Car delivered with "Dunlop SP Sport 01" 205/60R15 91V tyres; no issues but now need replaced through wear.

Given I regularly load the car up to the gunnals I did a bit of research into XL tyres, load capacities and tyre pressures. Having decided to opt for the "Dunlop SP Sport Fast Response" 205/60R15 95H XL, I checked out the pressures and load capacities of the standard 91 Load Index versus the 95XL and found them to have identical load/pressure ratios up to and including the 91's max of 2.5 bar (615kg), with the 95XL going on to a max of 2.9 bar (690kg).

According to the info on the sticker on the inside of the fuel flap, for normal loads the 205/60R15 should be inflated to 2.2 bar both front and rear (555kg). For heavy loads the 205/60R15 should be inflated to 2.4 bar front (595kg) and, wait for it.... 3.0 bar rear!!!

3.0 bar doesn't even appear on the scale of the 91 Load Index!!! It shows a maximum pressure/load of 2.5 bar/615kg.

The 95XL Load Index doesn't even go to 3.0 bar - it has a max of 2.9 bar/690kg.

Am I missing something here, or should the car have come already fitted with XL tyres?

Edited 11 July, 201213 yr by Rab-k

My 4x4 Scout came with Dunlop SP Sport tyres (non-XL).

Ah, so THAT'S what the xl means after a tyres specs! Cheers!

My 4X4 TSI came with Dunlop Sport 01 205/60R15 91V tyres. Those tyres have a max load of 615KG and a max pressure of 350kPa (51psi). When I purchased the car from the first owner I upgraded to 17" alloys and fitted Uniroyal Rainsport 2 tyres which are 225/45ZR17 91W. These have the same max load and max pressure figures as the Sport 01. Skoda's recommended pressure of 3.1bar/310kPa (45psi) for the rear tyres of my car with full load is well within the tyre manufacturers' 350kPa (51psi) limit.

Same with mine, Dunlop Sport 01 205/60R15 91V tyres. When fully loaded and caravan on the back, 35psi in the front and 45psi in the rear.

615 x 4 = 2460kg

Unlikely that your axel weights can cope with this so you should be fine on the standard load rubbers - But always better to over engineer than run on the limit.

Inside the passenger door you will find a weights sticker with 4 numbers

The bottom two are the maximum permissable weights for the front and rear axel.

My michelin 205/55 R16 91V have max pressure 51 psi stamped on them so thats 3.5 bar

I'm more concerned about handling given the soft rear of the Octy so looking at MAD spring assisters for being fully loaded.

Our 07 4x4 came with standard load 16" tyres as well. I upgraded to XL's all round when they were replaced but the last two I bought have been standard again. No issues as yet!

Hmmm, confused...

The tables I found here http://www.uniroyal-...ownload2_cz.pdf (pg 54-55) and here http://www.conti-onl...databook_cz.pdf (pg 120-121) show max bar on standards to be 2.5 and those of XL to be 2.9.

But sure enough, my current 91's say max 3.5 bar on the tyre wall, and the Uniroyal site states "3.2 bar is the maximum tyre pressure on standard version car tyres up to and including Speed Index T; 3.5 bar for H-, V-,W-, Y- and ZR-, as well as M+ S and XL/Reinforced tyres".

So how come the tables on each site only show bar ratios for standard tyres up to 2.5 and for XL up to 2.9? Also, just to confuse me further, why in another section on the Uniroyal site do they refer to max bar in relation to Speed Indices?

Or is it simply that the tables relate to 'normal' loads?

Aaaargh!!!

PS I can recommend the MAD helper springs.

PPS Axel load sticker shows front 1050kg and rear 1060kg. Brochure shows kerb weight 1400kg plus 675kg payload giving total 2075kg; only 35kg off the combined axel limit!

PPPS Anyone else using Firefox having difficulty posting on here?

