I notice that the 17 inch wheel/tyres have a rating "W" and the 16 inch ones are "H" rated, why is this? It is strange that the same car regardless of weight or engine size has such a wide variance of speed rating. The "W" rated tyres have clearance for speeds up to 168 mph, whereas the "H" ratings cover up to 131mph.

I would imagine that "W" rated tyres are more expensive and no doubt harder on the tread meaning more road noise. I suppose you could get 17 inch tyres with a lower rating, but this would no doubt cause problems with your insurance company. Any tyre experts have a comment to make?

I'm not an expert, but I've wondered about this too.  I'd assumed that the lower profile tyres were only available in the higher speed ratings, but looking at http://www.blackcircles.com/order/tyres/search shows plenty of 225/50 R 17H.  You also need to have the right weight rating (95 for 16 inch, 94 for 17 inch, irrespective of 2wd or 4wd or engine size - make sense of that...), but all those 17 inch tyres shown on blackcircles are 94 or more.  Conspiracy theorists say that tyre manufacturers give vehicle manufacturers huge discounts on the high speed rating tyres, which are said to wear more quickly, so that they can fleece the replacement market. (think printers and ink cartridges - different but same principle).  Most insurers are process-driven call-centre knuckleheads and won't/can't think for themselves, so find it simplest to say that anything less than manufacturer's recommendation is verboten (or uninsurable).  So I have to buy Y rated tyres for my dear old diesel Jaguar S-Type (186 mph - dream on!).

I'm not an expert, but I've wondered about this too.  I'd assumed that the lower profile tyres were only available in the higher speed ratings, but looking at http://www.blackcircles.com/order/tyres/search shows plenty of 225/50 R 17H.  You also need to have the right weight rating (95 for 16 inch, 94 for 17 inch, irrespective of 2wd or 4wd or engine size - make sense of that...), but all those 17 inch tyres shown on blackcircles are 94 or more.  Conspiracy theorists say that tyre manufacturers give vehicle manufacturers huge discounts on the high speed rating tyres, which are said to wear more quickly, so that they can fleece the replacement market. (think printers and ink cartridges - different but same principle).  Most insurers are process-driven call-centre knuckleheads and won't/can't think for themselves, so find it simplest to say that anything less than manufacturer's recommendation is verboten (or uninsurable).  So I have to buy Y rated tyres for my dear old diesel Jaguar S-Type (186 mph - dream on!).

I'd certainly agree with you about going outside the manufacturer's recommendation.  But what exactly is that?  Is it the tyres that the vehicle arrived with (surely not?)?  Or as recommended by the handbook (nothing specific that I can see in the existing or new Yeti manuals)?

 

SUK were unhelpful when I spoke to their otherwise helpful technical team - their line was that it wasn't up to them to determine what tyre rating was required.  It was up to the tyre fitters to decide!  Which is clearly ludicrous.

 

Logic would suggest that if the car's maximum speed doesn't exceed the speed for which the tyre's rated there should be no insurance problem, but I doubt it's that simple.

The brochure does state "W" rated for 17 inch and "H" rated for 16 inch and this is Skoda's official line regarding the rating value. I spoke to my insurers about this and what is required for winter tyres, and they suggested to stick with the manufacturers recommendations. I was contemplating fitting winters to my 17 inch wheels, so it's back to square one then

If you look back on recent winter tyres threads, you'll see this issue discussed. I've got my insurers approval to fit V-rated winters on 17" wheels on my Yeti. Took a little doing, but we got there in the end (partly because W-rated winters in the right size just don't seem to be made and V-rated are good for 149mph or some such figure). 

I don't understand why VAG don't just put the information with the rest of the tyre info, like the sizes and pressures. Our other car has the table of sizes and pressures and underneath it the minimum speed and load rating. And they are sensible values (H and 8x even though the car came on 91 Ys). Makes it simple.

Skoda have been using over rated tyres in terms of speed for years, particularly on the higher trim levels.

 

To some extent I think it's a combination of VAG parts bin and tyre availability. 225/50 R17 summer tyres as far as I'm aware have only recently become more available in lower speed ratings, plus VAG use this tyre size for the TT for example; makes sense for them to buy W rated in bulk to suit all their requirements.

 

You can if you wanted also get the 215/60 R16 tyre in a W rating but as it's not a TT tyre you get a more appropriate H rating.

 

 

TP

Forgot to say the FLego Yeti is showing lower speed ratings for all it's approved tyres;

 

Engines 110PS and below are now T rated and above that are H rated including the 225/50 R17 tyres.

 

Be interesting to see what comes out of the factory.

 

 

TP