More tyre questions
Discussion
My car has the 50 profile on the front, sizes are 245/45/16 rear and 225/50/15 front, as someone else said, seems to be standard fit for later PAS cars. Not sure if it makes any difference what model you have, but mine is a 500.
I went through the whole tyre thing a few months back and after spending ages looking at it (it was a right pain) went for the Toyos as they were the only tyres I could find in a matched set as I needed all four changing. Speed rating isn't right on the front though.
After speaking with a few people, decided I wasn't too concerned about this, as it's the rears that take the real stick and for the use I would be getting from the car I was unlikely to get anywhere near the speed rating. Need to check your insurance though, it will say something about the tyres being right for the car. I called my insurer (Admiral) who were fine about it, just said as long as the tyres are road worthy they don't care.
Just my tupenth worth.
Simple
I went through the whole tyre thing a few months back and after spending ages looking at it (it was a right pain) went for the Toyos as they were the only tyres I could find in a matched set as I needed all four changing. Speed rating isn't right on the front though.
After speaking with a few people, decided I wasn't too concerned about this, as it's the rears that take the real stick and for the use I would be getting from the car I was unlikely to get anywhere near the speed rating. Need to check your insurance though, it will say something about the tyres being right for the car. I called my insurer (Admiral) who were fine about it, just said as long as the tyres are road worthy they don't care.
Just my tupenth worth.
Simple
Simple said:
I called my insurer (Admiral) who were fine about it, just said as long as the tyres are road worthy they don't care.
I hope you have that in writing. Because if you end up having to make a huge claim (let's say you cripple a 22 y/o breadwinner with two small children, God forbid) the insurance company with go over your car with an electron microscope looking for reasons not to pay. And wrong speed rated tyres will do nicely, thanks. Do you really want to spend the rest of your life paying someone elses nursing home fees?
zumbruk said:
Simple said:
I called my insurer (Admiral) who were fine about it, just said as long as the tyres are road worthy they don't care.
I hope you have that in writing. Because if you end up having to make a huge claim (let's say you cripple a 22 y/o breadwinner with two small children, God forbid) the insurance company with go over your car with an electron microscope looking for reasons not to pay. And wrong speed rated tyres will do nicely, thanks. Do you really want to spend the rest of your life paying someone elses nursing home fees?
Whilst I agree with the sentiment, as I am no fan of insurance companies, I think the scenario you paint is fairly unlikely.
First, I checked the insurance policy and all it says is something about the tyres being road worthy (which they clearly are), I also know that a number of other people have had the same response from their insurance company. No guarantee of that though, which is why you should check with your own insurance company (getting something in writing is a good idea).
Second, the tyres are still rated for 149 mph, therefore, for the tyres to be a factor in an accident, which they would need to be for your insurance company to use them as grounds to question the claim, you would have to be going so fast that having lower rated tyres on your car would be the least of your worries.
Simple said:
Second, the tyres are still rated for 149 mph, therefore, for the tyres to be a factor in an accident, which they would need to be for your insurance company to use them as grounds to question the claim, you would have to be going so fast that having lower rated tyres on your car would be the least of your worries.
Frayed knot. All they have to do is demonstrate that you have broken the Terms & Conditions of the policy. Game over. What's so hard about getting their decision about speed ratings in writing? It doesn't cost anything. And the possible consequences of not getting it in writing are so horrifying as to be avoided at all costs, despite the unlikelyhood of it happening.
Indeed, you should never believe a word an insurer tells you unless it's in black and white.
Just ot put a stop to a sill argument - they will always pay the 3rd party, it is you they would not pay if they wanted to find but i find that very unlikely - i had this conversation with underwriters and assessors when that (totally nothing to do with TVR) accident happened in North Wales when a car wiped out cyclists. The tyres were defective (no tread) but insurance still paid and police could not prosecute for that because the accident was not to do with the tyres. So 149 rating nothing to be worried about IMHO.
Thanks for that Simple. My car is probably very similar to yours (a PAS '98 500). How have you found the Toyos (in terms of grip etc- realise its not been the best couple of months for driving though). Am insured with Admiral so might well follow the same route as you (will check with them as well).
Out of interest where did you get them from?
If other people (Zumbruk) are saying that the speed rating may be an issue could you tell me what tyres you have got on the front of yours?
Out of interest where did you get them from?
If other people (Zumbruk) are saying that the speed rating may be an issue could you tell me what tyres you have got on the front of yours?
george 500 said:
If other people (Zumbruk) are saying that the speed rating may be an issue could you tell me what tyres you have got on the front of yours?
I have ordered some new 16" wheels that take tyres of an appropriate speed rating.
I wouldn't trust an insurance company so far as I could comfortably spit a rat.
Of course, if you have it in writing that running under-specced tyres is OK, then that's fine.
occasionaluse said:
Just ot put a stop to a sill argument - they will always pay the 3rd party, it is you they would not pay if they wanted to find but i find that very unlikely - i had this conversation with underwriters and assessors when that (totally nothing to do with TVR) accident happened in North Wales when a car wiped out cyclists. The tyres were defective (no tread) but insurance still paid and police could not prosecute for that because the accident was not to do with the tyres. So 149 rating nothing to be worried about IMHO.
Thanks for that Occasionaluse, I was trying to avoid getting into a silly spat with anyone, as that is not the point of these forums. My partner works as a claims handler for an insurance company, so had told me the same thing. At the end of the day, I agree with Zumbruk, I don't realy trust insurance companies and getting something in writing is a good idea (as I said in my post). Having said that Zumbruk mate you seem to have bit of a grievance with insurance companies, and the tone of your posts on this thread is rather inpolite, given that all I have done is post my own expepriences and then agree that your suggestion that getting confirmation from your insurer in writing is a good idea.
As for changing the wheel to a different size, whilst this will allow the correct speed rating to be fitted, it seems rather an extreme approach. Also, if you wished to take your argument to its ultimate extreme you could say that this could also impact on the handling of the car compared to the original factory spec. Are you proposing to notify your insurer of the change of wheels and get it in writing from them that it is not an issue, or perhaps rely upon the reasonable position that provided the wheels are appropriate for the car and in roadworthy condition that it complies with your policy?
Anyhow on to more important things, like answering George 500's question. I like the Toyos a lot, find they have plenty of grip and the price wasn't too bad. I know a lot of people who are using them at the moment, on all sorts of TVR's not just Chim 500s with difficult tyre sizes. Find them OK in the wet too. At the risk of stating the obvious though, they take a while to scrub in, so take it steady for a while after changing the tyres.
Paid about £400 for the set all round, which is less than I pay for a set of tyres on the daily driver. Used one of the online places to supply and fit the tyres (Etyres I think), they came to my house to do it. I have heard of people getting them cheaper than that if you hunt around, but it suited me to have someone come to the house and fit the tyres on a weekend.
Simple said:
Are you proposing to notify your insurer of the change of wheels and get it in writing from them that it is not an issue,
Yes.
I have a file of all the modifications to the car and a letter of confirmation that they are acceptable. I wouldn't change *anything* without telling my insurers about it. You should tell your insurers about absolutely any change from standard specification, no matter if you think it's relevant or not. Once you've dealt with loss adjusters a couple of times, you'll be the same.
zumbruk said:
Simple said:
Having said that Zumbruk mate you seem to have bit of a grievance with insurance companies, and the tone of your posts on this thread is rather inpolite
My apologies if that's how it appears. That wasn't my intent. All it boils down to is "Get it in writing". End of.
OK, fair enough. At the end of the day, that's a cautious approach, but better cautious than rash, so good advice. Cheers Simple.
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