Skoda Octavia - Tyre speed ratings and insurance

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Sat 29 Oct 2011 20:04
Skoda Octavia - Tyre speed ratings and insurance - brum

Son is buying an Octavia 1.2 Tsi SE. It has 205/60 R15V tyres fitted as standard. The selection of replacement tyres available is very poor compared to the 205/55 R16V tyres fitted on the SE Plus or Elegance Models.In particular there are no major brand winter tyres and no reinforced options as well as being more expensive.

My question is that if he fits 205/60 R15H tyres, a much better selection becomes available, including reinforced (95 vs 91 load rating), but will his insurance (Direct Line) allow this? H ratings are good to 130mph and the car he will have has a top speed of 119mph, so I dont see why not.

Bear in mind that the 1.2Tsi S model has 195/65 R15H tyres as standard.

Also will fitting a reinforced tyre (with a load rating of 95 vs 91) have any adverse effect on handling etc.

Dont want to spec the 16 inch 55 profile wheels as comfort is a priority.

Edited by brum on 29/10/2011 at 20:08

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Sat 29 Oct 2011 20:25
Skoda Octavia - Tyre speed ratings and insurance - daveyjp
Where are you looking for tyres? I suggest a search on Camskill. Plenty of choice for normal or winter tyres. Excellent service and helpful staff too.
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Sun 30 Oct 2011 01:00
Skoda Octavia - Tyre speed ratings and insurance - Mike H

Presumably all is explained in the handbook? The manufacturer should specify the speed and load ratings. As long as the replacements meet or exceed these standards then there is no issue. It might be that the tyres actually fitted already exceed the requirements, quite possible if the manufacturer has managed to get a good deal on a particular tyre, i.e. don't assume the tyres actually fitted are to the manufacturers specification.

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Sun 30 Oct 2011 01:51
Skoda Octavia - Tyre speed ratings and insurance - brum

OK.... I found the answer.

Nothing in the manual except a warning to only use approved tyre sizes.

But found this TUV document www.skoda.de/download.php?id=200 (Serienreifen_Skoda_2010_04.pdf) which lists all the approved tyre sizes, minimum speed rating and ET for all Skoda cars (as of 2010)

In our case a H rating is the minimum speed rating and not V.

Surprisingly only a small number of tyre sizes are listed as approved for each engine/model variant so to all those with non standard inch wheels/tyres .....your tyres/wheel combination could very well be illegal and your insurance invalid....

Probably applies to most cars not just Skoda.

Edited by brum on 30/10/2011 at 01:01

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Sun 30 Oct 2011 20:28
Skoda Octavia - Tyre speed ratings and insurance - Mike H
Surprisingly only a small number of tyre sizes are listed as approved for each engine/model variant so to all those with non standard inch wheels/tyres .....your tyres/wheel combination could very well be illegal and your insurance invalid....

But of course, only in Germany. Different markets have different specifications. The registration document for my Austrian-registered car has the allowable wheel and tyre specifications shown in it.

Edited by Mike H on 30/10/2011 at 20:30

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Sun 30 Oct 2011 21:29
Skoda Octavia - Tyre speed ratings and insurance - brum

The TUV document lists all EC European Certificate numbers issued and these cover all of the european market. Car manufacturers dont do type approval for each individual country, that would be impractical and extremely expensive and EU standards mean that one type approval can cover every market in europe.

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Mon 31 Oct 2011 05:51
Skoda Octavia - Tyre speed ratings and insurance - oldtoffee

>>>Also will fitting a reinforced tyre (with a load rating of 95 vs 91) have any adverse effect on handling etc.

Not that you'd notice. It will be a bit stiffer (sidewalls) so perhaps a little bit noisier at speed but that will depend on the make of tyre (check tyreyest dot com for comparatives for comfort, interior noise if concerned) and slightly better at shrugging off pot holes than a softer tyre.

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