I am NEEEDING new tyres, but I am struggling to find decent tyres in the size I want. There are a few there, but what I want to know is how worried I should be about getting above 'V' rating. Or will 'V' rating be adequate.

We all know that my car can just exceed 149mph. If I were to put 'V' rated tyres on, will I be worried whenever (on the private test track) that I exceed that speed?

 

Well, the V is rated at a continuous speed, , how long do you think it is held above that speed for on your runs? 5 seconds? 5 mins?

Bottom line for me though, is i NEVER want to PERSONALY find out what happens when you ignore these ratings..... who knows what its like to have FOUR tyres blow out at 170mph??!!??

 

I would asume the 149mph quoted is a conservitive figure that the makers will quote.....Just to cover there arse if you had a high speed blow-out and tried to claim through them.

I personally would have faith in the leading tyre makers....IE, Goodyear, Perelli,Bridgestone, Dunlop, Toyo as they put millions of pounds of development work into them.

 

well thats solved his panic issues im sure

but i agree with that comment,,,,,,, but then it aint my money, id prob just have khuma's on my car and if they did blow out theres a fair chance ill never know about it at that speed

 

I wouldnt be so sure Tiff, if that were the case, why have different ratings so close?

V = 149
W = 168
Y = 186

Not exactly MILES apart are they? What sort of stresses does a tire have at 168mph compared to 149? i reckon its significantly more and would personally be choosing the W's as a bare minimum.

The wierd thing is Z's are rated as 150 and above if i remember correctly.. WTF does that mean then?

 

Yes, tyre ratings are indeed very strange.

Also, IF my car does over 150mph, it will be in a straight line.

I wonder if tyres rated to, say, 149mph have to be safe at that speed under a certain amount of lateral force? I wonder if that makes it any better?

I have to say though, as Stu said, I wouldn't want to find the limit of a tyre/s at 150+mph!!

Yokohama Parada's are looking favourite at the moment. I wouldn't mind Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3's, but I dont think they do 205/40/16's.

 

Your very limited in tyres that size, dont think goodyear make any that size.

 

What tyres do you have at the moment? Were they on there when you did your top speed runs?

Can you not buy the same make again or are you wishing to change them for the better?

 

I wouldn't risk V rated tyres on a car proven to be able to comfortably exceed 150mph.
The Z rating has always seemed so vague I would be interested to know what exactly it means. I have used Z rated tyres on bikes that will do 170mph but they were factory recommended fitments. I wonder if Z rating is for cars limited to 155 mph.

 

I currently have 195/45/16. I didnt really want to go as far as 205/45/16 in terms of gearing.

Looks like I may have to though.

Would make 170mph a certainty I reckon!!

 

Are you definately after 205/40/16's now then mate?

 

Well....

I didn't want to go as far as the equivalent circumference of a 205/40/17 as I think this makes my gearing too long. The 205/45/16 is almost as big as that.

I figured that a 205/40/16 would be nice as its a little bigger than the 195/45/16 and would still have a small'ish sidewall.

 

Fair enough, not really sure of anywhere to recommend on the net to be honest mate, Tyres are something ive never bothered with my Dad gets them through work

With a tyre being 195 or 205 how would this effect your gearing/top speed?

 

I have 205/45/16 on my car, I got some Nexen N3000 for a good price during the summer, there a new company on the "scene" but seem to be pretty good, and get some ok ratings if you type it into google. I got mine about half the price of what the equivalent Michelins were.

http://www.blackcircles.com/tyres/nexen

Mine are W rated

http://www.nexentire.co.kr/english/p...N3000&expend=1

 

i,me sure i read somewhere that the max speed ratings where at a constant max for 20 mins.

 

Get Goodyear F1 GSD2 - not over dear and sexiest tread going yet!

 

I thought by law your tyres had to be rated at a speed higher than the car is capable of? So V's shouldn't even be in the running.
If all your mods are delcared, guarenteed the insurance company will looke for a get out of jail free card if you have an acident.

 

That is, perhaps, a fair point. All my mods are declared and I would hate to leave one thing wide open for manipulation!!!

I reckon I am gonna settle for 205/45/16's, knowing that there is alot more choice. Now, when can I have another shot at the Top Speed??