Winter wheel programme

[percymon]

Stumbled across this official witner wheel programme pdf on the VW Germany website.

2010/2011 winter wheel programme

http://87.230.74.88/fileadmin/pdf/prospekte/2010/Winterkomplettradkatalog_2010_gb.pdf

I wonder how much the prices change for the UK, if the price of the Sima wheel option isn't silly then i might consider those rather than a set of steelies for this winter.

Anyone with ETKA have UK prices for parts..


1T0 073 265 EG 8Z8


and

1T0 073 266 FE 8Z8


Thanks

[Issac Hunt]

Prices should be close to those in brochure, with allowances made for exchange rate fluctuations.

[percymon]

Prices should be close to those in brochure, with allowances made for exchange rate fluctuations.


Probably, but i'd like to see what rip off Britain does to the prices, given these parts are necessary and widely bought in Germany , but not in the UK.

[johnloaderuk]

bulat from Slovakia had some VW winter wheels on his Golf, they look quite good. Pictures here:

http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=83572&highlight=rns310 In my opinion I think the winter alloys look better than the standard summer alloys.

And gamichea from the Passat CC section has done a similar thing.

http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?p=555786#post555786 These only cost £339.99 for 5 wheels.

[Keithuk]

Anyone with ETKA have UK prices for parts..


1T0 073 265 EG 8Z8


and

1T0 073 266 FE 8Z8


I have the older v7.0 at work but that only shows 1T0 073 266 FE 8Z8 which is aluminium rim with winter tyre diamond silver - £206.37 with VAT.

I shall have to search for the other one when I get home.

Personally I don't think they are worth £800 for a set of winter wheels and tyres, we don't have bad winters in the UK. But everyone to their own. ;)

[percymon]

I have the older v7.0 at work but that only shows 1T0 073 266 FE 8Z8 which is aluminium rim with winter tyre diamond silver - £206.37 with VAT.

I shall have to search for the other one when I get home.




thanks Keith.

that part is for the more expensive 16" Sima alloy + tyre combo. The VW brochure says no for the 15" winter set on cars fitted with 16" alloys from the factory (for some reason, even though you can fit 15" steel wheels from a base car).

I'll probably be going for the steel wheel set option from mytyres then, as they are about £80/corner for 15s and £115/corner for 16s.



Personally I don't think they are worth £800 for a set of winter wheels and tyres, we don't have bad winters in the UK. But everyone to their own. ;)

I'd not pay £800, but £350 - 450 is acceptable to me. Remember a winter tyre will brake and handle better at temps <7'C than a summer tyre. So dry, wet or snow conditions will all be safer on winter tyres. Winter tyres are now a heck of a lot better when it comes to slightly warmer days and treadlife is vastly improved.



My front Bridgestones will be shot by the end of October, so its a case of whether to buy two summer tyres (£190) , or a set of winter wheels (£400) and leave the purchase of the summer tyres then til April.

If i use winter wheels and buy 2 Bridgestones later i will have tyres to get me through til June/July 2012 at a cost of £590. If i stick with Bridgestones all year then i'm going to have to buy 6 to cover the same time period at a cost of £570 at todays prices. Not much in it. Using the winter wheels gives me better safety in colder temperatures and saves corrosion/damage of the summer alloys.

Horses for courses ;)

[Vincent Vega]

mytyres.co.uk do winter tyres, with steel wheels. I was thinking of splashing out for a set, after trashing a wheel on my Mini last winter. I'm not too bothered about the looks, as it makes sure that the proper ones are kept in decent nick. The last thing I want to do is to ruin my Golf (when it eventually arrives).

http://ssl.delti.com/cgi-bin/skw.pl?dsco=110&cart_id=82389522.110.3418&s_p=Steel_wheels

[Keithuk]

Anyone with ETKA have UK prices for parts..

1T0 073 265 EG 8Z8
I've checked for this one with v7.2 but its not listed. ;)

[WeegieBob]

I ran Michelin Alpin winter tyres on steels with standard VW wheel trims last winter and much to my surprise the car was noticably quieter and my fuel consumption decreased - which was an added unexpected bonus.

I would have preferred alloy wheels, but cost versus length of time on the car (to me) just didn't make economic sense. The package cost me about £250 all in as I got a killer tyre deal at Costco in Glasgow and my dealer gave me a set of steels & trims, which obviously helped in keeping the cost down.

