Goodyear or Michelin and Can I use tyres with different load index and speed rating?

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iliria

Active Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2013
Messages
152
Location
Cheshire
Car
W205 C200 Sport petrol (67)
I need to change the tyres on my W205 (67 sport). The current tyres are Continental 225/50 R17 W94.

Do i need to stick to W and 94 or can I use different ones? If so can I use a lower speed rating?

I am looking at:

Goodyear efficientGrip performance which are the correct W94 but are £117 fully fitted. Apparently, they are designed for MB. A grip/B fuel/69db

Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2 are W98 but cost cheaper at £105. A grip/B fuel/70db

Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2 that are W94 cost £113. A grip/B fuel/70db

All Goodyear get an additional 10% discount.

Michelin Primacy 3 W94. A grip/B fuel/ 69db. £126 Apparently made for MB

Michelin Primacy 4 W98. £122 A grip/B fuel/ 68db

All Michelin get a 15% off on top.

Could someone kindly give me some advice if possible today please? My MOT has failed and I have 10 days to get tyres changed and re-book MOT.

Thank you in advance.
 
Keep to the 94 .


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a. You can't use tyres with lower speed rating that what is specified in the owner's manual. It might invalidate your insurance, BTW, even if you declare it.

You can use tyres with higher speed rating, if you like. The higher speed rating has no downsides and no benefits either (unless you track the car or drive on German Autobahns).

b. You can't use tyres with lower load rating that what is specified in the owner's manual. Again, it might invalidate your insurance.

You can use tyres with higher load rating, if you like. In theory, it will lead to a less comfortable ride due to more-rigid sidewall, though a small increase in load rating might not really be noticeable.
 
Unless it couldn't be avoided I would not exceed either the speed rating or the load rating over an above what your owners manual specifies and the reason I say that is because you may suffer penalties in terms of ride comfort and possibly even tyre life.

That said W rating can't be right as that's good for 168 mph. I would have thought the correct rating is V (149 mph) For the load rating you have to go by the book though 94 still sounds a touch high unless it's an estate.
 
That said W rating can't be right as that's good for 168 mph. I would have thought the correct rating is V (149 mph) For the load rating you have to go by the book though 94 still sounds a touch high unless it's an estate.

I bought this car a year old and the tyres it came with are W94 so I'm just going based on that. When searching on blackcircles online it shows the W94 as being the right size too.

I'm probably having a dumb moment as well but I can't see the tyre ratings in the manual??

From the videos above it looks like the Michelin is better than the Goodyear so it looks like they are the ones to go for.

Out of these two...

Michelin Primacy 3 W94. A grip/B fuel/ 69db. £126 Apparently made for MB

Michelin Primacy 4 W98. £122 A grip/B fuel/ 68db

...the Primacy 3 seems to have the correct ratings and it says it is made for MB. Whereas the Primacy 4 has a slightly higher load rating but has 1db lower noise and is £4 cheaper.

Which one is worth going for?
 
Michelin, in my experience, have been crap. Conti are a good general bet, but \I'm moving over to Goodyear.
 
I bought this car a year old and the tyres it came with are W94 so I'm just going based on that. When searching on blackcircles online it shows the W94 as being the right size too.

I'm probably having a dumb moment as well but I can't see the tyre ratings in the manual??

From the videos above it looks like the Michelin is better than the Goodyear so it looks like they are the ones to go for.

Out of these two...

Michelin Primacy 3 W94. A grip/B fuel/ 69db. £126 Apparently made for MB

Michelin Primacy 4 W98. £122 A grip/B fuel/ 68db

...the Primacy 3 seems to have the correct ratings and it says it is made for MB. Whereas the Primacy 4 has a slightly higher load rating but has 1db lower noise and is £4 cheaper.

Which one is worth going for?
Of those go for Primacy 3 as they’re the right ratings and optimised for Mercedes, in other words perfect.
 
Thank you very much for your help guys. 4 x Primacy booked with Blackcircles. Hopefuly they will be as good in reality as they sound on paper.
 
For passing an mot and long as they are the same on each axle its a pass
 

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