What do 195/60 tyres weigh?

toddao · Post by **toddao** » Mon May 04, 2009 5:56 pm

I've decided to buy some new tyres instead. They're four years old but have been in storage : Goodyear Eagles @ €30 a piece ( anyone had any experience of these). Can't find a deal better than that around here and he's offering very cheap carriage. When they arrive I'll bung one on the wife's kitchen scales.

The part worns were Chinese wonders but I think the dealer was trying to make up for the low price with a hefty postage. Also TÜV specifies on the 16v papers that they must be V rated ( up to 240kmph!) not that I'll be going that fast but the wife would rather have some Kwality name ( probably made in China too!) if we're whizzing down the autobahn a bit faster than our 1.9 n/a . The papers also specified that I must fit Michelin MXVs but when I phoned up the TÜV to clarify this nonsense he said anything of a similar style was permitted as long as it was 195/60 VR14. Obviously the backhander that Citroen paid for this specification has been long forgotten.

Kitch · Post by **Kitch** » Mon May 04, 2009 6:10 pm

MXV's aren't made anymore, so you'd have had a job with those! But yeah, they are supposed to wear V rated.
Apparently over here at least, if you fitted H rated instead, you'd invalidate your insurance (if your assessor knew 16v's were supposed to wear V rated....he won't, he'll just tick the T.L box and check the chassis no matches the reg!)
I got Toyo Proxes CF1's a few weeks back. Came to £42 a tyre all in IIRC and rides very well. H rated were about £36 each. Michelins were over £80 each

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Mon May 04, 2009 7:28 pm

I'd be wary of buying 4year old tyres, technically tyres need changing every 5 years regardless of how much wear they've had, the rubber goes off with age, so unless they've been vacum sealed i just wouldnt bother. Surely you must be able to get some decent tyres over in germany for not too much dosh?

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Mon May 04, 2009 7:28 pm

toddao wrote:When they arrive I'll bung one on the wife's kitchen scales.

Ooh, I can't wait!

Best make sure she's otherwise engaged at the time...

I ran Goodyear Eagle NCT2 tyres on an Alfa 75 I had a few years back, and they were a pretty good tyre. According to the tyre place I used at the time, they were superceded by the NCT5 (what happened to 3 and 4?) and they never felt quite as good. Slightly more squirmy if that's a word.

Post by **docchevron** » Mon May 04, 2009 9:07 pm

MULLEY wrote:I'd be wary of buying 4year old tyres, technically tyres need changing every 5 years regardless of how much wear they've had, the rubber goes off with age, so unless they've been vacum sealed i just wouldnt bother.

Who on earth told you that?

UV kills the rubber, so if they've been stored in a nice dark corner somewhere they'll be fine.

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Mon May 04, 2009 9:23 pm

UV speeds up the process, however rubber does degrade even if its not directly exposed to uv (temperature changes & humidity/dampness are the issues). Visually you probably wouldnt notice anything, but when exposed to UV (after having been stored for years) it would shorten the tyres life dramatically.

Ask any tyre manufacturer to sell you a 5 year tyre even if its new, they wont, because they wouldnt be able to guarantee that its structurlarly sound. Thats why they put date markings on them.

Why take the risk with one of the most important parts of your car just for the sake of saving a few quid, my life & any occupants are certainly worth the extra expense.

Post by **docchevron** » Mon May 04, 2009 9:27 pm

You've got to be kidding right?
5 years?
That seems nuts to me.
Our tyre fitters keep odd size tyres for odd random buses in stock for years. Never seen one go bang yet.

kiwi · Post by **kiwi** » Mon May 04, 2009 10:07 pm

I have heard that as well about 5 year old tyres!

Two trains of thought are out there one was from a guy who said he keeps his new tyres in the attic for a year to allow the compound to harden and get extra wear out of them. His occupation Taxi Driver!

But then in the Fire Service the directive is to remove Tyres after 5 years maximum no matter how much or little the Truck has been used.

The reason because the steel bandings in the Tyre no matter where they are stored (unless in a perfect vacumm) rusts and weakens the structure of the Tyre. Alledgedly Nitrogen supposed to slow that corrosion but still the Tyres are recommended to be replaced after 5 years.

Notice the word "recommended"

DavidRutherford · Post by **DavidRutherford** » Mon May 04, 2009 10:12 pm

The other thing that can affect tyres is low-level ozone, but the effect that has is minimal compared to the effects of UV light.

the 6-year life on tyres is based on them being in reasonably regular use, and outside for their entire life. Store a tyre indoors, in a dry controlled dark environment, and they'll last ten times as long.