What I have realised is because the winter tyres are on about 4 months of the year that means over the three years contract I save a years running on the expensive Bridgestones. I'm hoping (fingers & toes crossed) that because I'm on a 10000 mile a year agreement at the end of it I'll have done just 20000 on the Bridgestones and perhaps might not need to replace them when the car is to be returned. But there again, I might be just kidding myself on - only time will tell.

WeegieBob. :)

[percymon]

I ran Michelin Alpin winter tyres on steels with standard VW wheel trims last winter and much to my surprise the car was noticably quieter and my fuel consumption decreased - which was an added unexpected bonus.

I would have preferred alloy wheels, but cost versus length of time on the car (to me) just didn't make economic sense. The package cost me about £250 all in as I got a killer tyre deal at Costco in Glasgow and my dealer gave me a set of steels & trims, which obviously helped in keeping the cost down.

What I have realised is because the winter tyres are on about 4 months of the year that means over the three years contract I save a years running on the expensive Bridgestones. I'm hoping (fingers & toes crossed) that because I'm on a 10000 mile a year agreement at the end of it I'll have done just 20000 on the Bridgestones and perhaps might not need to replace them when the car is to be returned. But there again, I might be just kidding myself on - only time will tell.

WeegieBob. :)

Very interesting.

So you swapped the 17" GT wheels to 15" steels ?
Or did you find some 16" steels??

Thanks

[WeegieBob]

Hi percymon,

15" steels with 196/65 x 15 tyres. The combined diameter of the alloy wheel and tyre is roughly less than 1 cm smaller than the steel wheel and tyre, it may even be the same.

The only noticable difference is when I park beside a non-GT model running a standard wheel & tyre similar to my winter set up sizes is my car is lower.

I had one Mk VI owner scratching his head in a car park as I could see him looking at mine, which had the same plastic wheel trims as he had, trying to figure out why my roof line was lower than his - then when he saw the twin exhaust pipe they completely did his head in.

Hope this helps. ;)

WeegieBob.

[percymon]

Hi percymon,

15" steels with 196/65 x 15 tyres. The combined diameter of the alloy wheel and tyre is roughly less than 1 cm smaller than the steel wheel and tyre, it may even be the same.

The only noticable difference is when I park beside a non-GT model running a standard wheel & tyre similar to my winter set up sizes is my car is lower.

I had one Mk VI owner scratching his head in a car park as I could see him looking at mine, which had the same plastic wheel trims as he had, trying to figure out why my roof line was lower than his - then when he saw the twin exhaust pipe they completely did his head in.

Hope this helps. ;)

WeegieBob.

Many many thanks. VW refused to he drawn on whether I could use 15" wheels when the car came with 16s.

Just need to decide whether to fit 17" winter Tyres to the current alloys or buy a set of 15" steelies.

[WeegieBob]

The important things to remember percymon, and please forgive me if you already know this is if you go to a 17" snow tyre then you'll need to reduce the profile height to match your car's normal wheel diameter. Because I'm running 15" winter rubber I have a 65 profile to maintain that original diameter, you would have to go lower, perhaps a 45 profile, but you need to check with the experts.

The other thing is you must check with your insurers that they would allow an alteration in your car's original wheel specification. For example, because I'd spec'ed the optional 18" alloy wheel my insurers considered that as a modification from standard and added a small price increase to my first quote. However because I had that "exception" they were ok about the change to snow tyres, all I had to do was give them the exact details and sizes.

Be prepared to pay an additional cost or in a worst case scenario you insurers might even refuse to allow the change - i.e. apparently Co-op insurance is one of the twitchiest companies out there and don't allow a single change from standard spec without a price hike on each "modification", lets hope yours is one of the more understanding companies.

WeegieBob. ;)

[Vincent Vega]

A useful site that may aid in calculating tyre sizes:

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

[percymon]

The important things to remember percymon, and please forgive me if you already know this is if you go to a 17" snow tyre then you'll need to reduce the profile height to match your car's normal wheel diameter. Because I'm running 15" winter rubber I have a 65 profile to maintain that original diameter, you would have to go lower, perhaps a 45 profile, but you need to check with the experts.

The other thing is you must check with your insurers that they would allow an alteration in your car's original wheel specification. For example, because I'd spec'ed the optional 18" alloy wheel my insurers considered that as a modification from standard and added a small price increase to my first quote. However because I had that "exception" they were ok about the change to snow tyres, all I had to do was give them the exact details and sizes.

