Tyres

[bagnall]

I'm about to buy 2 new tyres for my car. In the past I have bought lower rated tyres since they are cheaper and I don't drive over 120mph!, but reading online there are rumours that this can invalidate your insurance. From the links I have found (See below) there may be some truth to this, but I wondered if our hero :money: might be able to clear this up?

I also found online tyre retailers and wondered if anyone had any experience of using them?

Which (http://www.which.co.uk/reports_and_campaigns/cars/reports/running_a_car/accessories/Tyres/Tyres_essential_product_574_70980_7.jsp)

[tomstickland]

I've used blackcircles.com and they were very good.
I've also used mytyres.net and had tyres delivered to a local fitter and paid £10 per wheel to have them fitted.

Usually costs me £90-£100 for 2 top rated performance tyres on 15" wheels, all in.
The price difference between big name and budget is very small, so I go for big name.

[philhuff]

I'm about to buy 2 new tyres for my car. In the past I have bought lower rated tyres since they are cheaper and I don't drive over 120mph!, but reading online there are rumours that this can invalidate your insurance ... I also found online tyre retailers and wondered if anyone had any experience of using them?It will not only invalidate your insurance, but it's should also lead to an MOT failure.

What happens if somebody buys your car, heads off to Germany, and suffers a catastrophic failure at 140+ mph?

BlackCircles.com are reliable and usually quite cheap. They supply the tyres to a local retailer, but it may be cheaper going direct.

However, it's worth going along to a few independent tyre places and simply negotiating a price - there's a huge margin in tyres, so there's plenty to play with. My local tyre place now just charges me £75 a tyre, fitted, as I've been going there for years, but the likes of Kwik Fit want £168 each!

If you're not comfortable arguing down a price, just ask them "what's your lowest price for xxx?". That will usually get you a discount, if not the actual lowest price they can go to.

Shop around, compare prices, negotiate and save cash while remaining legal.

[bagnall]

It will not only invalidate your insurance, but it's should also lead to an MOT failure . . . Shop around, compare prices, negotiate and save cash while remaining legal.

Hi Phil,

Thanks for the advice.

I never had an MOT failure with my old car and lower rated tyres (but then that may be more down to the tester than the law - again we need :money: to help clear this up).

The Which report suggests that buying lower rated tyres that suit the maximum speed of your car may be OK, thereby removing the problem of someone buying my car and driving it abroad at speed (BTW mine won't do 140 sadly!).

I'm quite happy negotiating prices locally and have found this to work well in the past.

I would never, ever go to Kwik Fit.

[philhuff]

I should say you've been lucky but, quite frankly, you haven't - you'd be extremely unlucky to fail on that.

To clear one thing up, fitting lower rated tyres than were originally fitted is fine, assuming the new rating at least matches the published maximum speed of the car. As such, if you're car can do 120mph, and you had tyres fitted originally that could do 150mph, then fitting some that are rated at 120mph is fine. However, I'd strongly recommend that you don't go below that threshold.

I actually go the other way, and have some Z rated tyres fitted to mine, although the car is limited to 1 mph less than the point where I must use that rating.

[rdwarr]

My car takes 245/40/18s and they only seem to come in Z rating anyway. Top rated speed for the car is 130mph but it's ten years old now.
Had to buy one today :(

[tomstickland]

BlackCircles.com are reliable and usually quite cheap. They supply the tyres to a local retailer, but it may be cheaper going direct
When I wanted 2 x Eagle F1s fitting on 15" wheels:

local tyre place £115
Protyre £107
Blackcircles.com £97

The Blackcircle fitting centre for my tyres was.......Protyre.

None of them were prepared to go any lower than the prices quoted. So Blackcircles beat the lot.

[highguyuk]

Remembering to use www.blackcircles.com/msn to get the £5 voucher, and you should order each tyre indiviudually and get more than one voucher! :)

[JBsplit]

this is directly from the MOT testers manual.

Note: A Class III or IV vehicle tyre which appears to be of inadequate size, ply or speed rating for the vehicle or its use is not a reason for rejection. However, the vehicle presenter should be informed.

Speed rating only applys to class VII

[C_Ronaldo]

i get mine fitten at a very good place ive used previously

[bagnall]

Remembering to use www.blackcircles.com/msn to get the £5 voucher, and you should order each tyre indiviudually and get more than one voucher! :)

Hi highguyuk,

Did you have a promotion code to use for the £5 voucher? I visited the MSN flavour of the site and didn't see a mention of £5 vouchers. Isn't there a danger that by ordering the tyres sepeartely you may have to visit the fitters more than once?

Thanks,

R.

[Bob63]

It will not only invalidate your insurance, but it's should also lead to an MOT failure.
Wrong. Tyre speed ratings are not considered in an ordinary car MOT. This is only done on PSV and HGV. The MOT only considers tyre condition.

I have knobbly off-road style tyres fitted to my BMW motorcycle. These are rated at 98mph yet the bike is capable of 130mph. Not only are the tyres fully legal but they are a recommended fitment in the bike's manual and the bike can be supplied by BMW with the tyres fitted.

b.t.w. The speed rating means that the tyre is rated on a vehicle/bike travelling for extended periods of time at that speed at the maximum permitted gross vehicle weight. I can't think of a time when I have come even close to those criteria on my bike. I may have done the speed but only while solo and without luggage :)

Mike

[mikey-mike]

Not sure about this but I thought the rating also covers the forces generated by acceleration, braking & cornering

So, if I replace the Z’s on my 155mph car with H type because I never drive over 80 the new tyres could well be over stressed because the car will still do a sub six second 0-60 sprint

[Big O]

Mikey-Mike is correct, the speed rating is much more than about just speed. It includes the forces that the tyre will withstand as pointed out.

It should be read as 'maximum sustained speed' - i.e. the speed that the tyre will do continuously. Accelerating and braking induce higher stresses in the tyre, thus despite accelating to 30 mph, you could be putting forces equivalent to 80 mph on the tyre, or even higher when braking, dependant on rate of acceleration, wheel size and weight of vehicle.

Personally, I would not fit tyres rated lower than the manufacturer specifies. Money saving is all very well, but never at the expense of safety.

[Cumbrian Male]

Those 4 little rubber footprints are all that holds your car on the road.

Think about those words.

Is it worth your family being without you for the sake of £20 or so quid difference between the speed ratings?:o

[mikey-mike]

yep, there is a world of difference between buying things cheaply and buying cheap things

[bagnall]

I checked out blackcircles.com & they were competitive, but a local garage beat their prices. 2 Good Year NCTs, fitted, move rear axle wheels to front & front to back & balance all four wheels £119.14. Oh & they are V rated after all that. One garage said they would not fit less than V rated, not due to top speed but due to the torque that the tyres can take safely. Again, maybe clarification from our hero (:money:) would help. Thanks though for all the advice.

[iluvmylexus]

putting lower rated tyres on your car will invalidate your insurance, a reputable tyre shop would not sell you tyres with the wrong speed rating for your car