GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk7 => Topic started by: Hobojim on 09 June 2013, 22:32
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In all seriousness it is looking like I should be planning for winter boots. What are people's thoughts on winter tyres. I have never had a car with 18"s on it, should I be looking for a set of smaller alloys to put the chunkier rubber on? If so any recommendations? I'd like to keep something with vw centre caps on even if they are non oem.
Edit: 225/45 18R tyres are expensive! Cheapest I found on a quick search was £185 each!
Edit 2: black circles have them at 150 each.
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Edit: 225/45 18R tyres are expensive! Cheapest I found on a quick search was £185 each!
What a rip off!
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no real point putting 18” winters on. kind of defeats the object really. 17” would be better and cheaper.
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Hi agreed 17 inch alloys would seem sense , but wot if you have the pp option would 17 's still fit ?
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Hi agreed 17 inch alloys would seem sense , but wot if you have the pp option would 17 's still fit ?
No. Not on the fronts at least... not sure about the rear.
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Hi agreed 17 inch alloys would seem sense , but wot if you have the pp option would 17 's still fit ?
No. Not on the fronts at least... not sure about the rear.
I've done some googling and it appears you can get up to 335mm brakes under 17" alloys if you choose carefully. 344mm apparently fit under most alloys. So PP 340 mm discs should be ok as long as the callipers are not stupidly big.
Anyone know anything about the PP callipers over the standard ones?
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Would be interesting to see what VW offer you if you ask for a winter wheel package and you have the PP on your GTi. A british pound says they will say the 16" winter whell package will be fine hahaha
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So what size wheels will go over a non power pack car's brakes?
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So what size wheels will go over a non power pack car's brakes?
16"
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no real point putting 18” winters on. kind of defeats the object really. 17” would be better and cheaper.
How so?
I run 18" winter tyres on both my Mk6 GTI and Mk5 GT TD...and manage just fine, in conditions where the standard tyres (Goodyear Eagle F1s) wouldn't get the cars off the driveway.
17" may give you more protection...but the point of winter tyres is the compound and tread design...not the size.
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VW have a winter wheel programme, which is a good place to start. The 2012/3 brochure is here:
http://www.volkswagen-zubehoer.de/fileadmin/pdf/prospekte/2012/WKR_2012_engl.pdf
As it's the 2012/3 brochure, it only covers the "normal" Mark 7s, along with all of the Mark 6s, so you'll need to wait until the 2013/4 brochure comes out to see what it recommends for Mark 7 GTIs and GTDs. You can see what sort of tyres they suggest and the range of alloys that are available.
I used to run a set of 16" VW steel wheels on my GTD, together with Continental TS830s. The tyres are excellent, and there's not much wear after three winters (you can still get them from mytyres, along with their successors, the TS850s). The wheels started to go a bit manky, so I got rid of them and changed to a set of the "Aspen" alloys as shown in the winter wheels catalogue. My local dealer ordered them for me and they arrived in a couple of days. They look so much better than the steel ones.
If you go for a smaller set, the tyres are cheaper and the alloys are cheaper (and lighter). It doesn't really matter about appearance, so long as the car gets through the mush.
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no real point putting 18” winters on. kind of defeats the object really. 17” would be better and cheaper.
How so?
I run 18" winter tyres on both my Mk6 GTI and Mk5 GT TD...and manage just fine, in conditions where the standard tyres (Goodyear Eagle F1s) wouldn't get the cars off the driveway.
17" may give you more protection...but the point of winter tyres is the compound and tread design...not the size.
But if you are driving through slush and snow the narrower tyres are much better. Im well aware of the temperature issues but when it comes to slushy snow you are better of with skinnier tyres.
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Anyone know anything about the PP callipers over the standard ones?
As far as I am aware (someone please correct me if this is untrue)
The red calipers for the PP option have the white 'GTI' stamped on them.
Standard one's are just red with no Text
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Anyone know anything about the PP callipers over the standard ones?
As far as I am aware (someone please correct me if this is untrue)
The red calipers for the PP option have the white 'GTI' stamped on them.
Standard one's are just red with no Text
Hi Pal,
I think he was asking more about the size of the callipers on the PP compared to standard to determine the size of wheels required. :smiley:
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Yes I did know that, just wanted to make those aware of this though as I think a few people may be disappointed when they receive their's without the PP to find out they are not stamped with the GTi logo
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I use 6x16" steels with goodyear ultra grip 7+ 205/55/16.
These will fit the mk7 GTI (Non PP) and GTD and only cost £75 a corner.
If you have PP GTI VW recommend 6 J x 17 wheel with 205/50/17.
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I think I'll go for the 17” winters when I can find some.
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I think I'll go for the 17” winters when I can find some.
