Novice question about new wheels
Discussion
Hi,
Apologies if this is a dumb question!
I have a 2013 Skoda Octavia VRS which has 18" wheels as standard but I really fancy some 20" wheels that are "guaranteed" to be compatible with my car.
So.....a few questions.
It's obviously never going to be as simple as off-with-the-18s and on-with-the-20s? The website selling the wheels mentions spigots?
Also, my existing tyres are 225 x 40.......what are the implications of fitting 245 x 40 on the 20s?
Vehicle warranty - invalidated by using non-Skoda wheels or not?
Insurance - presumably this counts as a mod so they need to be informed?
Many thanks for any advice :-)
Apologies if this is a dumb question!
I have a 2013 Skoda Octavia VRS which has 18" wheels as standard but I really fancy some 20" wheels that are "guaranteed" to be compatible with my car.
So.....a few questions.
It's obviously never going to be as simple as off-with-the-18s and on-with-the-20s? The website selling the wheels mentions spigots?
Also, my existing tyres are 225 x 40.......what are the implications of fitting 245 x 40 on the 20s?
Vehicle warranty - invalidated by using non-Skoda wheels or not?
Insurance - presumably this counts as a mod so they need to be informed?
Many thanks for any advice :-)
Firstly nice car.
20's in my opinion will make your car ride like a pig on anything other than a billiard table like surface, it will give you no performance benefit and will probably hinder performance slightly, that is my opinion for what it's worth.
Spigots are a circular piece of nylon/plastic/alloy, that reduces the size of the alloy wheel centre hub so it will fit your wheel mount hub.
Fitting the same tyres that are on your 18's is a bad idea they will be stretched which will cause balance problems and over stress the tyre, and probably won't be wide enough
Skoda warranty won't necessarily become invalid unless it's an issue that would be directly affected by the wheels, e.g suspension, but ask anyway
Insurance just ask they might say its ok , but then you need to get that in writing.
Stick with the 18's
20's in my opinion will make your car ride like a pig on anything other than a billiard table like surface, it will give you no performance benefit and will probably hinder performance slightly, that is my opinion for what it's worth.
Spigots are a circular piece of nylon/plastic/alloy, that reduces the size of the alloy wheel centre hub so it will fit your wheel mount hub.
Fitting the same tyres that are on your 18's is a bad idea they will be stretched which will cause balance problems and over stress the tyre, and probably won't be wide enough
Skoda warranty won't necessarily become invalid unless it's an issue that would be directly affected by the wheels, e.g suspension, but ask anyway
Insurance just ask they might say its ok , but then you need to get that in writing.
Stick with the 18's
If the wheels need spigots they are probably a universal fitment and spigot rings are needed to line them up with the existing hubs, I would have thought 20" wheels in VAG fitment wouldn't be that hard to find.
You really don't want to fit 245/40/20 tyres if you are currently running 225/40/18's, they are about 50mm bigger in diameter which may not fit under the wheel arches and you speedo will read low, ie speedo reading 90, car doing 100
http://tire-size-conversion.com/tyre-size-calculat...
Not sure about warranty issues but I imagine if you had a wheel bearing , suspension failure or drive shaft issue they would blame the non standard wheels and refuse the claim.
Your insurance would have to be informed as it is a modification from standard and increases the risk of theft so be expecting an increase.
Oh and the ride quality of the car will be terrible .
You really don't want to fit 245/40/20 tyres if you are currently running 225/40/18's, they are about 50mm bigger in diameter which may not fit under the wheel arches and you speedo will read low, ie speedo reading 90, car doing 100
http://tire-size-conversion.com/tyre-size-calculat...
Not sure about warranty issues but I imagine if you had a wheel bearing , suspension failure or drive shaft issue they would blame the non standard wheels and refuse the claim.
Your insurance would have to be informed as it is a modification from standard and increases the risk of theft so be expecting an increase.
Oh and the ride quality of the car will be terrible .
eldar said:
You'll increase the gearing by 9.46%
And I would guess that will make the speedo readout illegal (it can read up to 10% over the actual speed, but cannot read under at all). Not that it ever gets checked.ETA Plus it's going to kill the acceleration.
Edited by xRIEx on Saturday 22 February 18:53
Why do you want to ruin the ride comfort of your car, make it more susceptible to aquaplaning, tyres will cost far more and wear our quicker?
Oh and if you hit a pothole which is especially likely at the moment, the tyres and wheels are far more likely to be damaged. If it did snow the car would be undrivable.
If you said you wanted to put 16" wheels on, that would make more sense.
