive and fill the arches nicely.

[thejames]

Now I like that a lot!! I'd be lying if I said I hadn't already googled powder-coaters...

What centre cap are you using mate?

[apmaman]

the tyres are 195 65 15. and im using the caps that came off the original alloys.

they are pretty big. infact too big but theres no rubbing from what ive found yet. but ill be putting 3mm spacers on just encase.

ive noticed on the left rear wheel arch has a rectangular block that sticks out inside the wheel arch and its pretty damn tight. no such problem on the right rear. must ve to do with the exhaust?

oh and powdercoating?!?! tin of hammerite sand paper and some spare time is all you need!!

[Brimma]

Hope I'm not being ignorant, but won't that size tyre affect your speed/distance counter?

When I was looking I thought that 195/55/15 were nearest to the standard 205/40/17

[apmaman]

its about 4 or 5mph out at 60 if i remember. not too big a deal

[Chadruharazzeb]

I was thinking about doing this but I really can't justify spending money on new tyres and wheels for the amount of really cold weather we get here. Maybe if I lived in Siberia I'd invest in some but not in Stafforshire! Besides if it snows terribly I'll just have the day off, if it's icy I'll just do what I've done for the last 17 years of driving - be careful!

[shark_90]

Is it not a bit early for winters? Still 15/16 degrees at night around here at the moment.

[apmaman]

it is. they were meant to go on in november but i punctured a tyre and used one as a spare but decoded to just stick the rest on lol

[Gizmo]

Is it not a bit early for winters? Still 15/16 degrees at night around here at the moment.

Exactly what I was thinking from the few threads that have been started stating that winters have been fitted already, although for this OP I can see why he has fitted them.

For me though they will not be going on both of our cars until the temperature is consistantly below 7° when the cars are being driven.

[Furbytom]

Looks nice, very "rally stage" lol.

Bet there is a big improvement in ride with the taller sidewalls on those?

[domhnall]

Is it not a bit early for winters? Still 15/16 degrees at night around here at the moment.

it's barely that in the day time round here - summer has been cr@p

[apmaman]

Looks nice, very "rally stage" lol.

Bet there is a big improvement in ride with the taller sidewalls on those?

yeah it looks rallyesc which is what i was going for. rides so much quieter and smoother its great. especially with the power i imagine its a taste of what those big german exces are like.

[trundlenut]

I think the wheels look good. You just need some giant plastic mud flaps now to complete the rally look.

[logiclee]

yeah it looks rallyesc which is what i was going for. rides so much quieter and smoother its great. especially with the power i imagine its a taste of what those big german exces are like.

Even on bigger German cars higher sidewalls make a big difference to the ride. My Passat has a fairly firm ride and runs 235/45 summers but I fit 215/55 winters, not a big a difference as yours but it's certainly big enough difference to smooth out motorway ridges and potholes.

Not too big a difference on noise though as the car's pretty quite even well over legal mway speeds.

Cheers

Lee

Edited 14 October, 2011 by logiclee

[jrw]

Hope I'm not being ignorant, but won't that size tyre affect your speed/distance counter?

When I was looking I thought that 195/55/15 were nearest to the standard 205/40/17

Not to mention insurance issues fitting incorrectly sized tyres to the car.... :wonder:

[R1chard]

Sorry to say but that just looks **** !

[fabdavrav]

Not another idiot!!!! .......why oh why do people think that it is ok to fit non-standard tyre sizes on their cars :wonder: .........Just don't have an accident as the insurance asesor will screw you over .......it's bad enough paying the extra to fit non-OEM alloys even if they are to OEM sizes....let alone the fact that some insurance companies want to charge you if you fit "winter" tyres in OEM sizes (there is a thread in here about which do and dont').

I wrote my previous car off 11ish years ago at 34mph in winter...the assesor went over it with a fine toothcomb and noticed that I had fitted aftermarket alloys which were the same design/manufacture as the OEM ones but in a larger diameter!! But as the o/a tyre and wheel size and RC was to the OEM options specs for the car and the wheels were not visiably different it was ok'ed!!!

[logiclee]

The ABI cleared the winter tyre issue up last year .As long as you fit oem alloys or steel wheels with an approved tyre size your insurance can not charge you for a modification.

Cheers

Lee

[nockmeister]

Not another idiot!!!! .......why oh why do people think that it is ok to fit non-standard tyre sizes on their cars

I wrote my previous car off 11ish years ago at 34mph in winter...

I had fitted aftermarket alloys which were the same design/manufacture as the OEM ones but in a larger diameter

Tis unusual for someone to openly admit that they are an idiot... WELL DONE!!

[fabdavrav]

The ABI cleared the winter tyre issue up last year .As long as you fit oem alloys or steel wheels with an approved tyre size your insurance can not charge you for a modification.

Cheers

Lee

Not according to my mates or to this thread/post

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/178463-winter-tyre-friendly-insurance-companies/page__view__findpost__p__2541835

A few are charging "admin" fees and require you to tell when you change the tyres.......bunch of thieving rip off mechants!!!

P.S. they state OEM tyre sizes....so if you fit non OEM sizes and the RC is way out (like the OP) then you are fubar!