Tyre frustrations

[bugmatic]

A word of warning to anyone buying a Scala…
My Scala has unicorn tyres - 205/45-18. I copped a sidewall bubble in one tyre but found replacing it like-for-like impossible. There are literally NO OEM (Goodyear Eagle F1) tyres available in Oz or even available for order. The car is only 6 months old and there are no other brands making this unusual size. This means I have needed to replace all the tyres with a 215/45. Seems like a ridiculous move from Skoda a leaves a bad taste. Interested to see if anyone else has experienced similar.

[Gutoneto]

A word of warning to anyone buying a Scala…
My Scala has unicorn tyres - 205/45-18. I copped a sidewall bubble in one tyre but found replacing it like-for-like impossible. There are literally NO OEM (Goodyear Eagle F1) tyres available in Oz or even available for order. The car is only 6 months old and there are no other brands making this unusual size. This means I have needed to replace all the tyres with a 215/45. Seems like a ridiculous move from Skoda a leaves a bad taste. Interested to see if anyone else has experienced similar.

Here mate: GOODYEAR EAGLE F1 ASYMMETRIC 3 205/45R18 90V Tyroola.com.au

[Flipper Dog]

Did you try Skoda, the parts department stock tyres and the importer is responsible to have access to spare/replacement parts.

[bugmatic]

Thanks - unfortunately Tyroola did not have stock when I needed it. Probably for the best anyway. 215s are far more common.

[Lucas_R]

My Scala has unicorn tyres

This is more common than you might think. About 10 years ago we had a Mazda SP25 and got a puncture when the car was only about 6 months old. The damage was too close to the sidewall so it needed to have the tyre replaced. It was a 215/45/18 which is not a very common size tyre. I wanted the same brand tyre to match up with the others and had to wait over a week because it had to be brought up from Victoria.

Same story with our current car, Audi SQ5. It comes with a 255/40/21 from the factory. Once again, not a very common size so prices are high and not many brands to choose from. Many people with these cars move to a 265/40/21 which are not only about $50-60 cheaper per tyre, but because its a more common tyre size, there are more brands to choose from.

Why manufacturers decide to choose these unusual and unpopular tyre sizes is beyond me.

[Guest001]

Would a logical answer be that these tyres are common overseas and as we are only a pimple on a pumpkin in the scale of market size they probably dont care much about what happens here

[Lucas_R]

Would a logical answer be that these tyres are common overseas and as we are only a pimple on a pumpkin in the scale of market size they probably dont care much about what happens here

Well...possibly. But im on several global owners groups for the SQ5 and people all over the world are going to the 265/40/21 size for the same reasons. Id say 80% of the group members are in Europe. So in the case of the SQ5 tyres at least, it seems to be an odd size tyre in most parts of the world.

[Guest001]

Well...possibly. But im on several global owners groups for the SQ5 and people all over the world are going to the 265/40/21 size for the same reasons. Id say 80% of the group members are in Europe. So in the case of the SQ5 tyres at least, it seems to be an odd size tyre in most parts of the world.

Fair enough So what does the manufacturer say about why they chose that size or has no one asked them.

[bugmatic]

I wonder whether Skoda (and others) negotiate special deals with tyre manufacturers. Then any replacement has to be a certain brand and they can charge exorbitant prices. The original Good Years on my Scala were great, but there's little noticeable difference between them and the 215 Michelins I replaced them with. VERY slight decrease in economy, but improved ride over rough Melbourne roads. Speedo no longer has a margin of error due to small increase in overall tyre diameter- the displayed speed is the actual speed. The replacements were literally less than half the price OEM Good Years would have been if I could find them. Since my original post, I was told by several tyre retailers and Skoda themselves that the OEM tyre was simply not available and Good Year confirmed they were no longer manufacturing them.