The car is a 1.9 Skoda Octavia TDI, max speed 113 mph (181 kph)
I'm looking at replacing all four tyres, so I want to shop around. The required tyre size is 195/65/R15, and the current tyres are all 'V' rated, which goes up to 240 kph
(The ratings are S=180, T=190, U=200, H=210, V=240)
The Michelin web site suggests H rated, and I may well go for that, but not necessarily for Michelin tyres - V expensive and quite noisy by all accounts). What margin on the speed rating would the wise people of the back roomers be looking for ?
And does anyone have any experience/comments on Yokohama S306's, or etyres mobile tyre fitting service ?
|
In a similar situation with my Passat PDI.
Original spec tyres are V rated and have stuck to them on garages recommendation. I think that there may be insurance implications as well.
However I've found that there is a very small price difference between H and V rated tyres.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
|
Hi,
I replaced the 205/50/17's W's on my Mondeo with V's (148mph!), I was advised to tell my insurer which I did, they had no issue with it.
|
If you choose a tyre with a lower speed rating than specified you could invalidate your insurance.
General info at:
www.kwik-fit.com/load-speed-index.asp
The higher speed rating and load bearing abilities of the tyres are based on the fact that although the speed limit is 70mph here, if the vehicle is taken abroad and higher speeds are achieved, they can cope; a similar aspect regarding speed applies to those owners, for instance, who may attend race track days.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
|
If you choose a tyre with a lower speed rating than specified you could invalidate your insurance.
As I said it is advisable to tell your insurer.
The higher speed rating and load bearing abilities of the tyres are based on the fact that although the speed limit is 70mph here, if the vehicle is taken abroad and higher speeds are achieved, they can cope; a similar aspect regarding speed applies
to those owners, for instance, who may attend race track days.- - - - - - - - - - -
The rating fitted is often to do with the vehicle weight and stresses that the characteristics of the vehicle will apply to the tyre irrespective of top speed.
Also, as has been mentioned here before, it is more cost effective for a manufacturer to fit all wheels of a type with the same tyre across various specs/engine sizes of car. I.e. a 120mph BMW 316SE might have the same wheels and therefore tyres as a 150mph 330SE.
|
If you go to a lower rating this has insurance implications, as has been said before.
I cannot understand why people want to compromise with cheaper tyres. As has rightly been said many times before the only thing between life and death is the bit of tyre on the road, and in my case it will be Pirelli/Goodyear/Continental/Michelin etc. If Michelins are noisy, WIMHO they are not, then you can always turn up the stereo. I also hope that other people think like me, then there is less chance of them crashing into me.
|
I might be getting off the track a bit here, but does "cheaper" mean "worse"? On my last VW the new tyres I put on were Continentals (made in Ecuador), and I recently purchased a tyre for the spare on my current car, the tyre supplier says this brand,Enduro,is made by Continental(?)in China. I've also had a Goodyear with a Polish brand name. The tyre supplier, who has an interest in selling the branded item (price/margin) tells me that he has had no problems/complaints with his budget brands, and somewhere else on this site one previous sceptic said the budget tyres on his wife's car were excellent. Is it the case that for most users of standard saloons/family motors, not driven to the limits, that budgets are just fine?
|
Providing the load index matches (91 typically on this size) and the speed is greater than the max speed of the car (+ a bit of margin) you should be OK.
If you want a quiet drive try some Avon ZV3's I've got them on my Touran (also 195/65 R15 91H) and the road noise has dropped significantly. Too new to assess life, but they were £40 each fitted. Grip seems OK.
Joe
p.s. I don't work for Avon!
|
If you want a quiet drive try some Avon ZV3's I've got them on my Touran (also 195/65 R15 91H) and the road noise has dropped significantly. Too new to assess life, but they were £40 each fitted.
Joe - £40 ? where from ? The tyre i've just had punctured was a ZV3 195/65/R15 91V from a local independent who is quite competitive, and they come in at over £60 !
Stuart -if you choose a tyre with a lower speed rating than specified you could invalidate your insurance.
specified by who ?
The Skoda dealer, who certainly ignore VAG group specifications when it comes to oil (and they have said as much)
Rachel, at Skoda Customer services, who was wrong about the equipment specification on the car ?
Michael, at Skoda Customer services, who was wrong about the oil spec for the car ?
And there's no mention of tyre speed rating anywhere in the handbook !
|
Some insurance implications here (half way down):
www.blackcircles.com/general
Can't find any of my earlier links regarding insurance invalidation apart from:
www.midlandslotus.co.uk/forum/lofiversion/index.ph...l
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
|
|
|
I got mine from Britania tyres in Bristol. Mine are H rated, V's will be more expensive, and probably wear out quicker.
As for insurance, the black circles link refers to running on damaged tyres (understandable). Providing the speed on the tyre is greater than the speed of the car, whats the problem? As for Skoda not specifying tyre speeds, VW don't either. VW can't even work out if I should use the tyre manufacturers (lower) max tyre pressure, or the one on the filler cap!
Joe
|
|
|
|
