GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk6 => Topic started by: mwad gti on 10 December 2012, 19:01
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Hi
I am toying with going for winter tyres but I am reluctant to use the Monza alloys/
What wheels do you use for winter ?
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I got a set of 18" Skoda vRS wheels off eBay for about £75 each if I remember correctly.
Took them to my local powdercoater and had them re-finished in a nice anthracite colour.
My WinterContacts just live on them - and are on the car 5 months of the year!
Cheap, effective, and don't look too bad either :smiley:
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I got a set of 18" Skoda vRS wheels off eBay for about £75 each if I remember correctly.
Took them to my local powdercoater and had them re-finished in a nice anthracite colour.
My WinterContacts just live on them - and are on the car 5 months of the year!
Cheap, effective, and don't look too bad either :smiley:
Sounds good. Got any pics?
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I got a set of 18" Skoda vRS wheels off eBay for about £75 each if I remember correctly.
Took them to my local powdercoater and had them re-finished in a nice anthracite colour.
My WinterContacts just live on them - and are on the car 5 months of the year!
Cheap, effective, and don't look too bad either :smiley:
Having seen them on p3eps's car...I can confirm, they do indeed look good.
I got a set of VW Racing TD Pro Race 1.2s and took them to the same local powder coater as p3eps, and got them done the same anthracite colour. This years winters have Michelin Pilot Alpins on.
(http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z72/Ess_Three/Golf%20GTI%20Mk6/P1000109a.jpg)
They went on last month, and like p3eps, will be on for 5 months or so.
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I got a set of 17" RS4 lookylikey wheels from fleabay. The tyres are Nokian WR A3.
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17" Monzas, got them off Gumtree for £120, Monza 2s waxed and tucked up for the winter.
Shod with Dunlop 4Ds
The grip in these low temperatures is outstanding..
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18 inch Dezent Alloys with 225 x 40 Wintrac Vredesteins. All brand new from etyres for aound £900.
Spent a month on ebay looking at scuffed alloys, replicas etc - decided on new alloys with a slightly different look for the winter months and also ones that will be easy to clean.
Dezent Alloys are very light as well, much lighter than the 18 inch BBS alloys I have.
Went on 2 weeks ago and have been brilliant so far. Grip is amazing.
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17" Audi S-lines (RS4 type) on my Passat, just been refurbed and powder coated.
(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t264/dubber36/SAM_9104.jpg)
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I have also been thinking about it but haven't been able to justify the expense as I also live in east Anglia (Suffolk) and we only get snow for about a week and there are no real hills to speak of, so not bothered so far as I have not experienced any issues with normal tyres. Last year my GTI was quite happy when driving at -9c on one cold night. I just drive very slowly went its snowy and icy or not at all if I can help it.
Question for those that have winters, I assume you have to inform your insurance company that you have changed the spec of your wheels and tyres?
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Question for those that have winters, I assume you have to inform your insurance company that you have changed the spec of your wheels and tyres?
Nope. Mine are OE wheels of the same size as the originals. Tyres are still the original size as well, so what's to inform them about?
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You'd be foolish not to tell them but there has been a lot of hype over insurance companies and winter tyres.
When I was renewing my policy recently I asked them about it and they said as long as the wheels / tyres were the same size they didn't have to be informed!!
Here is a link of insurance companies that need to be / don't need to be informed:
http://www.abi.org.uk/Information/Consumers/General/Winter_Tyres__The_Motor_Insurance_Committment.aspx
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Im not into looks for winter. So i would rather have the poorer looks of 16s and pay less for 4 tyres rather than silly amounts for 18" tyres. My total wheel tyre package price was £299.37
More ideas
http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=207445.0
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You'd be foolish not to tell them but there has been a lot of hype over insurance companies and winter tyres.
When I was renewing my policy recently I asked them about it and they said as long as the wheels / tyres were the same size they didn't have to be informed!!
Here is a link of insurance companies that need to be / don't need to be informed:
http://www.abi.org.uk/Information/Consumers/General/Winter_Tyres__The_Motor_Insurance_Committment.aspx
Thanks p3asa, useful link. So as long as the wheel and tyre combination meets VW spec then you should be ok. Specs are probably listed in the drivers manual. I would have to inform my insurance company by the looks of it.
So Dubber depending on who you are insured with you may need to contact them despite using OE wheels and same size rubber.
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I got a set of 16" VW alloys from a breakers for £120. And 16" tyres are cheaper to buy. They look crap, but it's winter, so I don't care.
Remember you need 4 winter tyres for emergencies. A car with 2 winter tyres nearly hit me last year. He breaked on a corner and the rear of his car swung onto myside of the road. :angry: Do not listen to people who say you only need 2 (that's what my tyre fitter said to me - I looked at him like he had 2 heads :shocked:). You only need 2 to get you going. But you need 4 to get you stopped safely in an emergency. Don't mistake traction for grip. Traction on the 2 front tyres will get you going. You need grip on all 4 tyres to get you stopped safely in an emergency. Do your own research.
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So Dubber depending on who you are insured with you may need to contact them despite using OE wheels and same size rubber.
Phew, I'm in the clear. :smiley:
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So Dubber depending on who you are insured with you may need to contact them despite using OE wheels and same size rubber.
Phew, I'm in the clear. :smiley:
:cool:
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Never fitted a set of winter tyres to a car in over 20 years of driving, just adjust my driving to suit the conditions.
