Winter Tyres

[Neil gti]

Been sunny all week here so hopefully all the snow and ice has gone now so just been out and fitted my Vwrs back on,
Hopefully not to early, you watch be 6" of snow in morn 

[am1w]

Been sunny all week here so hopefully all the snow and ice has gone now so just been out and fitted my Vwrs back on,
Hopefully not to early, you watch be 6" of snow in morn 

I cannot believe how bad it has been for all of you especially in Scotland.
In comparison, we are really quite soft and spoilt down South.

[Neil gti]

Is it still snowing in Scotland 

[am1w]

Is it still snowing in Scotland 

How absolutely horrible.
Is it not supposed to be the start of Spring now?

[p3asa]

Not snowing just outside Glasgow but our cul-de-sac and back garden is still covered in snow/ice  Although quite a bit melted today.

I can remember when I was 17 and had my first car (Talbot Sunbeam) and loved going out in it in the snow. It gripped like glue and not once did I get stuck or have a scary moment. It must have been the small skinny tyres on it.

[Neil gti]

Now that i have put the Vwrs back on with the F1s
I never realised how quite the Vredys where compared to the F1s for road noise 
Do you think it is down to the fact they are 19s and lower profile or cos the Vredys are a lot softer compound ?

[mac7]

Now that i have put the Vwrs back on with the F1s
I never realised how quite the Vredys where compared to the F1s for road noise 
Do you think it is down to the fact they are 19s and lower profile or cos the Vredys are a lot softer compound ?

Tyre noise is mostly down to tread design. I think the tread block hitting the road surface and trapped air being compressed between the blocks and squeezed out are the two main sources. If you look at your tyre tread carefully you'll notice that the tread block sizes vary around the tyre - the spaces between tread blocks (sipes) are not equally spaced. This is to help spread noise over a wider frequency range and make it less noticeable. I think the steep diagonal tread pattern might reduce the amount of size variation you can have.

Also, the F1's long diagonal sipes will be good at clearing water effectively, but when it's dry will also tend to capture a lot of air and squeeze it out the sides. This is one reason why directional tread patterns are less common than they were, as vehicle noise limits have been reduced.

[percymon]

We've hit that awkward time of the year again - almost double digit temps at the height of the day, but below freezing at night.   Just about still on the side of winter tyres.

[havoc]

Sorry to bump this, but Snoopy (or anyone else with access to Etka), could you confirm whether any of the wheels listed below will fit a MkV GTi?
(I'm struggling to find a set of any of the codes in the image above without going to VW themselves)

I know I need a minimum diameter of 16", PCD of 5x112, offset of 45-51 and a 57.1mm hub, but beyond that the VW part-numbering system is losing me - have found Caddy / T4 steel wheels as follows which seem OK but I don't want to buy them and find they're wrong somehow...

7H0 601 0270 or 7D0 601 0270 - not sure which
2K3 601 027


Thanks,

Martin.

[Snoopy]

The listing i posted is actually for the mk5 
You have to be careful of the dish bit of the wheel if looking at 16s for the mk5. As not all will fit the GTI as they can catch the caliper.