Be prepared to pay an additional cost or in a worst case scenario you insurers might even refuse to allow the change - i.e. apparently Co-op insurance is one of the twitchiest companies out there and don't allow a single change from standard spec without a price hike on each "modification", lets hope yours is one of the more understanding companies.

WeegieBob. ;)

Thanks.

I currently have the optional 17" wheels from the factory, so 225/45ZR17 91W tyres. I'll probably be going for the 195/65HR15 91T option, which is the tyre size of the S model and the speed rating of the VW winter tyre programme. However i also have a great offer currentyl of some 225/45/17 VR winter tyres at £320/set - no issue with insurance as the size is the same as VW fit and the speed rating is fine for the car performance. The only problme with the 17" winter tyres is i know they won't stand up to warmer temps come Spring, so i'll have to swap tyres back to summer type.

Weighing up the options of one set of wheels and swapping tyres (no ins issues) or two sets of wheels (ins and storage more difficult)

[ollli]

I've bin using winter tyres since 2001 on my mk4 ,the first set of tyres were some strange breed but it was a package deal 15" steel rim and tyre. Once they were down to 4.0mm i change over to vredestein snowtrac 2 on my mk4 and the extra grip in the winter be it rain ,ice or snow is worth every penny.For my mk6 got the same breed but the snowtrac 3 and i got some 16"steel rims from a passat.I couldn't use the 15" from mk4 as the brakes a too big on the front of the mk6.I would have liked to have used alloy wheels or the wheels that are on, just change the tyres but the cost of the winter tyre at 17" was too expensive

oli

[percymon]

Well i've just bought some Mk5 steel wheels and genuine trims - £10 from that popular auction site.

Favoured tyres currently Nokian WR+, Pirelli Sottozero, Dunlop Winter Sport 3D or Conti TS810/830

[percymon]

Collected the wheels n trims last night - one trim is a bit scuffed and the badge a bit oxidized, so i need to refurb that one, but otherwise a great buy.


Mytyres have 5% off all tyres til 22nd Sept by the way - yippee !!

[ronburg]

hi percymon
what speed rating are you going to use,is it ok to drop a speed rating for winter tyres

[percymon]

hi percymon
what speed rating are you going to use,is it ok to drop a speed rating for winter tyres

No issue. The VW winter programme lk in the opening post lists T or H rated for the regular Golfs. T rated are still good for 118mph so no issue. The MFD has a speed limit gong you can set as a reminder too.

If I was going 16" I'd probably go H rated purely because it gives greater scope for tyre choice.

I did a trial fit of the 15" steels tonight. Brake calipers are close but no issues. 140bhp 2.0 tdi and 160bhp 1.4tsi would need 16" rims, but all 1.6tdi and 1.2/1.4 122 TSI are fine.

Read more tyre reviews than I care to mention, narrowed it down to 4 options which were my gut feel at the start of my research anyway lol!

[ronburg]

know what you mean about reading tyre reviews,spent ages on adac site comparing the tyres.
Going to go with the conti ts830 which seems best suited for our winter's and in T rating is almost the same price as other brand tyres.

[percymon]

know what you mean about reading tyre reviews,spent ages on adac site comparing the tyres.
Going to go with the conti ts830 which seems best suited for our winter's and in T rating is almost the same price as other brand tyres.

The TS830 are very good Tyres as are Dunlop winter sport 3d, pirelli sottozero w190 and nokian. The nokians are perhaps a slightly less extreme winter tyre and better suited to the fluctuating temps of uk. Some us and Canada reviews claim can use them all year and get 30k+ miles from them !. The nokians start at 10.4mm tread depth, about 1.5mm more than the competitors. There's little info on real world tread life in mild winter conditions for conti, Dunlop and Pirellis.

[PhilDon]

No issue. The VW winter programme lk in the opening post lists T or H rated for the regular Golfs. T rated are still good for 118mph so no issue. The MFD has a speed limit gong you can set as a reminder too.

If I was going 16" I'd probably go H rated purely because it gives greater scope for tyre choice.

I did a trial fit of the 15" steels tonight. Brake calipers are close but no issues. 140bhp 2.0 tdi and 160bhp 1.4tsi would need 16" rims, but all 1.6tdi and 1.2/1.4 122 TSI are fine.

Read more tyre reviews than I care to mention, narrowed it down to 4 options which were my gut feel at the start of my research anyway lol!