The sooner the British public rebel against this ridiculous fad by voting with their wallets, the better. Look at the tyres fitted to cars in mainland Europe, you won't see rubber bands for tyres there, perhaps they've got more sense
Oh and if you hit a pothole which is especially likely at the moment, the tyres and wheels are far more likely to be damaged. If it did snow the car would be undrivable.
If you said you wanted to put 16" wheels on, that would make more sense.
The sooner the British public rebel against this ridiculous fad by voting with their wallets, the better. Look at the tyres fitted to cars in mainland Europe, you won't see rubber bands for tyres there, perhaps they've got more sense
I have never really understood the trend for big wheels.
OP its your choice though
Have a flick through this thread from last year, plenty of thoughts on the matter!
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
OP its your choice though
Have a flick through this thread from last year, plenty of thoughts on the matter!
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
ruff'n'smov said:
20's in my opinion will make your car ride like a pig on anything other than a billiard table like surface, it will give you no performance benefit and will probably hinder performance slightly, that is my opinion for what it's worth.
The 18s already make it ride like a pig on anything other than a billiard table. 
I've been thinking of down-sizing ours when this set of tyres wear out.
Thanks all, most illuminating!
So 20s seem to be a non-runner, fair enough.
19s? (Skoda offer 19s as a cost option on my car but when I was buying they were still pre-production and would have delayed delivery by 8 weeks).
Any views on upgrading from 18 to 19? Would I still have ride issues?
FWIW, my assumption was wider tyres = more rubber in contact with the raod = safer ride.
I guess I have lots to learn :-(
So 20s seem to be a non-runner, fair enough.
19s? (Skoda offer 19s as a cost option on my car but when I was buying they were still pre-production and would have delayed delivery by 8 weeks).
Any views on upgrading from 18 to 19? Would I still have ride issues?
FWIW, my assumption was wider tyres = more rubber in contact with the raod = safer ride.
I guess I have lots to learn :-(
Tickle said:
I have never really understood the trend for big wheels.
OP its your choice though
Have a flick through this thread from last year, plenty of thoughts on the matter!
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
As you say it's her choice, and she clearly wants 20 inch wheels, so why would she care what anyone else's thoughts on the matter are? Especially from this site in particular?OP its your choice though
Have a flick through this thread from last year, plenty of thoughts on the matter!
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
xRIEx said:
And I would guess that will make the speedo readout illegal (it can read up to 10% under the actual speed, but cannot read over at all). Not that it ever gets checked.
ETA Plus it's going to kill the acceleration.
You have that the wrong way round. Speedos can read over the actual speed but cannot under read.ETA Plus it's going to kill the acceleration.
clare1986 said:
FWIW, my assumption was wider tyres = more rubber in contact with the raod = safer ride.
Wider tyres will give you marginally more grip in the dry but on standing water they will have more tendency to aquaplane. Lower side-walls (which you'll get with bigger wheels unless you increase overall rolling radius) also make the loss of grip much more abrupt when you do hit the limits.Getting one with 18 inch wheels is the one thing I really regret. I really cannot overstate how much better the car both rides and handles on smaller, lighter wheels.
If you're going to change the wheels, pick the setup that gives you the lowest total weight (wheel + tyre) within your budget. You should be able to knock a good 15kg a corner off the standard wheels for relatively little money and it will pay dividends for both ride and handling. I think 17 inch is the sweet spot for the mk2 Octavia in terms of tyre side-wall flex and weight. Don't change the overall rolling radius any more than you have to or you'll screw up your speedometer and odometer and possibly find that the wheels foul the arches or liners.
if you want 20s for the looks, you'll probably do least damage to your handling if you stick with the current width, or even go slightly narrower; pick a tyre with a soft side-wall; and again, get the lightest wheels you can.
Edited by kambites on Saturday 22 February 18:16
SMcP114 said:
Tickle said:
I have never really understood the trend for big wheels.
OP its your choice though
Have a flick through this thread from last year, plenty of thoughts on the matter!
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
As you say it's her choice, and she clearly wants 20 inch wheels, so why would she care what anyone else's thoughts on the matter are? Especially from this site in particular?OP its your choice though
Have a flick through this thread from last year, plenty of thoughts on the matter!
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Forgetting whether it's a good idea or not.....you would need 235/30 20 tyres. They'll still be a bit bigger but within acceptable limits.
I can't comment on the ride but many cars run 20's these days..Insignia for example but I would gave thought 19's would be a good compromise . These would require 235/35 19" tyres.
I can't comment on the ride but many cars run 20's these days..Insignia for example but I would gave thought 19's would be a good compromise . These would require 235/35 19" tyres.
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