Winter Tyres

[BenH]

As the title suggests I'm looking into getting a set of winter tyres and was just wondering
1) what people have and how much they cost
2)what you do with your normal tyres, is there a certain environment they need to be kept in to protect them?

I have an FR Titanium so 18" alloys and would be looking for 18" tyres to put on them rather than changing wheel completely

Thanks

 

[ladasik]

I'm in the process of getting winter wheels...I have bought a set of alloys (16 inch ) which I have refurbished myself and when I'll have the tyres on then I don't need to pay for tyre swap every season I can do it myself , and 16 inch tyres are nearly half the price of 18's
Last season I had Nokian WR D3 as they were very reasonable in price popping 72 Euro a piece...but they only lasted one season. This year I have decided I'm going on budget to see if there's any difference really - our winters are generally mild and in theory any winter tyre will be better than summer one. I've decided on Kormoran Snowpro B2 , they are a polish manufacturer which is owned my Michelin group and if it's good for snow covered Poland it will work in mildly cold Ireland

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

 

[R22 JGB]

Ben, like Ladasik, I have a set of 16" wheels with winter tyres fitted.
I bought these about 4 years ago complete with winter tyres for £140. I have since replaced the tyres due to them wearing down. I have a pair of Appollos which I use on the rear and I put a pair of brand new Goodyear Ultragrip 9s for the front.
There wheels were originally fitted to my mk 2 Leon FR170, last year I had them fitted to Skoda Octavia Scout, this year they will be going onto my mk3 Leon FR184.
16" wheels & tyres will be much cheaper than 18" tyres. If you have space to store them, search for some 16" wheels on eBay and buy tyres to fit.
Hope this helps.

 

[BenH]

Is 18" to 16" a straight swap or would anything need adjusting to accommodate for the smaller wheels?

 

[trebor]

Is 18" to 16" a straight swap or would anything need adjusting to accommodate for the smaller wheels?

16's go straight on the FR without issue - I had them on my 180 FR last winter.
Sold them on here a few months ago because the Cupra needs 17's to clear the brakes !!

I had these:

http://www.mrwinterwheels.co.uk/16-seat-leon-5f-alloy-winter-wheels-tyres.html

Could go even cheaper with steels if you want too.

 

[R22 JGB]

Is 18" to 16" a straight swap or would anything need adjusting to accommodate for the smaller wheels?

A straight swap, the 16s are a higher profile (205/55r16. 631mm od) than the 17s (225/45r17. 634mm od) and the 18s ( 225/40r18. 637mm od) there is a slight difference of 6mm between the 16s and the 18s but not sufficient to make any significant difference.
16" wheels fit over 312mm disc but larger discs on the Cupra need 17s.

 

[ladasik]

Now if anyone is interested I just got mine fitted. Falken Eurowinter449 on 16inch alloys which I've bought for 100euro and tyres were around 56euro each on eiretyres u can feel the difference straight away

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

 

[R22 JGB]

I fitted my winter wheels at the weekend.
eventually sorted out how to post pics.
here is one of my wheels, excuse the rusty discs, car was in heavy rain day before I took photo
upload image