Selling mine on here
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? So with me ordering my gti with pp , I will need minimum wheel size of 17" , and with me wanting to keep costs down , steel wheels would be just the ticket , but can u get a 17" steel wheel ? Quite like flash motors with steel wheels in winter , I reckon they look quite cool , plus if I do get a bit cocky in the snow I'm not likely to destroy £400 of decent alloy and tyre
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no real point putting 18” winters on. kind of defeats the object really. 17” would be better and cheaper.
How so?
I run 18" winter tyres on both my Mk6 GTI and Mk5 GT TD...and manage just fine, in conditions where the standard tyres (Goodyear Eagle F1s) wouldn't get the cars off the driveway.
17" may give you more protection...but the point of winter tyres is the compound and tread design...not the size.
But if you are driving through slush and snow the narrower tyres are much better. Im well aware of the temperature issues but when it comes to slushy snow you are better of with skinnier tyres.
The difference between the two tyres in terms of footprint/width is so small as to be negligible. What would the 17s be? 225/45s? My 18s are 225/40s so no width difference only the tyre wall
I ran 18s with winter tyres for the last two years and they were amazing and I didn't feel as though the car was running on 'second rate looks' for the winter months.
I did lots of research before going for the 18s as these are on a separate set of alloys and the only advantages that the 17s had was a bigger side wall that might prevent damage to the alloys with kerbs etc and the fact that they are cheaper.
It's horses and courses but look at the long term view (you could easily get 3 even 4 winters out of a set) and the looks and performance of the 18s for me made a few pounds per year more definitely worth it!
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Winter tyres? Just don't drive like a tw*t in the snow and ice.
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Speaks volumes that the VW winter wheels on 17" rims uses 205 width tyres. You are better off with narrower tyres in the winter especially in snow and slush! Do you see cars in scandinavian countries running wide winter wheels?
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Winter tyres? Just don't drive like a tw*t in the snow and ice.
Exactly :grin:
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Winter tyres? Just don't drive like a tw*t in the snow and ice.
Wow. Tremendous reply.
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Speaks volumes that the VW winter wheels on 17" rims uses 205 width tyres. You are better off with narrower tyres in the winter especially in snow and slush! Do you see cars in scandinavian countries running wide winter wheels?
Is this from experience on a Golf?
I've tried 205 wide and 225 wide winters on 16" and 18" wheels and could find nothing between them...both meant I could get out of the driveway where summer wheels meant I was stuck.
I agree that the 20mm narrower width *should* make a difference, but in my experience it doesn't...except to comfort by virtue of the taller sidewalls.
You pay your money and make your choice...
The main difference is the fitting of winter tyres in the first place...which when not driving like a tw*t means I can go about my business regardless of the weather, up to the point that the front spoiler behaves like a snow plough....as opposed to being stuck in the driveway.
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I've never been stuck in Snow in my Scirocco, obviously not venturing anywhere I wouldn't attempt without 4wd.
I've found the traction even on normal tyres is as good as you can expect from a fwd car. Winter tyres are a huge storage pain (for the rest of the year) as well as an additional expense I have found I can do without. For the couple of days (couple of weeks at most) that we see snow I have found it pretty easy to cope if you are prepared to exercise extra caution and carry a shovel just in case.
If I lived in Austria i'd be fitting winter tyres (not least because they are mandatory), but here in the UK the ability to drive on a snow-bound road is limited to what the vast majority of other users on the road have fitted. You can't drive any quicker or further up a road that is clogged with other road users taking it slowly becuase of the conditions.
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I live in Glasgow and work out of Aberdeen. So winter lasts more than a few days! I have found that the winter tyres give me 2 important things; the ability to use the outside lane on the duel carriage way when the inside is doing 20mph and creeping because no one dates make tracks in the slush/fresh snow. With the winters on I'm happy making a lot better progress and also it's empty so if I have to stop I have acres of space to do it slowly so no one rear ends me. And that's the other thing, you stop so much more quickly! I did a full emergency stop test before and after putting my winters on at 30mph in the supermarket car park. And the difference was staggering. much happier with them on if the ground has got any sort of wet on it!
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For the couple of days (couple of weeks at most) that we see snow I have found it pretty easy to cope if you are prepared to exercise extra caution and carry a shovel just in case.
Winter tyres aren't just for snow. They give you more grip and start offering benefits at 7 degrees and lower, snow or no snow. If you swap to cheaper (and smaller) alloys as well, it means you don't have to worry about keeping your expensive alloys clean. The wheels and tyres I'm not using go in the shed and are stored vertically, so they don't take up much more room than the diameter of one tyre.
It's all very well saying "don't drive like an idiot", but unless you're some sort of deity who can control the weather and can read the minds of your fellow road users, that's really not much of an answer.
