Originally Posted By: GC4lunch
My understanding (which may be incorrect) is that in Europe, each vehicle is listed in a database as having a performance rating, and a tire retailer cannot fit a tire to that vehicle that has a speed rating that is less than the vehicle's performance rating.
That's not unlike many tire stores in the United States, except that I believe it's driven more by liability here, and so this rule is thusly somewhat variable from store to store. That is:
1) Some tire stores don't seem to care one way or another and will install whatever you want;
2) Some tire stores will downgrade speed ratings only if you sign a waiver; and,
3) Some tire stores simply will not downgrade speed ratings at all.
For example, my family has bought a number of sets of tires from Sam's Club, including tires that are very much a different size and load rating than OEM (much larger, such as on a Jeep Wrangler). Sam's policy, at least as explained to me, is they will only install tires with a load rating or speed rating at least as high as what came on the car, as company policy.
Originally Posted By: GC4lunch
IF my understanding is correct, then there is a "penalty" (an exclusion of the market for certain vehicles) for a lower speed rating and thus an incentive to affix the highest achievable speed rating to every tire.
Very true. But here again, Michelin has market coverage for those vehicles that take an H or V rated tire (in this case, tires like the Pilot Exalto A/S and Primacy MXV4). They don't need or want to affix a higher speed rating than they intend because their Defender (ostensibly a passenger all season tire) will now self-compete with these other tires in their line. There may also be confusion in customers' heads, perhaps worded exactly as the title of this post is. You may have customers NOT picking the Defender (for example) and buying, say, the Continental ProContact EcoPlus because maybe the Defender passes the V-rated test and gets the V speed rating, and the customer doesn't want a "hard riding" V-rated tire, so chooses what he perceives to be a more segment-appropriate tire from a different brand.
My understanding (which may be incorrect) is that in Europe, each vehicle is listed in a database as having a performance rating, and a tire retailer cannot fit a tire to that vehicle that has a speed rating that is less than the vehicle's performance rating.
That's not unlike many tire stores in the United States, except that I believe it's driven more by liability here, and so this rule is thusly somewhat variable from store to store. That is:
1) Some tire stores don't seem to care one way or another and will install whatever you want;
2) Some tire stores will downgrade speed ratings only if you sign a waiver; and,
3) Some tire stores simply will not downgrade speed ratings at all.
For example, my family has bought a number of sets of tires from Sam's Club, including tires that are very much a different size and load rating than OEM (much larger, such as on a Jeep Wrangler). Sam's policy, at least as explained to me, is they will only install tires with a load rating or speed rating at least as high as what came on the car, as company policy.
Originally Posted By: GC4lunch
IF my understanding is correct, then there is a "penalty" (an exclusion of the market for certain vehicles) for a lower speed rating and thus an incentive to affix the highest achievable speed rating to every tire.
Very true. But here again, Michelin has market coverage for those vehicles that take an H or V rated tire (in this case, tires like the Pilot Exalto A/S and Primacy MXV4). They don't need or want to affix a higher speed rating than they intend because their Defender (ostensibly a passenger all season tire) will now self-compete with these other tires in their line. There may also be confusion in customers' heads, perhaps worded exactly as the title of this post is. You may have customers NOT picking the Defender (for example) and buying, say, the Continental ProContact EcoPlus because maybe the Defender passes the V-rated test and gets the V speed rating, and the customer doesn't want a "hard riding" V-rated tire, so chooses what he perceives to be a more segment-appropriate tire from a different brand.
