tyre rating

[slugo]

i,ve a vectra c 19 150 sri, would i get away with v rated tyres as camsill only has these falkens in stock

[Big Dave]

You should fit the recommended tyres for your particular model/spec of car

Anything less and you risk invalidating your insurance.

The rating isn't only about the max speed they're capable of, it also bears a relationship to the tyre loading as well.

[m8internet]

The Vectra C has EU Conformity for tyres at H rating
However, as above, contact your insurance company and ask what minimum speed and load rating they require

[Jezzy]

Time to dispel a few myths:

1) As your Vectra will have left the factory with H rated tyres on, anything above that is absolutely fine.

2) The speed rating, which is what you've asked about, is different from the load rating, so H or V or whatever does not indicate the load rating - that will probably be 91.

3) Your insurance company does not need (or want) to know whether you are fitting H or V or W or Z rated tyres, any more than they need to know that the car now has Halfords-brand brake pads fitted instead of GM branded pads.

4) If you phone your insurance company and ask what speed rating the tyres need to be, you will get one of two answers:

i) "Whatever was fitted by the manufacturer as standard or higher, but we don't know what that rating actually is as we don't hold any such records".

ii) "Errr... V rated..? That sounds about right... doesn't it...? V's quite common...that's what I've got on my Skoda..."

[slugo]

thanks for that i thought the last two answers were a bit strange it was the speed rating not the load i was asking as v was up to 148 mph. as for load rating 91 and 95 are the most common, looking in the manual counting the total weight of the car with full load the v seems to be good enough.

[Big Dave]

I mentioned the speed rating as I'm sure I was previously told (or read it somewhere) that it has a relationship to the load rating.

End of the day it's your choice, but that lump of rubber is an important part of keeping you on the road and out of hedges.

I am suprised that a 150 CDTi SRi left the factory on H rated tyres though.

[john_k_sri]

I am suprised that a 150 CDTi SRi left the factory on H rated tyres though.

Me too.

'H' rated tyres have a speed rating of 130mph, which IMO is too close to the maximum speed of the 'slowest' Vectra 'C'.

'V' rated tyres have a speed rating of 149mph, which IMO leaves more than enough to spare, in relation to the maximum speed of nearly all 'Vectra 'C' s and perhaps more importantly to the speeds most of us drive at.

I have used 215/50/17 91V Goodyear NCT5's myself on my last car, and I found them just a capable as their 'W'-rated equivalents I had used before.

IIRC the only difference in specification was that 'V' s in question had a treadwear rating of 'AA', as opposed to 'AAA' on the 'W's.


I have read on websites that the speed rating has to be more than the maximum speed of the car, but the load rating has to be at least the same as of those originally factory-fitted.

My last two Vectra 'C',s came to me with the original tyres,and they were 'W's in both cases. One was a 1.8, the other a 2.0T.

[Big Sig]

Me too.

'H' rated tyres have a speed rating of 130mph, which IMO is too close to the maximum speed of the 'slowest' Vectra 'C'.

'V' rated tyres have a speed rating of 149mph, which IMO leaves more than enough to spare, in relation to the maximum speed of nearly all 'Vectra 'C' s and perhaps more importantly to the speeds most of us drive at.

I have used 215/50/17 91V Goodyear NCT5's myself on my last car, and I found them just a capable as their 'W'-rated equivalents I had used before.

IIRC the only difference in specification was that 'V' s in question had a treadwear rating of 'AA', as opposed to 'AAA' on the 'W's.


I have read on websites that the speed rating has to be more than the maximum speed of the car, but the load rating has to be at least the same as of those originally factory-fitted.

My last two Vectra 'C',s came to me with the original tyres,and they were 'W's in both cases. One was a 1.8, the other a 2.0T.

I thought they all left the factory with 91w's with the exception of the 3.0 auto dervs.

[Jezzy]

I am suprised that a 150 CDTi SRi left the factory on H rated tyres though.

The tyres that each car had when it left the factory are listed in EPC - you enter the reg number and it give you the list of items fitted during the build. That's where the H rating comes from.

[Big Dave]

The tyres that each car had when it left the factory are listed in EPC - you enter the reg number and it give you the list of items fitted during the build. That's where the H rating comes from.

So at what point do the H rated tyres get removed and W or Y rated ones get fitted before the customer purchases the car?