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[Yasmine Lee]

the vin plate on your car will tell you the max front/rear axle weight. half these and you will know what the manufacturer indents on each corner. make sure your tyres match or exceeds these weights.

simples

[TheBoy]

The specs in the manual suggest 93 IIRC. Thus anything 93 or higher would comply with insurance.

[mcd840]

Do any of you who have dti vecs or omegas bother with extra load tyres on the front ? Just asking as the sidewalls on my fronts seem very bulgy even at correct psi. Or does it not make much odds

Cheers

XL has little to do with that ime. What tyres are they? And do you have any handling issues with the car, possibly as a result? Ime I've had better handling results with stiffer side wall tyres. Don't get that water balloon on each corner sensation anyway.

The tyres are barun bravuris 2's. Handling etc all fine and wear very well for being on the front of a diesel ! As said the sidewallz are like water balloons. Thats my only complaint...

[05omegav6]

If they're mishaped, then either the pressures are wrong, the tyres are too low a rating/wrong size or both

Double check the Vectra manual for the wheel size fitted. Do not go by what is already fitted to the car, as that could well be wrong

[D]

The specs in the manual suggest 93 IIRC. Thus anything 93 or higher would comply with insurance.

I agree. 94 is what is currently sold as standard tyres for the omega and 97 as XL. I have not seen an 88 rated tyre in an Omega size ever. I am not sure where Al is getting that info from?

I still think the 97/XL is a marketing gimmick and often there is a cost implication to the higher load rating. Which people are happy to pay for due to a perceived safety benefit.

On the other hand if the XL costs the same as standard rated tyres, then go for it.

[05omegav6]

I plucked 88 as an example

The higher the load rating, the stronger the tyres construction, ergo, the better it withstands the rigours of day to day abuse/pot holes/speed humps overloading etc...

91 are rated to 615kg, 93 to 650kg and 98 to 750kg... I know which I would rather have on my 2 ton car

[05omegav6]

The Max permissible weight of my estate is approximately 2300kgs iirc, split 1100 kgs on the front axle and 1200 on the rear.

If I fit 93 rated tyres, that allows for a total of 1300kgs per axle... under heavy braking, the centre of gravity will move forward. How far forward do yo think it needs to move to overload the front tyres?

Ok you might say that this is an extreme example, but overload them, even for a moment, repeatedly and you'll run the risk of fatiguing the tyres, possibly to the point of failure.

[TheBoy]

I would say that the best handling tyres I've tried were 94...   ...not always convinced that harder sidewall is always better.

[05omegav6]

I would say that the best handling tyres I've tried were 94...   ...not always convinced that harder sidewall is always better.

And straight back into subjectivity without reference

Softer sidewalls might offset the harshness of larger diameters, but tyre width and pressure all play a part in tyre feel...

[TheBoy]

I would say that the best handling tyres I've tried were 94...   ...not always convinced that harder sidewall is always better.

And straight back into subjectivity without reference

Softer sidewalls might offset the harshness of larger diameters, but tyre width and pressure all play a part in tyre feel...

Aye, subjective.

The best tyres from a grip and straight line stability point of view have been 94 (and Dunlop ).  The worse were 97 (and Continental).  The GY F1's I'm running are 97, and they are bad enough, even Mrs TB complains about them .

[TheBoy]

But that's not scientific, more coincidental I think. But load rating will affect handling I suspect...   ...and not always for the better (or worse)

[Vamps]

My Honda is 98..........

[chrisgixer]

Do any of you who have dti vecs or omegas bother with extra load tyres on the front ? Just asking as the sidewalls on my fronts seem very bulgy even at correct psi. Or does it not make much odds

Cheers

XL has little to do with that ime. What tyres are they? And do you have any handling issues with the car, possibly as a result? Ime I've had better handling results with stiffer side wall tyres. Don't get that water balloon on each corner sensation anyway.

The tyres are barun bravuris 2's. Handling etc all fine and wear very well for being on the front of a diesel ! As said the sidewallz are like water balloons. Thats my only complaint...

Nothing to worry about then.

Smaller wheels give higher side walls, and some tyres look a bit balloon like as a result. It's not a structural defect.

Maybe lower profile tyres on bigger wheels would help aesthetically.

[chrisgixer]

But that's not scientific, more coincidental I think. But load rating will affect handling I suspect...   ...and not always for the better (or worse)

I see where the "tyres are subjective" argument comes from now. Its only subjective if discussed in a subjective manor, as here. A factual approach is needed here I think.

Lazy bloody admin. Facts please

[D]

The Max permissible weight of my estate is approximately 2300kgs iirc, split 1100 kgs on the front axle and 1200 on the rear.

If I fit 93 rated tyres, that allows for a total of 1300kgs per axle... under heavy braking, the centre of gravity will move forward. How far forward do yo think it needs to move to overload the front tyres?

Ok you might say that this is an extreme example, but overload them, even for a moment, repeatedly and you'll run the risk of fatiguing the tyres, possibly to the point of failure.

Thats just conjecture isn't it? Is there any real evidence rather than a theory that they could overload/fatigue? I havent heard of Omegas suffering excessive blow outs so far. And that would be the case if your theory was true as they were originally issued with 93/94 rated tyres.

To counter your argument, TB allegedly drives like a teenager on 94 rated tyres and he hasn't suffered excessive blowouts/fatigue has he?

I am no physicist, but the weight limit you refer to would be the compressive force from braking. I would think the tensile force on the tyre would have more bearing on failure/blowouts rather than the compressive force. After all braking involves lots of friction and tensile forces on the tyre rather than sheer compression.

Perhaps our resident engineer could enlighten us?