Edited 11 July, 201213 yr by Rab-k

I have added the 2009-2010 version of Uniroyal tyre technical data document to my collection of useful references on my iPad. The link for that more recent document is below.

http://www.uniroyal-tyres.com/generator/www/pl/pl/uniroyal/samochod/themes/service/downloads/hidden/dl-technical-data.pdf

I think that following fuller quotes from the data document explains the variation in pressures being queried.

'The tyre pressure values for car tyres given in table 1 and 2 are minimum pressures for speeds up to 60 km/h (100 mph). They may be increased, for example, for reasons of driving stability.

3.2 bar is the maximum tyre pressure on standard version car tyres up to and including Speed Index T; 3.5 bar for H-, V-, W-, Y- and ZR-, as well as M + S and XL/Reinforced tyres.

These values may not be exceeded to ensure that the structural performance of the tyres and rims is not impaired.'

And a further quote from page 5 of the data document listing tyre sidewall information.

'Other information on the tyre sidewall applies to countries outside Europe (esp. USA)'

As tyre pressure information is not included in that list of markings, my understanding is that the max presssure figure on the sidewall relates to the USA market.

Rab-k

Check your registration document V5C, the kerbweight / mass in service for my 2.0 CR TDi is 1,495kg, (same as handbook) brochure says 1,425kg, your 1.6 could be 1,475kg ?

Use Google Chrome, much better.

Chris

I have recently fitted Toyo T1 sports to our Scout following discusions with the technical dept at Toyo http://www.toyo.co.u...proxes-t1-sport The transformation from the Dunlops is unreal, cornering speeds are higher, straight line stability is improved but the biggest difference is in the wet, there is so much more grip & the car feels more planted. We did a 2K spin through France a couple of weeks ago with a lot of mountain driving & the car could really be hurled around with confidence & the tyres gave excelent feedback so there were no sudden panics as it all let go. On a couple of mountains some of the "sportier cars" with us were struggling to keep up, the joy of 4WD. The Toyos are also cheaper, the downside will probably be wear rate but I prefer that to get a far safer feel from the car

Edited 12 July, 201213 yr by Stuart_J

"Mass in service1475kg", with "Revenue weight 2075kg" on the V5C, so a difference of 75kg from the brochure's kerb weight.

The section referring to "Tyre pressure values for car tyres given in table 1 and 2 are minimum pressures" makes it somewhat clearer as I was reading these figures as a maximum. Doh!

I'll give the "Dunlop SP Sport Fast Response" 205/60R15 95H XL a go and see how I get on. If they're cr@p on the alpine roads I'll be hitting next month then I'll revert to something else next time 'round.

Thanks for your replies.

I have recently fitted Toyo T1 sports to our Scout following discusions with the technical dept at Toyo http://www.toyo.co.u...proxes-t1-sport The transformation from the Dunlops is unreal, cornering speeds are higher, straight line stability is improved but the biggest difference is in the wet, there is so much more grip & the car feels more planted. We did a 2K spin through France a couple of weeks ago with a lot of mountain driving & the car could really be hurled around with confidence & the tyres gave excelent feedback so there were no sudden panics as it all let go. On a couple of mountains some of the "sportier cars" with usc were struggling to keep up, the joy of 4WD. The Toyos are also cheaper, the downside will probably be wear rate but I prefer that to get a far safer feel from the car

Yep I found the DUnlops poor too and they cracked badly in the sipes so I switched to Vredestein Sportrac 3's - massively better and cheaper.

Blimey - those Toyo's must be good. Recent dunlops I've used have had great handling and grip - but they're made of cheese. 15k miles and you need a new set....

Blimey - those Toyo's must be good. Recent dunlops I've used have had great handling and grip - but they're made of cheese. 15k miles and you need a new set....

If they were the Sport 01 then you drive a tadge harder than me, I was getting low 20K out of the Dunlops

Same here with Scout,Dunlop SP Sports, and when they got worn, I swapped them with Conti SportContact 5 XL.