Apart from the cost of having tyres fitted & refitted do you think there's any particular advantage in buying wheels & tyres as opposed to just tyres? - after all most of us have happily driven through winter with our alloys for many years?
thanks for the tip about sizes - I'd need 16" wheels

[percymon]

Apart from the cost of having tyres fitted & refitted do you think there's any particular advantage in buying wheels & tyres as opposed to just tyres? - after all most of us have happily driven through winter with our alloys for many years?
thanks for the tip about sizes - I'd need 16" wheels

1.Most tyre places are charging £12 or more for fitting and balancing, so its costing £50 to fit winter tyres and another £50 to refit summer ones.
2.There's also the risk of damaging the sidewall the more times its manipulated by the tyre fitter.
3.You still have to store 4 tyres when not in use and their size is no different whether its on a rim or not (albeit its easier to lift a tyre wthout rim to a garage loft space).
4. Having two sets of wheels means your prime set of alloys avoids the worst of the winter salt and crumbling tarmac (VW do a lovely set of wheel bags for about £25)

It all depends on what you can get a spare set of alloys for from ebay - 16" Mk5 ones tend to be £100-120 with kaput tyres, or £150 with ok ones. Passat 16" steel rims may fit but you'd have to do some research.

www.mytyres.co.uk (http://www.mytyres.co.uk) charge about £15 for its steel rim, but there is additional £10 / rim delivery charge so effectively the steel wheels are £100/set. VW charge about £55 each for steel rims.


Just ordered my tyres - in the end i went with Nokian W+ in 195/65/15 91T - it uses the same tread pattern as the WR tyre, is very tolerant of warm weather (people see 30k miles from them when used all year round), its approved by Porsche and its a low rolling resistance tyre so may improve mpg (one Skoda owner saw 7mpg improvement over previous Conti summer tyres).

My other considerations were Conti TS830 (top rated tyre, but no info on how it copes with warmer uk winter days), Pirelli Sottozero (mixed performance in tyre tests, despite top 3 ratings), Dunlop Winter Sport 3D (same comment as per Conti).

The Nokians may trade a smidgen of snow n ice performance to the others but i feel more confident i'd get three winters from a set of those ( 20k miles) than the others as they seem able to cope with warmer days better. £5/tyre cheaper too.

[percymon]

Just a quick note, to anyone who may want to purchase the VW wheel storage bags, part number 000 073 900..

.. they are NOT available to UK dealers - Europe only part number.

Similar items are available via ebay for about the same price, but aren't quite as swanky looking (neither are black bin bags lol!!)

[keithwigley]

My friend's son lives in Luxembourg, and has purchased this option for his wife's Golf. At the first whiff of snow, she phones the garage, gives them her VIN number and within 10 minutes of arriving at the garage she's away on her winter wheels. She thinks it's great. They don't worry too much about the extra cost, income tax in Luxembourg is about 5%!

[Keithuk]

to anyone who may want to purchase the VW wheel storgae bags,
I've never heard of wheel storgae bags David. Is that a typo storage? Even if it was a typo I've never heard of wheel storage bags? ;)

[Vincent Vega]

I've never heard of wheel storgae bags David. Is that a typo storage? Even if it was a typo I've never heard of wheel storage bags? ;)

They're ("storage bags") shown in the VW brochure linked towards the top of the thread.

[percymon]

These are the VW ones. Aldi apparently do an equivalent from time to time, although they may be somewhat limited quantity for UK sale.

[Keithuk]

They're ("storage bags") shown in the VW brochure linked towards the top of the thread.
Sorry Vincent there is no VW brochure link in this thread.

I can see the Storage bag in my VW Accessories (http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/assets/common/pdf/accessories/golf-vi-accessories.pdf)

Volkswagen Genuine Storage Bag - 00V 061 201 - £18

They do show them in the Scirocco Accessories (http://www.volkswagen-zubehoer.de/fileadmin/pdf/prospekte/englisch/zubehoer/L41003_Scirocco_Zub_GB_2.pdf) if you Google th part number. ;)

[Vincent Vega]

Perhaps my internet is better than yours, but I see the following URL in the first post in this thread:

http://87.230.74.88/fileadmin/pdf/pr...og_2010_gb.pdf

Click on it and it loads a Volkswagen winter wheel programme PDF. Scroll down a bit and you'll see a photo of some black and blue wheel/tyre storage bags, part no 000 073 900.

[percymon]

Sorry Vincent there is no VW brochure link in this thread.