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Apart from the initial outlay of new wheels, which you should recoup if you sold your car, its a no brainer as you can only wear one set out at a time! :laugh:
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Never fitted a set of winter tyres to a car in over 20 years of driving, just adjust my driving to suit the conditions.
I hadn't either until last year, but the difference is so noticeable, especially when it's cold and greasy, never mind snow and ice.
Apart from the initial outlay of new wheels, which you should recoup if you sold your car, its a no brainer as you can only wear one set out at a time!
Too true.
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Never fitted a set of winter tyres to a car in over 20 years of driving, just adjust my driving to suit the conditions.
How do you adapt when you can't get the car moved off the driveway because the summer tyres sit and spin?
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Never fitted a set of winter tyres to a car in over 20 years of driving, just adjust my driving to suit the conditions.
Clearly you don't go snowboarding, skiing or sledging when the fun stuff hits, Winters FTW!
PS continental TS830's with VW OE Wheels....
(http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/The_nav/P1020659.jpg)
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Never fitted a set of winter tyres to a car in over 20 years of driving, just adjust my driving to suit the conditions.
:huh:
But tyres and dimensions are so different now. 10 years ago a 16 inch alloy was the top end - now with 18 or 19 it is very different.
Add to this the road conditions and traffic volumes, you have to drive with far better awareness of others - having more safety kit (which winter tyres are) allows you to be able to respond to situations better/quicker and be safer.
:smiley:
I'd never go back to summer only tyres - the benefit is too great to give it up.
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I drive for a living and managed to go about my business in all the snow last year using the Bridgestone RE050A you guys all seem to hate without any dramas.
Maybe I am just a driving god in bad weather :laugh:
In all seriousness I am sure a decent set of winter tyres would help, just never felt it necessary to date.
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I drive for a living and managed to go about my business in all the snow last year using the Bridgestone RE050A you guys all seem to hate without any dramas.
Maybe I am just a driving god in bad weather :laugh:
In all seriousness I am sure a decent set of winter tyres would help, just never felt it necessary to date.
I'm guessing your neck of the woods isn't known for it's hard winters?
It's really simple here...winter tyres if you want to go anywhere...summer tyres if you are happy not getting the car off the driveway.
I don't care how good a driver anyone is...if you can't get off the driveway, you aren't driving anywhere.
One year in the last 10 I didn't have winter tyres available...and for 2 weeks at a time, I couldn't go anywhere.
Never again.
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We definitely don't get the winters down here you guys do up in Scotland so can see where your coming from, did drive it in heavy snow just was slow going last winter.
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People really need to stop thinking they are just for snow and ice. When it's just cold and greasy, they really do make a difference.
As said before, you can only wear one set of tyres out at a time, plus if you are lucky enough to have them fitted to a spare set of wheels, you are keeping your diamond cut alloys away from the salt.
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I have never tried winters so I don't know what I am missing TBO. I live in Suffolk and the weather is never that bad and usually only really cold for a few weeks a year so I have never had he need for winters.
I would have to say that the GTI is very good in the snow and ice for example my parents live at the bottom of a small hill and last year there were two cars that failed to climb the hill and gave up but the GTI just plodded up it no problem.
I have had 4 VW's with diamond cut wheels and not suffered any white worm at all. I just wash the car once a week to stop the salt and brake dust eating into the finish.
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I would have to say that the GTI is very good in the snow and ice for example my parents live at the bottom of a small hill and last year there were two cars that failed to climb the hill and gave up but the GTI just plodded up it no problem.
:rolleyes:
It was not the car. It was the contact with the road. People keep making this mistake.
What brand of tyres do you have? What brand of tyres did they have? Do you think if they were using your tyres, they would have managed to go up the hill?
Most big name brand tyre manufacturers spend a lot of money to ensure that their tyres work in different conditions. Does anyone here fit cheap and nasty tyres to their 25 grand(new), pride and joy?
My dad drives a 4x4 that is extremely bad in the snow and ice. Why? Because he fits the cheapest tyres he can get. Then he wonders why my CAR is better than his 4x4 in the snow and ice :rolleyes:
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My dad drives a 4x4 that is extremely bad in the snow and ice. Why? Because he fits the cheapest tyres he can get. Then he wonders why my CAR is better than his 4x4 in the snow and ice :rolleyes:
and your car would be even better with winter tyres fitted.
Most big name brand tyre manufacturers spend a lot of money to ensure that their tyres work in different conditions.
No tyre however expensive, that works well on warm dry roads, or displaces lots of water on sodden roads, will perform as well when it gets cold as a purpose made winter tyre. It's all about using the right tool to do a particular job.
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My wife and I have 8 Goodyear Ultragrip 8s fitted to our Golfs. :cool: (4 each obviously)
No tyre however expensive, that works well on warm dry roads, or displaces lots of water on sodden roads, will perform as well when it gets cold as a purpose made winter tyre. It's all about using the right tool to do a particular job.
There was a review (you can find it here - google :tongue:) which showed that big brand tyres performed considerably better in poor road conditions than cheapo tyres.
I am not saying that a summer tyre is any substitute for a winter tyre or vice versa. Infact, at the beginning of this year, as we approached summer time and the weather warmed up, our winter tyres were crap on warm wet roads. Even the Bridgestones were a big improvement :undecided:
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So are you agreeing with me?