Karoq in the snow

All Skoda Karoq related discussions
AndyC
Posts: 14
Joined: Tue Aug 04, 2020 6:45 pm

Post by AndyC »

Took the Karoq out in the snow for first time today, and its was useless. Defeated by a gentle slope that took three goes to climb with the wheels scrabbling all over the place. My old Yeti would just have gone straight up it. OK my Karoq is not 4x4, but I expected better. Could the Bridgestone tyres be part of the cause? Just as well we don't get much of this weather.

Andy
Currently drive Yeti 170. Karoq Edition in Petrol Blue on order.

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CJJE
Posts: 450
Joined: Sat Mar 28, 2020 6:39 pm
Location: Stone, Staffordshire

Post by CJJE »

There's no substitute for all-season or winter tyres - depending on how much you want to spend, and how much you fancy swapping wheels every six months.

It annoys me no end that my new 4x4 Karoq will have less grip than the FWD Golf SV I've just P/Xed with all-season tyres! But I'm too tight to swap tyres on a brand-new car, and don't fancy buying winter tyres as they die of old age before they wear out!

Still, with the lockdown, we're not driving much this winter anyway :)

Chris
VW Golf GT 1.9TDI from 11/98 to 3/06; Skoda Octavia L&K 2.0TDI from 3/06 to 12/11; VW Golf Plus SE 1.6TDI DSG from 12/11 to 2/15; VW Golf SV SE 1.4TSI DSG from 2/15 to 11/20; Skoda Karoq Sportline 2.0TSI 4x4 DSG from 11/20.
AndyC
Posts: 14
Joined: Tue Aug 04, 2020 6:45 pm

Post by AndyC »

A quick look online suggests a set of all seasons type tyres will be around £700. If it stops todays performance issues I will consider it to be money well spent. Will probably look to change for next winter. I don't have the space to store a second set of rims and tyres.

Andy
Currently drive Yeti 170. Karoq Edition in Petrol Blue on order.
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CJJE
Posts: 450
Joined: Sat Mar 28, 2020 6:39 pm
Location: Stone, Staffordshire

Post by CJJE »

Another thought is that tyres need running in too, and don't develop their full grip for around 300 miles or so. I don't know about you, but I've only done around 200 miles in my Karoq since I bought it in mid-November thanks to the lockdowns. If you're the same, then they may well develop more grip as they wear in.

Chris
VW Golf GT 1.9TDI from 11/98 to 3/06; Skoda Octavia L&K 2.0TDI from 3/06 to 12/11; VW Golf Plus SE 1.6TDI DSG from 12/11 to 2/15; VW Golf SV SE 1.4TSI DSG from 2/15 to 11/20; Skoda Karoq Sportline 2.0TSI 4x4 DSG from 11/20.
AndyC
Posts: 14
Joined: Tue Aug 04, 2020 6:45 pm

Post by AndyC »

I've around 1200 miles on mine (4 months old) so they have had time to bed in. If they don't get any better in next few hundred miles, then I'll change them.

Andy
Currently drive Yeti 170. Karoq Edition in Petrol Blue on order.
Mark-Guildford
Posts: 34
Joined: Sat Mar 16, 2019 6:24 pm

Post by Mark-Guildford »

I bought a set of 4 Vredestein Quatrac Pro tyres for our Karoq for less than £500, and I sold the original Bridgestone Turanza’s on eBay for £185 plus shipping. I found a decent courier company called Paisley Freight who specialise in shipping bulky items like car wheels and tyres (£32.99 for a set of four 18” tyres). If you’re prepared to go through the hassle of packaging and shipping them, I think you have a much better chance of getting a decent price for them, rather than listing them for collection only. I also saved myself about £20 by waiting for one of the regular eBay max £1 selling fees promotions.
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kodiaq
Posts: 841
Joined: Fri Aug 31, 2018 6:33 pm
Location: Poole, Dorset.