I can see the Storage bag in my VW Accessories (http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/assets/common/pdf/accessories/golf-vi-accessories.pdf)

Volkswagen Genuine Storage Bag - 00V 061 201 - £18

They do show them in the Scirocco Accessories (http://www.volkswagen-zubehoer.de/fileadmin/pdf/prospekte/englisch/zubehoer/L41003_Scirocco_Zub_GB_2.pdf) if you Google th part number. ;)


As VV pointed out, it was my link to the VW Winter Programme brochure that first found the tyre bags - its interesting that they do feature in the Scirocco UK accessories brochure, and yet my delaer says not for UK ! They did look the part number up (000 073 900) and it shows as 'pocket' on ETKA, but the part number and price do not show on their internal VW parts ordering system.

Maybe i should try again with the Scirocco brochure to hand !!

[percymon]

Just noticed Keiths Scirocco brochure is the German website, and the UK Scirocco accessories brochure doesn't list the wheel bags or the winter wheel set..

http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/assets/common/pdf/accessories/scirocco-accessories.pdf

[ollli]

1.Most tyre places are charging £12 or more for fitting and balancing, so its costing £50 to fit winter tyres and another £50 to refit summer ones.
2.There's also the risk of damaging the sidewall the more times its manipulated by the tyre fitter.
3.You still have to store 4 tyres when not in use and their size is no different whether its on a rim or not (albeit its easier to lift a tyre wthout rim to a garage loft space).
4. Having two sets of wheels means your prime set of alloys avoids the worst of the winter salt and crumbling tarmac (VW do a lovely set of wheel bags for about £25)

It all depends on what you can get a spare set of alloys for from ebay - 16" Mk5 ones tend to be £100-120 with kaput tyres, or £150 with ok ones. Passat 16" steel rims may fit but you'd have to do some research.

www.mytyres.co.uk (http://www.mytyres.co.uk) charge about £15 for its steel rim, but there is additional £10 / rim delivery charge so effectively the steel wheels are £100/set. VW charge about £55 each for steel rims.


Just ordered my tyres - in the end i went with Nokian W+ in 195/65/15 91T - it uses the same tread pattern as the WR tyre, is very tolerant of warm weather (people see 30k miles from them when used all year round), its approved by Porsche and its a low rolling resistance tyre so may improve mpg (one Skoda owner saw 7mpg improvement over previous Conti summer tyres).

My other considerations were Conti TS830 (top rated tyre, but no info on how it copes with warmer uk winter days), Pirelli Sottozero (mixed performance in tyre tests, despite top 3 ratings), Dunlop Winter Sport 3D (same comment as per Conti).

The Nokians may trade a smidgen of snow n ice performance to the others but i feel more confident i'd get three winters from a set of those ( 20k miles) than the others as they seem able to cope with warmer days better. £5/tyre cheaper too.


hi all

16" passat do fit as i have them on mine .15
' won't fit as the front brakes catch. the tyre bags are great if you can buy some ,they are handy for me as i have an attic in my garage and when i want my wheels it's easy and cleaner to carry them.

As for the better mpg on my tdi about 12mpg differance between my summer tyre 225/45/17 at 2.7bar and my winter tyre 195/65/15 at 2.5bar the vi i haven't bothered as it's pritty poor on the juice.

oli

[Keithuk]

Yes there is also a Russian site (http://www.urartu.ru/ftpgetfile.php?id=25) that shows them and a New Zealand Passat site. I just Googled the part number to see what comes up. Unlucky UK.

They also show it on the Accessories for the Golf Plus (http://www.docstoc.com/docs/24755216/Accessories-for-the-Golf-Plus) ;)

[percymon]

hi all

16" passat do fit as i have them on mine . 15" won't fit as the front brakes catch.

oli

On the 160bhp TSI and the 140bhp 2.0 TDI the front brakes are bigger so you need 16s. Lower powered models are fine with 15s.

[WeegieBob]

Don't want to be challenging here guys, however I run a 09 plate Mk 6 Golf GT TDI 140 and its already been through one winter with no problems whatsoever using 6J x 15 H2 steel wheels supplied by my dealer. Tyres are 195/65 R 15 Michelin Alpins.

WeegieBob.

[percymon]

Don't want to be challenging here guys, however I run a 09 plate Mk 6 Golf GT TDI 140 and its already been through one winter with no problems whatsoever using 6J x 15 H2 steel wheels supplied by my dealer. Tyres are 195/65 R 15 Michelin Alpins.

