Car Tyres

crispyduck_2

Hi guys and gals

I bought my most recent car 3 1/2 years ago with these lovely 18" alloys on them, it wasn't till I had to replace my first set of tyres that I realised how expensive they were!

I'm using black circles at the minute (first time, decent price yet to find out about the service) but I'm only replacing what came with the car.

My question is can I use a different speed rating or profile to help with wear and the costs??

Car is 2006 Mondeo Titanium X 2.2 TdCi with 225/40 R18 92Y

Oh and I've spoken with my local Ford dealer (not able to give me the information), tried online (no joy), spoken to a number of tyre fitters (no joy), looked in the manual (it doesn't mention speed rating) and the only other resource is the £1 per minute Ford Technical Information Centre (in Walsall, called the local ford dealership to see if they had a local number but they said when they do call them they are given an 0800 number, can't find it)

Can anyone help please?????:)

cardinalbiggles

You have to have at least equal or greater speed rated tyres on your car as the ones that are fitted from the factory. Any less and you may find yourself in bother should you have a prang.

You must have realised that 18" wheels were going to be expensive!

crispyduck_2

Well under normal circumstances yes but we bought the car whilst in the early days of our first son being with us so our 360 degree x-ray vision and reasoning were a little on the crap side!

The Y speed rating says it goes up to 186 mph, I know there are safety margins in these things but the fastest the manual says ours will reach is 136mph, that's some gap, don't you think?

No our thoughts are play it safe with a young family but if we can save a bit we'd like to and I just wanted to get some sort of definitive answer.

Thanks for replying!

sunshinetours

crispyduck wrote: »

Well under normal circumstances yes but we bought the car whilst in the early days of our first son being with us so our 360 degree x-ray vision and reasoning were a little on the crap side!

The Y speed rating says it goes up to 186 mph, I know there are safety margins in these things but the fastest the manual says ours will reach is 136mph, that's some gap, don't you think?

No our thoughts are play it safe with a young family but if we can save a bit we'd like to and I just wanted to get some sort of definitive answer.

Thanks for replying!

Get some smaller wheels and sell the 18" ones on ebay? Large low profiles are never going to be a MSE option on any car

Providing the speed rating wasn't less than specified by the manufacturer on their standard spec wheels can't see you would have a problem with insurance. You would need to notify of any mods anyway surely just to ensure you were covered

Strider590

To be honest, unless they're Mondeo alloy's, they probably look stupid on your car.
You'll have tiny little brake disks and huge wheels, not a good image

Also a lot of idiots out there like to put after market alloys on, but fail to get the correct tyre size to match, so the car looks ridiculous as a result and the speedo ends up being wrong.

Personally I would take a look on ebay, find some "normal" sized Mondeo alloy's (with tyre's hopefully) and then sell yours on.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

18 inch alloys on a diesel Mondeo.



......

crispyduck_2

Hi guys thanks for all the replies, don't want to change the alloys as they're looking tatty but still serviceable just don't want to feel that I'm paying more than I need to, black circles have charged me £170 for two Falken 452's inc fitting which isn't bad just wanted to see if I could do better you know?

Paradigm

I'd be tempted to have a word with the insurance co & ask about fitting a lower rated tyre!

Maybe a V rated (149 mph) could save you a bit & covers the cars estimated top speed with a decent safety margin.

As the UK speed limit is 70mph I would have thought that most insurance co's would be looking to get out of paying if you had an accident at 120mph no matter what tyres were fitted

Tyres must be suitable for the intended use, 80mph on 149mph rated tyres seems suitable.

Insurance co's like to add their own little caveats...no mot=no payout (clearly not true) is 1 example not backed up by the ombudsman.

I would think the same ruling would apply in your case.

bigjl

As long as the speed rating is more than the quoted max speed of the car the you are all good.

Some people on here don't seem to realise just how quick a car a 2.2 Tdci Mondy is, mine is a 130 and that is pretty quick in the mid range, I am sure that the 2.2 has 155bhp, but a lot more torque than the 2.0.

It should also be noted that an 18" alloy doesn't look out of place on a Mk3 Mondy, a Mk2 yes, but not a Mk3. My Mk3 looks a bit stupid on 16" steels to be honest. The speed rating on mine is W, and I have fitted Toyo Proxes, they last a lot better than other performance tyres, and they are also pretty cheap to buy, I always get mine from EliteDirect in Rainham, they also do mailorder, not sure how they compare with Blackcircles, as I haven't checked, but they give good and knowledgable service.

Don't forget that you have to make sure that the load rating is correct, as the heavier the car, the higher the load rating and only the higher speed rated tyres have this higher load rating. This is different to the XL, Extra Load, tyres that are fitted to cars like the Ford Galaxy.

In the OP's situation the 92 is the load rating, the Y is the speed rating, I would think you would be OK dropping down to a W.

I found this on Black Circles as the Elite page was down.

Tyre Load Rating


The load capacity of a tyre determines what weight each tyre is able to carry.
It is vital that you check with your manufacturer what capacity should be put on your car. In some cases your insurance can become void if you select the incorrect tyres.
The load rating is generally found after the diameter reading and before the speed rating on the sidewall marking, like so:

205/55 R16 91 W



The following table shows what the weight that each index specification is able to carry:
205/55 R16 91 W



For a 92 it would have a load index of 630, presumably per tyre.
As an example an 88 would be 560.


Speed Rating


It is very important that you check your speed rating before buying your tyres</FONT /> - as choosing a tyre with a lower speed rating could invalidate your insurance. For further information call 0845 620</FONT /> 2000.
The tyre speed rating (i.e. S) is the maximum speed for which the tyre is rated. For example, the S rating identifies speeds up to 112 mph.
Speed ratings are based on scientific tests where the tyre is run at speeds in 6.2 mph steps in 10 minute increments until the required speed has been met.


You will find your speed rating on the side of your tyre at the end of a series of numbers - as follows:


205/55 R16 91W


V = 149
Z = 150+
W = 168
Y = 186


Interestingly I have noted that when I checked my wifes car, as she needs two tyres soon, that I could get an Avon ZV3 185/60/15 84H for £58:69 at Elite and £63:34 at BlackCircles, both tyres supplied and fitted.

And a Continental Premium Contact 2 was £72:00 at BlackCircles and £70:44 at Elite, but in XL Elite was more expensive, the moral being to shop around not just rely on previous experience.

But as Elite are 3 miles from my house I will continue to use them, though it was interesting to compare prices on a tyre by tyre basis.

On a car such as a Mondeo Tdci I would be tempted to go for a known budget make, such as Nankang, rather than drop down a load rating or speed rating.

harveybobbles

I got my mate some Conti Sport 3's for his Focus ST for 107 plus vat. They were 225 40 18's...

Paradigm

bigjl wrote: »

It is very important that you check your speed rating before buying your tyres</FONT /> - as choosing a tyre with a lower speed rating could invalidate your insurance. For further information call 0845 620</FONT /> 2000.

That's the bit I have an issue with... lower speed rating than what? The cars maximum speed or the speed rating of the OEM fitted tyres?

If you fit 149mph rated tyres to a car with a top speed of 130mph where is the get out for the insurance co? As long as size, condition & load index are correct where's the problem?