the two front 16inch tires on our MCS needed to be replaced, so we had the dealership do it while in for other stuff. He called up my dad and said he put on two H rated replacement dunlops instead of the V ones because they were out of stock. Is the only issue being the speed i can go? there is no degradation in grip etc.??

 

The dealer should have called FIRST before doing this.

You can kindly let the dealer know that you will be happy to drive around on these until they can give you a proper set of replacement tires at no additional cost.

 

im sorry, i worded it incorrectly. My dad recieved a call from them before they did the work, however he is of the mind that this is fine, and did not call ME before going ahead... He rarely drives the car and to be honest just wants the path of least resistance. So the tires will stay on, but what will be the downsides to this unfortunate affair?

thanks for the quick response!

 

Soul Coughing,
The two H-rated Dunlops are not as good performance tires as the V-rated runflats. V-rated tires cost more, allow for higher speeds without heating up as much, and offer better handling, stopping, with a slightly firmer ride.
From tirerack.com
Speed rating Max speed Typical Application
S 112 mph Family Sedans & Vans
T 118 mph Family Sedans & Vans
U 124 mph
H 130 mph Sport Sedans & Coupes
V 149 mph Sport Sedans, Coupes & Sports Cars
W 168 mph Exotic Sports Cars

Tirerack.com shows for 195/55-16 Dunlop runflats there are:
SP Sport 3000A DSST ultra high perf summer tires in
H-rating for $122 each 240 wear A traction 23 pounds
V-rating for $148 each
or
SP Sport 5000A DSST ultra high perf all season tires in
V-rating for $140 each 280 wear A traction 23 pounds each

This is the best comparison link I found-
http://vstrom.info/fom-serve/cache/85.html
Quote from Michelin-
1. The V's have a different belt orientation than the H's.
2. The tread profile is a little rounder on the V's.
3. The V's will ride firmer than the H's.
4. The compound is softer resulting in decreased mileage.
5. The V's should be a little better at all level's of sport riding.

 

Your dad's first mistake was to have the dealer mess with the tires.

The path of least resistance is often the least desirable path.

 

Don't worry about it too much. These are run-flat tires and not meant to be high performance stuff. For daily driving, you will not notice anything different at basically any speed you are likely to get to on the highway.

In the future though, you might want to consider switching to a regular (non-runflat) performance tire, and at that point you'll have a wide range of great tires to choose from!

 

yeah i agree, I've been wanting to change the tires tonon-runflats for some time now, but my father and I think very differently. But thank you for the info, i appreciate it alot.

Northern Jersey roads where i live are amazingly good for the mini. With many tight turns and almost no cars, but they seem to hurt tread life tremendously. One of the only times i get close to the limits is on off ramps getting off the highway. With the original setup (bald fronts and new in back) the back would gently come out and rotate. Then the tires were rotated to the back, which made the car understeer all the time. My question to you all would be if the H's were in the front, would it be the same as having the balds in the back? Would it understeer all the time? Thanks again