Suitable All-Season Tyre and Insurance

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Sun 16 Jan 2011 18:27
Suitable All-Season Tyre and Insurance - the_bandit

My car was fitted with 215/60/16 99 V summer tyres as standard.

I can only get winter tyres with a speed rating lower, that being a H.

My insurance company have gave me the OK on this although I did contact Ford for help on a winter tyre spec and they were useless.

I have seen an All-Season tyre that I may be interested in but that too is only available in a H rated format. All other aspects of the tyre spec remain the same.

Does anyone have any information as to whether this would be acceptable (insurance wise etc...) for use during the Spring/Summer spell ??

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Sun 16 Jan 2011 18:32
Suitable All-Season Tyre and Insurance - TTToommy

I would say that I cannot guarantee your specific tyre BUT It is understood amongst insurance Companies that changing summer tyres for winter tyres are NOT an excuse to charge more - they make the car safer in Winter sio "stop messing about" - Its just a misunderstanding at that OIndian call centre that it counts as a "modification"

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Sun 16 Jan 2011 20:41
Suitable All-Season Tyre and Insurance - jon-

TTToommy hit the nail on the head pretty. While the insurance companies shouldn't, don't give them any reason not to pay out. I'm going to assume you've seen the Vredestein Quatrac 3 which only goes up to H. The Nokian eNTyre is in your size and is V rated so might be worth considering if you're sure you want an all season.

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Sun 16 Jan 2011 20:47
Suitable All-Season Tyre and Insurance - daveyjp
H rated tyres are good for 130mph, so shouldn't be an issue. 99 is quite a high weight loading - does this match?
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Sun 16 Jan 2011 21:12
Suitable All-Season Tyre and Insurance - the_bandit

As an extra-load or reinforced tyre the load index increases to 99 for this tyre size.

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Sun 16 Jan 2011 21:45
Suitable All-Season Tyre and Insurance - the_bandit

TTToommy hit the nail on the head pretty. While the insurance companies shouldn't, don't give them any reason not to pay out. I'm going to assume you've seen the Vredestein Quatrac 3 which only goes up to H. The Nokian eNTyre is in your size and is V rated so might be worth considering if you're sure you want an all season.

The Vredestein Quatrac 3 is the one I have seen but as you say only goes up to H.

I'm not sure the Nokian eNTyre carries the snowflake symbol which in theory provides some minimum standards that have to be achieved by a tyre in winter conditions.

They are also really cheap at £76 per tyre. I'm naturally suspicious of cheap tyres because its usually an indicator of the perfomance.

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Sun 16 Jan 2011 22:00
Suitable All-Season Tyre and Insurance - Lygonos

Be suspicious of anything within the bottom 15-20% of cost, above that there are some gems out there.

Nokian are very highly regarded winter tyre makers (Finnish iirc).

Vredestein were in the same position some years back - cheap and underrated, but as their name has been thrown about for the past few years as leaders in wet-weather tyres, there prices have crept up (and their tyre test results have perhaps dipped a bit!).

Prices are what the market will pay, and clever marketing has a lot to do with it.

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Mon 17 Jan 2011 10:12
Suitable All-Season Tyre and Insurance - TeeCee

Kleber Quadraxer? Not sure about the size, you'd have to check availability, but the speed rating's there.

I've always been led to believe that all-round tyres were a dreadful compromise and have been pleasantly surprised at how well these behave at both extremes, although I haven't had 'em long enough to comment on the wear characteristics compared to regular summer tyres. "Three peaks + snowflake" rated too.

Warm / Dry handling is at least as good (I reckon better) than the Michelins they replaced and they performed well in the recent snow / ice too. They get my vote as the best alternative to having two sets.

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Mon 17 Jan 2011 11:00
Suitable All-Season Tyre and Insurance - oldtoffee

The Nokian eNTYRE is available in 99V - check out my tyres dot co dot uk. My car was also fitted with 99V rated summer tyres. I've swapped them for Nokian all weather WRG2s rated 103V XL. The extra loading is achieved mainly through stiffer sidewalls which make for a slightly firmer ride but also offer more strength when hitting pot holes which are all to common. I don't detect a firmer ride or harshness with the Nokians over the lower load rated Yokohamas they replaced but that could be the extra silica content making the tyres softer.

Demand is high for "winter" tyres and prices are double now what I paid for my Nokians in September but the all seasons don't appear to have been marked up nearly as much or at all so if I was replacing now, I'd go all season rather than be mugged.

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Tue 18 Jan 2011 10:04
Suitable All-Season Tyre and Insurance - the_bandit

Just had some info from Ford.

The EU Certificate of Conformity for my car states tyre of 215/60/16 94H.

So why did Ford then go on to fit V rated tyres with a load index of 99 ??

I could save a small fortune by fitting the 94H tyre instead of a 99V.

Edited by the_bandit on 18/01/2011 at 10:05

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