Tyre rating V or Y?

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Burnerclimb
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Tyre rating V or Y?

Post by Burnerclimb »

I purchased a 2nd hand GTI recently and it came with 215/40 R17 87 Y tyres and when I do a tyre search on Kwik fit or National Tyres it recommends a V rated tyre replacement.

Y rated tyres are rated to 186mph and I don't plan on driving anywhere near these speeds either on V, W or Y rated tyres!

My question is as the top speed of the car is 146mph, can I fit V rated tyres which cover to 150mph as long as the load factor is good? The ride on the car is pretty miserable and and I was hoping this might improve the ride if the pressures were lower.

TIA.
crazy4alfa
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Re: Tyre rating V or Y?

Post by crazy4alfa »

100% fine.
RUM4MO
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Re: Tyre rating V or Y?

Post by RUM4MO »

One thing, and it sounds like you are not wanting to achieve this - in fact you are trying to get "softer" handling, any Y rated tyres I have on my cars tend to be also ZR and not SR "versions" which just tends to mean that they have a more "sporting" handling characteristics - the speed difference between V and Y is so little that there must be another reason for them to exist and so maybe it is the ZR instead of SR that warrants their existence.
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alexperkins
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Re: Tyre rating V or Y?

Post by alexperkins »

You need to fit what the tyre rating label inside the fuel cap/drivers door opening says. Anything else can give your insurance a reason to be void. I have seen people fit the wrong speed rating, and their claims be invalidated.
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