Nankang tyres...never head of them!

Senator and Carlton 24v's have a top speed of 149 which means W or Z rated tyres (V is only UP TO 149). A large number of cars I have seen have V rated rubber fitted. It's not illegal to drive with a V but I know of one case where an insurance company has refused to pay out on a Senator 24v with V's on it involved in a accident. From the factory 24v's come with Z rated rubber. I run Uniroyal 540's on both 24v and 12v cars in V and W and they look, feel and drive identical as far as I can tell, just costs me 10 to 15quid more for the W's! I've even bought a Carlton 24v with H's on before! MOT's don't care as long as the tread/tyre condition is OK. It's the manufactures top speed which is used to spec a tyre not the speed you drive at normally. I think your tyre shop is trying it on!

Will

Why? If you're a law abiding citizen then you'll never see 100mph unless you drive in Germany so T rated (118mph) is as much as anyone needs - the qualifier being (and I guess the real reason for an insurance objection) that lower speed rated tyres tend to have lower load indexes. The Senator being a heavy car will have had a high load index tyre from new, fitting a lower load rating of tyre would be a reason to invalidate an insurance payout.

Kwik fit and others have no problem fitting my car with H rated tyres, the price difference between H, V and W in my size is minimal (2-3 quid per step) so it gets V or W, whichever are in stock at the time at the best deal - currently W. Factory fit was W.

Not if the Uniroyals I have have different load ratings. I will try and remember to check next time I am outside! Maybe torque has something to do with it? Higher speed usually means higher torque output, so maybe rubber compound is different and less susceptible to tread break up? Maybe a case of changing the markings on the side and charging more for the sake of it? Vauxhall obviously thought it wise to fit Z from the factory, if they could have saved a few pence and fitted V I am sure they would have!

I cheated and looked the tyres up on mytyres.co.uk (where I bought the last set from!).

They list the V as a 94V at 50.60 and the W as 94W at 65.50 so I have to pay

14.90 more just for a letter change on the side wall, load index is the same!

The message from "Will Reeve" contains these words:

Certainly seemed like it. Mind you - a diesel Montego, even a turbo one ain't going to win any prizes for top speed.

You are totally wrong! my objection to remoulds is solely based on experience. If I thought that remoulds were safe I would sell them, I wont sell some budgets for the same reason price is not the issue .

7 years ago the company next door to me supplied Colway with casings, I really do know the remoulding process that Colway use.

I can't be arsed to look but the most important part of a tyre is the casing, the casing is designed and made to last the life of the tread , when you reuse the casing of a bald tyre you excede the design life of the casing.

That's not strictly true but we do have to fit the recomended speed rating for that car, if you have an accident one of the things that will be looked at is the tyres, if they are the wrong speed rating then they company that fitted them is in the shit big time. It's not the speed you drive at it's the speed the car is could do on a good day down hill with a following wind.

The message from "Mill Autos" contains these words:

Ah, now that's a bit more reasonable.

Cat amongst pigeons...Our litigation-loving American cousins and the safety-critical aviation industry have no problems with retreads...

"Nearly 100 percent of the world's airlines use retreaded tyres

80% of the tyres used by the commercial aviation industry are retreaded tyres Approximately 26.2 million retreaded tyres were sold in North America in 2000, with sales totalling more than $2 billion Of these over 6.3 million were retreaded light truck tyres Over 18.2 million were retreaded medium and heavy duty truck tyres"

and let's not forget...

"Retreading greatly reduces solid waste disposal problems. Every tyre retreaded is a tyre saved from the landfill. Retreading is truly recycling! Energy savings. Retreading conserves hundreds of millions of gallons of oil every year"

Source: Tire Retread Information Bureau

Okay, not an independent source, but one that cannot make erroneous claims.

I've been following this thread with interest. I am 90% sure I will go for the retreads if only to see for myself what they are like. It is very unlikely they will wear out before they get old and perish, the mileage the car gets is low, if they do 3000 miles I will be happy as they will have lasted over 3 years! Once they are on (in the summer, the alloy wheels are getting re-furbished at the moment) I will post my thoughts on them. I am a little worried about the 'stigma' attached to them but they seem more acceptable on older 'classic' type cars than your every day transport.

Keep well all,

Will