Technical Speed Rating on Replacement Tyres

[dreamypuma]

Time to replace the front pair of tyres on my wifes 500 1.2 Lounge.

Currently the car wears a Continental 185/55/R15 82H. Shopping around and I've found some nice Avon's with the same load, but higher speed rating at a V.

It seems ludicrous to pay more for mid range brands when a premium brand with better efficiency / braking / noise rating is available.

As a sanity check, can anyone confirm these will be fine for the wifes 500?

 

[jrkitching]

Time to replace the front pair of tyres on my wifes 500 1.2 Lounge.

Currently the car wears a Continental 185/55/R15 82H. Shopping around and I've found some nice Avon's with the same load, but higher speed rating at a V.

It seems ludicrous to pay more for mid range brands when a premium brand with better efficiency / braking / noise rating is available.

As a sanity check, can anyone confirm these will be fine for the wifes 500?

Absolutely fine, the 1.2 lounge only requires a T rated tyre. You can fit a tyre with a higher speed rating without any issues.

 

[grr666]

They will be fine, your car won't ever go quickly enough to exceed h rating never
mind v. It won't hurt but is overkill a bit. I have to buy Y rated tyres for my
other car, I have no choice on that one. They are not cheap!!
Treat it as a safe working load. I just got a set of 4 Good year efficient grips
from black circles for £270 fully fitted on my 500. They are so much better
comfort and noise wise than the frankly awful tyres the car was sold with.
Bridgestones if I recall, they were too noisy and had very stiff sidewalls.
My advice is to look at the tyre ratings for wear, wet grip and the db level.
In the case of the tyres I just purchased that was C for wear,C for wet grip
and 68db. It's only a small car so anything that reduces cabin noise and improves
ride can't be a bad thing.

 

[loveshandbags]

Time to replace the front pair of tyres on my wifes 500 1.2 Lounge.

Currently the car wears a Continental 185/55/R15 82H. Shopping around and I've found some nice Avon's with the same load, but higher speed rating at a V.

It seems ludicrous to pay more for mid range brands when a premium brand with better efficiency / braking / noise rating is available.

As a sanity check, can anyone confirm these will be fine for the wifes 500?

There has been a few threads on tyres recently. It was noticed that you can get a V rated tyre cheaper than H rated tyre. Main difference is the stronger side wall on the V rated but it can have a downside of comfort. In a 55 profile it wouldn't matter. Personally I prefer to pay a little extra for a premium tyre over a midrange particularly on a 15 inch where they're relatively cheap.

The tyre labels are a bit mis-leading. Getting a A for Wet Braking can still give a miserable result in Aquaplanning as found on the Pirelli tyres. The only tyre that I've seen getting a low noise rating and decent results was the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric but it's probably not available in your size. The new Conti 5 is out and that's done well in the reviews.

Personally I wouldn't be a fan of mixing speed ratings even if you have the V on front and H on the back on the same axle. But for a city run about it wouldn't matter.

How much are you getting the Avons for ?

 

[dreamypuma]

The Avons ZV5 are £67 each fitted from Tyre-Shopper. Seem a reasonable all-rounder.

The car does at best 6k miles a year, so don't think it warrant premium tyres, but would loathe to fit budget.

What would be the main downside to mixing speeds? Would it be comfort?

 

[306maxi]

There has been a few threads on tyres recently. It was noticed that you can get a V rated tyre cheaper than H rated tyre. Main difference is the stronger side wall on the V rated but it can have a downside of comfort.

Not true at all. I know a tyre engineer and he said that in terms of speed ratings it can be something as small as a difference in compound or no difference at all.

As for mixing ratings, I wouldn't put two differently rated tyres on the same axle, but that's about it.

 

[dreamypuma]

The Avons I'm looking at get a C/C 68dB rating so seem comparable to the Goodyear.

 

[dreamypuma]

Not true at all. I know a tyre engineer and he said that in terms of speed ratings it can be something as small as a difference in compound or no difference at all.

As for mixing ratings, I wouldn't put two differently rated tyres on the same axle, but that's about it.

Having H on the back and V on the front should be no issue though should it?

 

[306maxi]

Having H on the back and V on the front should be no issue though should it?

You should be putting your best tyres (in terms of tread depth) on the back. But otherwise there shouldn't be any issue unless you're going to try and perform a historic re-enactment of Climb Dance and pretend to be Ari Vatanen. I'm guessing you're not going to do that.....

 

[dreamypuma]

You should be putting your best tyres (in terms of tread depth) on the back. But otherwise there shouldn't be any issue unless you're going to try and perform a historic re-enactment of Climb Dance and pretend to be Ari Vatanen. I'm guessing you're not going to do that.....

I don't drive French

I suspect that the wife does do some drifting though. Think that would just look ridiculous in a 500.

 

[jrkitching]

Thanks. I'll be rotating my tyres then. Why do the big tyre places still fit new to the front, without hesitation. Clearly it's a saving on labour, but they also have a duty of care.

I've never been asked if I want my tyres rotated in any car. Surely this is a no brainer

Costco will NEVER fit new tyres to the front of a vehicle unless they are fitting a complete set, and their quoted price includes rotation if necessary. Their prices are usually pretty reasonable but you need to be a fan of Michelins (and a member!).

 

[dreamypuma]

Never been a fan of Michelin. I seem the eat through them more than any other brand.

 

[306maxi]

Costco will NEVER fit new tyres to the front of a vehicle unless they are fitting a complete set, and their quoted price includes rotation if necessary. Their prices are usually pretty reasonable but you need to be a fan of Michelins (and a member!).

Costco also do Continental's now as well

 

[grr666]

Got Pilotsport3s on my Audi. Can't fault them.

 

[Roscoepeko]

Currently the car wears a Continental 185/55/R15 82H. Shopping around and I've found some nice Avon's with the same load, but higher speed rating at a V.

It seems ludicrous to pay more for mid range brands when a premium brand with better efficiency / braking / noise rating is available.

As far as brands go Continental are the premium brand when comparing to Avon. Avon are considered as a mid range tyre.

I've run both Continental Contisports and Avon ZZ3's (plus others) on my Audi - your wife will not notice any difference between the two.

IMO Tyre choice really comes into play for high speed motorway driving in poor/wet conditions where the tyres ability to shift water comes into play.

That said check out Vredestein - very popular amongst spirited drivers and are said to shift water well - they were dirt cheap for the size my wife needed for her Megane so we shod her rims with them - then not sure which ones but they were not the ultrac sessanta which have the distinctive tread pattern.

 

[Venters]

Time to replace the front pair of tyres on my wifes 500 1.2 Lounge.

Currently the car wears a Continental 185/55/R15 82H. Shopping around and I've found some nice Avon's with the same load, but higher speed rating at a V.

It seems ludicrous to pay more for mid range brands when a premium brand with better efficiency / braking / noise rating is available.

As a sanity check, can anyone confirm these will be fine for the wifes 500?

Yeah it's fine.