Winter tyres - load rating advice

[daveb99]

My wife's winter tyres for her 2009 Cooper turned up today (Nankang SV-2s, from MyTyres).

They have sent me tyres with a higher load rating than I ordered.

I ordered 195/55/16 87H, and they have sent me 91H XL (extra load).

The question is, should I send them back, or just fit them and get on with it? They will probably be perfectly OK but give a harsher ride I guess.

Anyone's views / experiences would be most welcome!

[DAVEVO9]

daveb99 said:

My wife's winter tyres for her 2009 Cooper turned up today (Nankang SV-2s, from MyTyres).

They have sent me tyres with a higher load rating than I ordered.

I ordered 195/55/16 87H, and they have sent me 91H XL (extra load).

The question is, should I send them back, or just fit them and get on with it? They will probably be perfectly OK but give a harsher ride I guess.

Anyone's views / experiences would be most welcome!

I would not worry.

The XL will have a stiffer sidewall, that's all, the speed rating is the same.

You might even like the way your car feels now with the XL rating.

Steering will feel a bit lighter and more precise.

[daveb99]

Thanks Dave, any other views?

[Bluebarge]

they'll be fine - I've often had 94s on a car that needs 91s and, tbh, I couldn't tell the difference. It's fitting tyres with a lower than specified load rating that you need to worry about.

[DAVEVO9]

daveb99 said:

Thanks Dave, any other views?

The only other thing I would suggest you do is to put a couple of hundred miles on the new winters on dry roads.

This will "scrub" the tyres in and they will perform better then.

It's best to do this rather than just fit them new and drive straight out onto snow/cold wet roads.

[McSam]

DAVEVO9 said:

The only other thing I would suggest you do is to put a couple of hundred miles on the new winters on dry roads.

This will "scrub" the tyres in and they will perform better then.

It's best to do this rather than just fit them new and drive straight out onto snow/cold wet roads.

Absolutely this. It's something you should do with all new tyres before pushing them, and going straight out on snow is pushing any tyre!

As regards the load rating, it's no problem at all. If it feels harsh, drop 1 or maybe 2psi, and that will compensate plenty!

[DAVEVO9]

Have you had them fitted yet daveb99?