WeegieBob.

Apologies, I'd forgotten you have the 2.0 TDI. I'm at a bit of a loss why VW say you can't put 15" alloys/steels on cars that left the factory with 16" wheels. Maybe some variants have bigger brakes than Bob and myself? Dsg cars??

[julieb]

Anyone tried snowsocks? Only just got our Golf so haven't had to use it n the snow yet but even with last winter's weather, a full set of wheels and tyres seems OTT in the UK

[WeegieBob]

Anyone tried snowsocks? Only just got our Golf so haven't had to use it n the snow yet but even with last winter's weather, a full set of wheels and tyres seems OTT in the UK

You've got to come up to Scotland julieb - 3 or 4 inches (75 / 100 mm) of snow makes for a difficult drive on standard tyres, especially so if they're of the wide variety.

I drive most winters in snow and a set of decent snow tyres really does make a difference, however I accept that it sounds from your post that snow tends to be light in your neck of the world so I would agree with you - why would you need to go the whole hog.

WeegieBob.;)

[ollli]

Anyone tried snowsocks? Only just got our Golf so haven't had to use it n the snow yet but even with last winter's weather, a full set of wheels and tyres seems OTT in the UK

I was gonna try the socks but there not legal if you go to countries where snowchains needed i.e. austria,germany etc. It's a pity as there dead easy to put on so for in the uk it would be ok.

[ollli]

Don't want to be challenging here guys, however I run a 09 plate Mk 6 Golf GT TDI 140 and its already been through one winter with no problems whatsoever using 6J x 15 H2 steel wheels supplied by my dealer. Tyres are 195/65 R 15 Michelin Alpins.

WeegieBob.
yeah it would be nice to go down to a 15" but on my 118kw petrol my front brakes hit the rims .195/65/15" is a good winter tyre size for a golf on my type 4 i have 15"winter set and 16"winter set on my type 6 both with vrederstein snowtrac and the the type 4 has way more grip than the type 6.

oli

[ollli]

A point that everyone missis is that a summer sport type don't like ****** nasty weather and when it"s below 7 degrees c they don't have much grip at all were as a winter tyre works the other way they dont like the warm weather .For me i put my winter sets on from october to april .A good winter tyre is good for all winter conditions and not just snow.

[percymon]

Snowsocks have their place and if all you need to do is get off estate roads to a well gritted and clear main road. Trouble is they are limited to 30mph and once on Tarmac have to be taken off again. Obviously you need to find somewhere safe to fit/remove them!

Handy for emergencybut not really good for cold weather use.

[percymon]

These are the VW ones. Aldi apparently do an equivalent from time to time, although they may be somewhat limited quantity for UK sale.


Gave up with VW, found some Aldi branded ones on ebay - £7 a set delivered.

Easy to fit (less than 5 minutes to unpack them and get the winter wheels covered up, seem good quality and the in built carry handles make it easy to handle tyres in and out of storage.

[Vincent Vega]

I've bought a tyre rack from eBay for my winter tyres:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Liftmaster-Home-Garage-Tyre-Storage-Rack-Trolley-/260562981993?pt=UK_Garage_Equipment_Tools_Tool_Box es_Storage&hash=item3caac39469#ht_2055wt_907

It has wheels, so it's easy to move the tyres around. It's got a cover to keep them dry and away from any rodents. The tyres are kept separate - they don't touch each other or the ground. It even comes with a tread gauge and a pressure measurement thingy. Excellent seller too.

Tyre-wise, I'm looking at Vredesteins of some description; it depends on what steel wheels the dealer sources for me.

All I need now is the car.

[percymon]

I've bought a tyre rack from eBay for my winter tyres:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Liftmaster-Home-Garage-Tyre-Storage-Rack-Trolley-/260562981993?pt=UK_Garage_Equipment_Tools_Tool_Box es_Storage&hash=item3caac39469#ht_2055wt_907

It has wheels, so it's easy to move the tyres around. It's got a cover to keep them dry and away from any rodents. The tyres are kept separate - they don't touch each other or the ground. It even comes with a tread gauge and a pressure measurement thingy.


There's also a static ( non trolley based) stand for £13 delivered on eBay - looks like old Aldi/Lidl stock from the packaging.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Free-Standing-4-Wheel-Tyre-Storage-Stand-P3QA-/350369145320?pt=UK_Garage_Equipment_Tools_Tool_Box es_Storage&hash=item5193a0e1e8