Steel wheels for winter?

[willni]

Nope.  The standard bolts are fine with steelies.

Just my opinion and based on experience.....it's not worth running winters unless you live in heavy snow/ice prone areas of the country. 

For people who've upgraded to Golf R front brakes, 16" steelies are a no go.  They are the cheapest price for winters.  17 & 18" winter tyres are expensive.....and frankly unnecessary in moderate snow areas because modern summer tyres are now so good, they grip at 0 degrees and lower.   PS4, PS4S and F1 SuperSport are good examples.

Obviously a full snow tyre will annihilate any summer tyre on ice and compacted snow, but as I say, consider your local conditions.  If it's not like that, save your money and just drive a bit more carefully.

As someone that has been using winter tyres for 4 or so years now, I can quite honestly say my PS4S (£600) are no where near as good as my Goodyear UltraGrip Performance's (£380 for 4) once the temperature drops below 7 degree. Likewise the Goodyears are no wear near as good as the Michelins above 7 degrees. A good compromise is an all season tyre for the UK, where we get a little snow but also two days later can be mild again.

But something that's not considered is you actually extend the life on your summer tyres when you run winters, as 3-5 months of the year you can run winters instead of summers.

Also a good point is with winter tyres in the snow I can get up hills a XC90 couldn't 

[pudding]

Oh I totally agree mate.  Winter tyres are superior, but as I say it depends where you live.  In the East of england, we rarely see snow and the sub zero and hovering between 0 - 5 degree typical damp winters we see, good summers work plenty good enough.

The only thing I didn't like about 16" winters was how terrible the cornering and braking were if you got a 10 degree day during winter.  Mushy as hell    That probably isn't so much of an issue with 18" sports winters because of the sidewalls, but they're waaaaay too much money!

But yeah, you raise some good points 

[akbarirfan]

Yes all depends where you live, never considered them when I lived in the South. In the North now and high up so definitely see a benefit.

I managed to get a set of these with Winter tyres on them locally - would love some VW Centre caps to go with them!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUDI-A4-B6-16-10-SPOKE-ALLOY-WHEELS-X4-5x112-205-55R16-16x7J-ET45-4A0601025P/273824236131?epid=1522856018&hash=item3fc1324263:g:7uYAAOSw6INeIJXz