Michelin being dopey

[Rory]

Had some Michelin Primacy HP 225/50R16's with V speed rating on order with Costco for about 3 mths - don't really need them yet, but ordered tyres all round to get 20% off. They had the fronts, which I needed, in stock.

So Costco call today (they've called a few times and offered to refund me) to tell me they definitely can't get V's anymore but should have W's in a couple of weeks. I feel my cars ride is very tyre sensitive (was awful with original Bridgestone Turanzas) so I dropped Michelin an email to ask what the difference is.

Surprisingly, someone from Michelin "technical" called me.

Firstly he told me the W's would be fine as they are MO (Mercedes Original...I always thought the O meant Option). I asked if this meant all tyres of that size/rating would be MO and he said no, but he assumed I would be having MO. In fact I avoided MO as the fronts are not available as MO.

So I asked him again, what's the construction difference between V and W and between standard and MO. We then had a frustrating few minutes as he either had no idea or wouldn't say. He just kept saying that W tyres were designed for higher speed and the MO tyres were tuned to the characteristics of a Mercedes.

So I still don't know if the car will ride as well on the W tyres as it does on the V's.

In my industry we often offer the same part with many different part number and I strongly suspect the V and W and MO and non-MO tyres are exactly the same but marked differently. However, while we will tell customers who ask, Michelin seem quite happy to make themselves appear stupid.

 

[grober]

The most telling difference would probably be if there was a change in the ply composition of the tyres or in the tread pattern to achieve the slightly higher rating. Differences in plys might mean a bigger difference between V and W
The ply composition should be listed on the tyre sidewalls somewhere like this
Tread Plies: 2 Polyester + Steel + 2 Nylon
Sidewall Plies: 2 Polyester

The tread pattern difference should be obvious on inspection. Quite often there's a big change in tread pattern from H to V rated tyres for example altho its less likely in the higher speed rated tyres

I have heard the MO rating is mainly concerned with the ride characteristics to match MB suspensions so other performance/handling characteristics would be very similar in non MO branded tyres of the same type.

 

[Dieselman]

I've had Michelins of both V and W rating on my car and couldn't tell any difference.
The carcase of the W tyres must be slightly stronger but not by much and there would be very little difference in sidewall stiffness.

Bridgestone tyres are known for having rigid sidewalls whereas Michelin are much more complient.

 

[Rory]

I strongly suspect there won't be any difference but having experienced the Bridgestone's, which might as well have been iron rings rather than rubber tyres, I really don't want to do anything that would bring that back.

 

[Smiley]

I have also had michelin v and w tyres and could not tell the difference.

 

[ringway]

Michelin being dopey and complacent

Had some Michelin Primacy HP 225/50R16's with V speed rating on order with Costco for about 3 mths - don't really need them yet, but ordered tyres all round to get 20% off. They had the fronts, which I needed, in stock.

So Costco call today (they've called a few times and offered to refund me) to tell me they definitely can't get V's anymore but should have W's in a couple of weeks. I feel my cars ride is very tyre sensitive (was awful with original Bridgestone Turanzas) so I dropped Michelin an email to ask what the difference is.

Surprisingly, someone from Michelin "technical" called me.

Firstly he told me the W's would be fine as they are MO (Mercedes Original...I always thought the O meant Option). I asked if this meant all tyres of that size/rating would be MO and he said no, but he assumed I would be having MO. In fact I avoided MO as the fronts are not available as MO.

So I asked him again, what's the construction difference between V and W and between standard and MO. We then had a frustrating few minutes as he either had no idea or wouldn't say. He just kept saying that W tyres were designed for higher speed and the MO tyres were tuned to the characteristics of a Mercedes.

So I still don't know if the car will ride as well on the W tyres as it does on the V's.

In my industry we often offer the same part with many different part number and I strongly suspect the V and W and MO and non-MO tyres are exactly the same but marked differently. However, while we will tell customers who ask, Michelin seem quite happy to make themselves appear stupid.

I was once distracted whilst in our unit filling 25ltr drums with our own brew chemical that contained amongst other things - neat traffic film remover, ammonia and optical brighteners from a huge vat containing the concentrated mixture.

I left the vat tap running and all but flooded the area of the yard where my car was. I had 4 Michelin tyres and they were an inch deep in concentrated chemicals for 5 minutes of so. I rinsed off the tyres and rang Michelin technical dept and said I was concerned the chemicals could have damaged/weakend the tyres.

"They will be ok" said the (French sounding) tech lady.
I replied "But the chemicals will strip off grease/grime etc in seconds, so what about the rubber of the tyres, won't it be damaged?"
"It will be fine sir..."

That was as far as I could get...

The chemicals stripped the paint from the workshop floor!

I still run on Michelins though