it is a liability issue, if they put an s rated tire on a car that needed z rated and for any reason that tire fails and a crash/ injury occured they can be sued for putting the lower speed rated tire on it, its a sue happy world and corperations try to cover their butt
Tire speed rating?
- Thread starter Bonnewagon
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So I had her cancel the tire order at Costco sent her to Mavis which had a much better selection of tires anyway. I really like the Uniroyal Tiger Paws line. I have them on all my cars including the Bonnewagon. They have the Touring AS that has a speed rating of H and more importantly a treadwear rating of 700. I found the Legacy calls for a V (149 mph) rating which is just above the H (130 mph) . Just to show how ludicrous this all is refer to what TURNA posted: 50-55 mph is the speed limit around here. Normally I get my own tires , mount them myself, and balance them myself at a buddy's shop. She lives too far away so I will let Mavis do the work then get an alignment at a local shop that gives the best alignment I've ever seen. See chart for ratings.
| L | 75 mph | 120 km/h | Off-Road & Light Truck Tires |
| M | 81 mph | 130 km/h | Temporary Spare Tires |
| N | 87 mph | 140km/h | |
| P | 93 mph | 150 km/h | |
| Q | 99 mph | 160 km/h | Studless & Studdable Winter Tires |
| R | 106 mph | 170 km/h | H.D. Light Truck Tires |
| S | 112 mph | 180 km/h | Family Sedans & Vans |
| T | 118 mph | 190 km/h | Family Sedans & Vans |
| U | 124 mph | 200 km/h | |
| H | 130 mph | 210 km/h | Sport Sedans & Coupes |
| V | 149 mph | 240 km/h | Sport Sedans, Coupes & Sports Cars |
Greetings BonneWagon & all; I see most of your questions have been answered & you found the chart relating Letters to Speed. For future reference check out Tire Racks web site, very informative would be an understatement. As some of ya know I've been around for a while, & got into tire info back in the late 70's. You ask why, I SPEED & had hopes of doing the Silver Classic. Just a few observations, the higher the speed rating the Rounder & stronger the tire. And usually softer UTQG rating (indicates more rubber & Less nylon). Rubber is expensive. My recommendation is buy the tire with the highest speed rating & lowest UTQG rating you can afford. Of course their are other factors involved, how much air is incorporated into the compound plus various additives. Then you can get into side wall construction, on & on. Many serious hot rod type guys like to run a UTQG of 200 as they give great traction & are usually legal for Auto-X ing. And I find that they perform well at the drag strip if you're under 400 HP?? But what you will find out running 200's is they STOP very well also. One other plus to the higher speed rated tires is they usually balance with minimal weight added to your wheels. And I've found some to be perfect provided you have good wheels (NO weights). Oh daily drivers, look for H (130) speed rating and around 300 UTQG for a compromise, Ole' Bob.
Something else no one has mentioned is the insurance company will deny claim if your ever in a accident with incorrectly rated tires ! Not sure how hard they would be looking at a subaru but if its a camaro , mustang, ect it is one of the first ways they try to deny a claim !
Well we ended up at Mavis for the Tiger Paw tires on sale and they had no qualms about selling them to us. They were a bit miffed we wouldn't let them do their alleged alignment but too bad. I took it to my guy and he found that a prior accident really screwed up the rear settings. Being all wheel drive it mattered a lot. He made both ends perfect and the car practically steers itself now. My Daughter and Son-in-law can't believe how great the car handles and feels now. On a side note the tech at Mavis said they have nothing but headaches from the Michelins. Customers come back pissed off with cracked sidewalls and - get this- Michelin has an "allowable amount of sidewall cracking" before the warranty kicks in. WOW!
Huge suit against Ford years ago. Guy bought a HP Mustang in Tampa area. Crashed and burned in Louisiana as I recall. Average speed was over 100MPH. Ford lost as tires were not Z rated. Chevrolet Camaros could have same engine, trans and gears, but if you did not buy the tire option with Z rated tires, one would go 90 MPH or so, the other 125MPH or so
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