geekonabike (Addict)

Mon Sep 15, 2014 12:40 am

Car tires and load capacities(?)

Hi all,

So the Yokohama Geolander P215/70R16 90H tires on the wife-unit's 2010 Outlander ES have rather shallow treads. I mean, some of my best friends are shallow, but these are getting me worried. SAMS always seems an inexpensive option, and has plenty of tires in the same size, but has only three that they match to the vehicle, and none of them are terribly highly rated. Well, "terribly" does describe the ratings on a couple of them (Dunlop and BFGoodrich), and the third is a Goodyear Assurance CS Fuel Max - P215/70R16 99T which is ostensibly some kind of fuel-saving tire which I might go for but wonder about the grip and ride.

After many experiences with Michelins, I'd really like to put some of those on there, like maybe Michelin Latitude Tour - 215/70R16 100T in the same size, and SAMS lists them but doesn't match them to the car. As far as I can tell, the only places the Michelins have worse specs are Temperature rating (B versus A), and in max load, which is 1554 versus 1709. I'm not worried about the temperature rating (should I be?) because Michelins I think do run a bit hotter but can take it. I think it's related to how they tend to have cushier rides, but that's not authoritative. The tread ratings on the Michelins is about 720 versus 600 for the Goodyear, 440 for BFGoodrich and 300 for the Dunlops.

So I grabbed my owners manual, and it seems the car's gross axle weight rating is 2403 lbs front, 2315 lbs rear, with gross vehicle weight rating of 4564 lbs. For what it's worth, carrying capacity is a feeble 827 lbs (about what you can put on two Sportsters). I don't know how those numbers relate, if at all, but I wonder if it would be OK to put on the Michelins, which lose only about 155 lbs carrying per tire (again, 1554 versus 1709 lbs). I realize tires might deal with more than weight, i.e., other acceleration vectors added from cornering, bumps, braking, accelerating and such though I would reckon those would be built into the rating.

Any thoughts? MUCH appreciated!

Thanks,
Mike D.
(Seeing 250 NInjas everywhere and starting to drooooooool.)

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• Car tires and load capacities(?) — geekonabike, Mon Sep 15, 2014 12:40 am

  • Michelin's website lists it — geekonabike, Mon Sep 15, 2014 7:35 pm

    • Tirerack says you're good to go — djrussell, Tue Sep 23, 2014 1:14 pm