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I agree, narrows are better. You ideally want a narrow tyre with some weight on it, that allows the pressure to push through the snow/ice and make contact with the tarmac. My parent's old Morris Traveller performs immensely better than my 59 Fiesta because it weighs more and has ridiculously narrow tyres that cut nice groves into the ice. Fiesta just slides over the top and even a gentle incline is game over if the car comes to a stop. If I stop at lights on a minor road that is a few inches lower than the main road unless there is grit I'm going nowhere.
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I agree, narrows are better.
In slush perhaps.
In 9 winters and across 4 VAG FWD cars, I have only ever not fitted winter tyres one winter...and I couldn't get out of the driveway in snow.
Since then, I've fitted the same width tyres as standard - except on one occasion where I drove on 205s not 225s - and I can honestly say there was no advantage to the narrower tyres except less squirming & tramlining in slush.
It's the compound and tread pattern that matters.
My Goodyear Eagle F1s (on 2 Golfs currently) are great until the temperature drops below 5 degrees...then they are abysmal. So, at that point the winter tyres go on...and traction, braking grip etc are restored, with the option to drive easily on snow.
Having tried Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme, Michelin Pilot Alpin, Pirelli Snowsport, Avon Ice Touring and Toyo Snowprox, there it little between them for every day use - ANY are streets ahead than summer tyres, no matter how amazing a driver you think you are!
Only the Avons have been narrower and on a smaller wheel (16")...the rest have been standard sized wheels - 18" on the Golfs.
I can see that the storage of wheels & tyres is an issue for many though, and swapping tyres over risks damaging wheels. I guess I'm lucky to have space for spare wheels.
I will never drive through a winter without winter tyres now.
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Autocar did a test a while back and a 2 wheel drive car on winters performed better than the same model of car with 4wd on summer tyres. I rest my case.
Rally cars use narrows in snow but admittedly they are also studded.
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Rally cars use narrows in snow but admittedly they are also studded.
They're looking to increase the pressure at the point of contact, which you can dramatically do by changing the surface area of the tyre, so that the studs can gain some traction.
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Have to agree with Ess_Three on this one. until you have tried them you won't know. the difference is phenomenal. It makes the difference between getting to work and not for me.
also there is no real additional cost either. I change my car every 3 years (45000 miles) and a set of winters and summers the car came with last the distance. if I didn't fit winter tyres I would have to replace a set of summers anyway. summer tyres cost £150 each (18"). a winter tyre on a steel rim (16") cost about £110 each. so I actually save money (£160).
for me it's a no brainer. however I drive into europe at least twice a year for winter sports. and up to scotland as much as possible when the snow conditions are good.
There are plenty of back to back tests on youtube showing the difference winter tyres make and not just in the snow.
a front wheel drive car fitted with winter tyres will out perform any 4x4 fitted with summer tyres.
4 wheel drive might get you going but adds no advantage what so ever when you try and stop.
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a front wheel drive car fitted with winter tyres will out perform any 4x4 fitted with summer tyres.
4 wheel drive might get you going but adds no advantage what so ever when you try and stop.
Yes, 4wd has some disadvantages. The weight of the vehicle gives it momentum, which you don't really want if you have no traction. They have big wide tyres... which means reduced traction in the snow and ice. And most importantly, the people driving them think they are immune to weather conditions and fail to compensate...
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the people driving them think they are immune to weather conditions and fail to compensate...
Seen it too many times Bill :rolleyes:
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Has anyone got any further with what wheels will fit a PP mk7 ? I think that i'd prefer 17" rims, some thing BBS style always looks good. Are there any particularly good winter tire deals anyone has spotted? I go away for November and when I get back I suspect there may be snow about here up north!
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Most 17s will fit over the 340mm pp brakes unless they have thicker than normal rims, poss far east wheels which can be thick and heavy.
I got mine from
http://www.mrwinterwheels.co.uk/17-vw-golf-vii-mark-7-alloy-winter-wheels-tyres-borbet.html
They are German made and TUV approved for fitment to Golfs - and they fit
Tyres came second in Autoexpress 2013 test
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/64430/product-awards-2013-best-winter-tyres
pic of test fit to my pp golf
(http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/y438/1vidman/Golf/IMG_0005copy_zps760cf1e4.jpg) (http://s1274.photobucket.com/user/1vidman/media/Golf/IMG_0005copy_zps760cf1e4.jpg.html)
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mytyres.co.uk have alloy and winter tyre packages suitable for the PP-equipped GTI.
Click on "Wheel and tyre packages", then "Alloy rims with winter tyres". From the form that appears, choose:
Volkswagen
GOLF VII (Type AU) Year of manufacture 2012
2.0 GTI, 1984cc, 226 bhp, Year of manufacture: 10.2012-
You'll then be presented with a whole range of tyre and wheel packages.