Originally Posted By: fdcg27
We have a very knowledegable tire guy here, CapriRacer.
This topic has come up from time to time and in at least one of these threads he wrote that what matters isn't so much the speed rating of the tire as it is the use of a cap ply in the tire's construction.
Tires so constructed rarely fail in service.
He went on to write that all H speed rated tires will have cap plies, so an H rated tire would be perfectly safe.
I've also seen him make this recommendation.
But my recent experience is that quality T-rated tires will have the cap ply he talks about.
For example, all the quality T-rated tires I've owned or researched in recent years (Hankook H727, Cooper CS5 Grand Touring, General RT43) seem to have cap plies, even though they're T-rated.
But the cheap Radar and Douglas H-rated tires on my Miata indicate on the sidewall that they don't have a cap ply, even though they're H-rated.
So, if you value cap plies, many quality T-rated tires will likely meet your requirements.
Originally Posted By: hpb
Must be different rules in the Northern Hemisphere. Here, fitting tyres with a lower speed rating than recommended by the vehicle manufacturer is illegal.
Is it actually illegal, or is it just one of those things that people claim is "illegal." Sometimes people toss around that term when it isn't warranted.
In multiple threads here in the past people have claimed it's "illegal" to plug a tire in some states in the U.S. They claim a patch/plug is the legal repair. However, a little googling has shown that claim is not really accurate.
