USAF Lt

I purchased 4 Les Schwab's Toyo Spectrum All Season bi-directional tires (205 60/15 S-rated). Now my handling is jacked. I feel like I lost all my float and the car is on its own. I dive into corners too deep and straights are not so straight. I stepped down in speed rating but up in mileage. Is this expected as a trade off in high speed rating and a passenger tire with more mileage?

I can't handle low profile, summer tires out here in Idaho...

CC Rider

You should never go below the original letter rating for the tires on the car. A4's came with a minimum of H-rated tires. Tires are an integral part of the suspension of modern cars and the designers counted on the stiffness of an H or higher tire on the car.

You can certainly drive on your S-rated tires but don't expect to do performance moves like high speed cornering and braking with them.

donahoe73

here if they don't meet the minimum speed rating. And for good reason.

ex-quattro PETE

yup. there's always a tredeoff.

CC Rider

I've found winter tires that are H-rated but I'm not sure I ever saw a true snow tire that was at least H-rated.

The higher letter ratings obviously handle higher speeds and more severe maneuvers which are actions that most normal people don't try to do with snow tires. These are usually opposite ends of the spectrum.

So maybe it's possible that the shop will allow lower rated snow tires but not lower rated regular tires such as all-season tires. Some places, and Idaho may have such areas, require snow tires. I remember this in the mountain passes in Washington state. You were supposed to have chains or snow tires with 4WD or some combo like that. They can't very well require you to have snow tires if you are required to stick with H, V, or Z rated tires.

Hmmm..... fuel for debate with no real answer. Story of my life.

donahoe73

Could be. I remember a guy in Sears getting made b/c they refused to put underated tires on his Benz