V-rated tires seem overkill on old Camry

John Mahler

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

Q: I bought a used 2003 Toyota Camry SE last year. It turns out one of the Michelin tires on it is almost bald and has to be replaced. The garage tells me that it is rated as H instead of the lower speed (and cheaper) rating.

The $195 for a performance tire seems like a ridiculous amount of money for a tire for a mid-size family sedan that has a wheezy four-cylinder engine!

The garage says three of the tires will last another three or four seasons (I swap them with winter tires, and we drive about 10,000 km per year). He suspects the original owner did not rotate the tires, which is why only one is bald.

So he said he thought about downgrading a pair to H-rated, and leaving the other two as V-rated. But because the three tires were in fine shape, it wouldn't really turn out to be much cheaper in the end.

A: Toyota specified V-rated tires for your car, which are even more performance oriented and costly than H.

Toyota, like all car companies, consider the tires as part of the suspension system. Tire sidewalls have a spring rate just like the suspension, though they may differ in actual rate. So if the handling of the car is sloppy (turn-in), it is easier to get a tire with a stiffer sidewall to solve the problem than to redesign the car's suspension bushings or add a sway bar.

Or perhaps the tire manufacturer had a sale on those particular tires, so they ended up on your car. Do you need V-rated? Probably not, H is almost as stiff.

Now to the real issue: if the car is a 2003, the tires are already four or five years old. That is approaching the end of their service cycle in our climate. They will not have good grip for three or four more years. Tread depth has nothing to do with grip; age is what kills a tire.

If he thinks three of the tires are great, trade them in on four new ones. Personally, I would look at a General Altimax HP. The H-rated touring tire is a reasonable price at a list of $208, which should sell at 30 per cent off. That's $146 net.

Should your tire guy not be keen on taking the old tires, then I'd get two of these for the rear of the car, and then two for the front later. You'll need them soon.

Email tire questions to John Mahler at thetireguy_1@hotmail.com. Please include vehicle's make, model and year, tire brand and size, plus your name, address and phone. Volume of mail prevents us from answering all queries or providing personal replies.

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