[aberdeengti]

I was just wondering if anyone replaces their alloys with steels for winter? and what wheels they used? just standard VW steels? Is this a good idea?

I just have the standard 16" Montreal VW Alloys on my car..

 

[oxford]

I just have the standard 16" Montreal VW Alloys on my car..

Nothing wrong with those.... They are my best set [] *roll eyes.

 

[oxford]

I would just say wash them each week. Even if you think your hands are going to fall off...

 

[aberdeengti]

yeah i love the montreal alloys, quite glad i managed to get a Y plate car with them on, rather than the older ones.. been looking for a golf for ages and found one a couple of weeks ago

 

[MikeP]

I've got 15" steelies with winter tread tyres on them, they have fantastic grip in the snow and slush.

 

[Rye]

do u guys really put steelies on in the winter? Your car would look like crap. Wheels are one of the only thing that makes my car non-standard (well a few other things), so I wouldn't wanna put steelies on. Also the steel wheels are not very wide so surely my alloys with Goodyear Eagle F1s would perform better?

 

[phil08]

i think its more of the case of sliding about and kerbing your nice alloys and all the salt and crap that is on the roads in winter ruing them![!]i would sacrifice the looks of my car for winter time it makes sense

i was going to use my montreal 2 alloys for winter but have decided to sell them, mind you was thinking of selling my 17" rs4 instead and keeping the monty's[^]

 

[aberdeengti]

okay as far as im aware wide standard tyres are not good in snow/slush for grip.. and i don't care what my car looks like in winter.. wheels wise.

 

[oxford]

I think you will benefit more from winter wheels because your in bonnie scotland

 

[Rye]

hmmmmm I absolutely hate the winter []

Yeh might be a good idea I guess. It'll encourage me to do some more mods, such as my rear lights and suspension and then when I get the alloys back on in march/april it would be a nice suprise.

What are other people's views on winter wheels?

 

[aberdeengti]

yeah i mean im still undecided, apparently the wider the wheel/tyre the larger the surface area which isn't good.. so i heard... its also a case of cost, how much are a set of steels anyway?

 

[oxford]

I think you will benefit from swapping them over on some months in particular - say Decemeber and Jan...

This is where you are most unlikley to wash them and not take care when parking! - it is also a time when you use the car a lot as it is too darn cold to walk anywhere!

 

[Rye]

Steelies can be had for around ?50 on ebay. A larger surface area would normally provide more grip. But I suppose it is a larger surface in contact with an almost zero friction surface. With the narrower wheels, maybe they dig in through the snow/slush more and make contact with the underlying grippy road surface? That's the only thing I can come up with

 

[MikeP]

Quote: posted by Rye on 20/08/2004 15:05:32

Steelies can be had for around ?50 on ebay. A larger surface area would normally provide more grip. But I suppose it is a larger surface in contact with an almost zero friction surface. With the narrower wheels, maybe they dig in through the snow/slush more and make contact with the underlying grippy road surface? That's the only thing I can come up with

Correct-ish! You actually get more surface area with narrower thicker tyres than low profile 18's... I've drawn a diagram in front of me, but still trying to figure out how to explain... Big Mike will get back to you!

Oh, and if you get special winter tread tyres, the grooves actually chuck snow out the sides rather than it getting stuck in the tread itself.

 

[TIW30]

You get less grip on wider tyres i.e your low prfile aftermarket one because the weight of the car is spread over a larger area narrow tyres spread it over a small area giving the tyres more bite to the slippery/icy surface allowing better grip and more traction

 

[Ricardo]

Used to have them on my golf now MikeP has them, they are great you can chuck the car about so much more and if really cold and slushy not worry about wheel corrosion and stuff []

Look at rally cars doing the swedish rallies and stuff they have extremely narrow tyres as TWI30 says because the contact area is more concentrated and so more bite enhanced by tyres designed to clear snow out rather than clog. You dont really need 'em unless regularly in snowy, dubious weather.

 

[Mikedav]

Quote: posted by Rye on 20/08/2004 14:40:15

do u guys really put steelies on in the winter? Your car would look like crap. Wheels are one of the only thing that makes my car non-standard (well a few other things), so I wouldn't wanna put steelies on. Also the steel wheels are not very wide so surely my alloys with Goodyear Eagle F1s would perform better?

Apparently in winter conditions, big wide tyres are the last thing you want. Skinny, narrow tyres work better as they cut through the slush rather than flattening it out and make a super slippery surface.

In countries that get proper winters, 'winter wheels' are the norm to a) get traction and b) protect your alloys from the salt and grit on the roads. Winter in Canada is a prime example, when I was out there all my friends put their rims in the garage and majorly uglified their car with black narrow steelies; you dont care what the car looks like because at that time of year its completely filthy 100% of the time anyway.

I do think its a bit extreme for British weather as we get about two days of snow, but the principals the same so I understand the logic

 

[MikeP]

Quote: posted by Mikedav on 20/08/2004 18:05:48

I do think its a bit extreme for British weather as we get about two days of snow, but the principals the same so I understand the logic

True, but you've seen how your black car gets in Winter with all the salt they put on the road... [] So glad I have silver lol!

Just wish we had proper winters actually, I miss the snow []

 

[aberdeengti]

cheers for the info guys, up here in north of scotland (last year anyway) we had a lot of snow in a short space of time for about 2 weeks, and then on and off throughout jan/feb and i work a bit away from where i live, so would be handy to get a set of steelies and then get some tyres. Better than sliding around and hitting the curb..

-Alan