Post by kodiaq »

Mark,
You should be so lucky!
I bought some 16" wheels from a fellow Karoq ex Yeti owner on this forum. They had to come from North Yorkshire to Poole and Paisley Freight were absolutely F' ing useless!
first of all they delivered THREE wheels to me, having lost one (look at their reviews, it is a very common problem with wheels. The seem ok for single items, but apparently can often not keep 4 wheels together for dome reason. Approx 30% of people using them for wheel transport would NEVER use them again.)
Secondly they lost a centre cap. (German alloys. £35!!! for replacement from Germany). Never found it and it took TWO months and literally dozens of emails flying back and forth
between vendor and me and both of us to Paisley and the company they us for the actual transport. it involved threat of small claims court before they got off their backsides and coughed up.
Paisley do NOT move the items themselves, but employ a seriously cr@p transport company, so the arguments and discussions happened between 4 parties.
NEVER again! I would rather meet a purchaser half way and hand them over in person than use those tw@ts again!
Talking of tyres. The wheels I bought had Goodyear 'All Seasons'. fitted very aggressive tread pattern which I think would be very good in snow (which is as rare as hens teeth in Poole).
The tyres that were on the original 19" wheels had radial treads. excellent on wet and dry roads ,but I would think absolutely useless at snow grip.
As you can see the radial pattern of the Continentals would have no grip whatsoever on snow.
It is generally accepted that a 2wd with winter or all season tyres would have better grip than a 4wd with OE tyres.
Continental.Image

Goodyear.
Image
Colin Lambert.
Poole, Dorset.
Diploma Auto Eng.
Moderator Karoq & HR-V Fora.
(Kodiaq Forum Moderator, resigned!)
Mark-Guildford
Posts: 34
Joined: Sat Mar 16, 2019 6:24 pm

Post by Mark-Guildford »

Sounds like I was lucky that my 4 tyres all got there using Paisley Freight! I remember now that it was a courier company called APC who actually picked them up. It looked like APC was a kind of local franchise company arrangement.
It’s a shame that Skoda didn’t offer the option to pay extra for all-season tyres when I purchased it brand new from the Skoda dealer. I would have been quite happy to pay a bit extra for good quality all-seasons tyres.
I had actually spent many hours trying to find a cost effective method to ship them. Most of the usual courier companies (DHL, UPS etc.) were either very expensive, or didn’t take something as bulky as a 18” tyre. If I remember correctly, some of them wouldn’t even take packages which had been wrapped with shrink-wrap film, which is what I had used.
I did sell another set of tyres from my other car on eBay with collection only, but it took literally weeks for them to sell.
Hopefully I won’t have to be selling more tyres or wheels anytime soon. But in case I do, are there any reliable courier companies for bulky tyres or wheels which are reasonably priced?
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kodiaq
Posts: 841
Joined: Fri Aug 31, 2018 6:33 pm
Location: Poole, Dorset.

Post by kodiaq »

If there are, I would be grateful to have their details as well. As when I change cars (not yet) I will have wheels to sell.
You're quite correct it was APC . Useless ******* (rhymes with Bankers!)
Colin Lambert.
Poole, Dorset.
Diploma Auto Eng.
Moderator Karoq & HR-V Fora.
(Kodiaq Forum Moderator, resigned!)
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Milfmog
Posts: 365
Joined: Sat Mar 10, 2018 11:35 am
Location: South Buckinghamshire

Post by Milfmog »

In response to the original question: I found the original fit Bridgestones to be utterly useless when pulling away, they would spin under a light foot even in warm dry conditions. Once they were rolling they felt OK but did not really inspire any confidence when cornering enthusiastically. I have now replaced the front tyres with Michlin CrossClimate SUVs and the difference is astonishing. They are far grippier (is that a word?) in all conditions. On snow they were sufficient for me to keep up easily with a Discovery and, unlike him, I was not struggling and skating around the bends. Surprisingly, given the tread pattern, the CrossClimates are also noticeably quieter than the Sh1tstones.

For shipping bulky stuff, give shiply (www.shiply.com) a try. I have used them a couple of times for non-urgent deliveries and have found them to be efficient and low cost as they use transport that would otherwise be returning to base empty or only part full.

Have fun,


Ian.
Karoq SE-L 1.5TSI DSG 2WD. Emerald green, beige leather, heated screen and steering wheel, lane assist, blind spot assist, adaptive cruise control.

My Fuelly page www.fuelly.com/car/skoda/karoq/2018/tazzymutt/798670
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