Not to start this again but I’ve lived in snow country over 60 years. The idea that a narrow tire will punch through the snow and ice into dry pavement is laughable. Tires ride on top of snow and ice. The only way you get to bare pavement is if the salted and plowed it. But hey people will believe whst they want. My vw had pretty narrow tires but my others cars had standard size so I’ve had both. The old style snow tires gripped the snow for traction.
Visiting with my brothers family for early Xmas. His 06 Legacy.has more sidewall than the oem wheels but looks to be the same width.high on a hill near the Canadian border
You seem to do well with math. Are you trying to make us think you’re a latter day Sam Ervin?
edit: I noticed in another post that you’re 55 years old. Senator Ervin of NC was retiring about the same time you were born. Check out his participation in the Watergate investigation by the US Senate.
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My Avalanche’s tires have alow speed rating.
T 112 mph, I think, but the truck is governed to 99 mph. No one need a 5900lb SUV running above 100 mph! It would easily if not governed.
On the quest for 600!!
Following the Ford Explorer/Firestine ATX controversy of 2000, all the vehicle manufacturers looked at their tire specs - both load and speed rating. Needless to say, each vehicle manufacturer had their own approach.
There was a lot of data that said that H speed rated tires (130 mph) were basically immune to tread separations, so some adopted that as a minimum.
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Those are real good tires.
Is this also part of the reason that many sedate family sedans . . . with the base model trims . . . are rolling out of the factory with V-rated tires that are NOT low-profile by any means, such as 55, 60 and 65 series?
Math was about the only thing I was ever good at in school, nothing advanced though, but I used to be really good at geometry but that was about as high as I went with it, ya know the basics… But I have forgotten most of it… I did used to be able to see an answer example and then figure out how to work the problem, kinda reverse engineer it if that makes any sense…
But word problems like 2 trains left the station, not so much…
But yeah, math was the only thing in school you could check your answers by reversing… And with the way my brain works, when I showed my work, I had the correct answers, but I went about it a different way and it confused some teachers…
Our middle son thought like me, and my wife (way smarter than me) couldn’t help him with his math (but I couldn’t help the other two), but I showed him how I went about it and he got it and did good, but again, it wasn’t the way the text books wanted it to be done and the teachers didn’t like it, I told them if the answers were correct, get over it cause it didn’t matter how you get there as long as you get there…And NO, I can’t explain it so don’t ask… lol
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I can not explain it like CapriRacer or Mustangman, but part of the suspension is designed around the sidewall flex of the tire with the shocks and springs, I remember back around 2015ish the Camrys and Accords called for a v rated tire…You can drop one speed rating on a given vehicle, but it is not advised to drop two as it can be unsafe in times of need…
That being said, I fought with customer complaints from other stores (ours and other tire branded stores) from those 2 vehicles (mainly) having vibration issues, tires would be perfect and balance out with the best of them, road force or otherwise, but put a H rated tire in place of the V rated tire and you were chasing a vibration complaint…I don’t know if it was the load index or what…
We carried the Camry size tire in X tire that even CapriRacer probable couldn’t tell the difference between the H vs V rated tire that otherwise was the same exact tire, but that letter difference was in the sidewall stiffness, so the wrong speed rating (down not up) affected the ride…
Also one of the Acura’s was seen testing shocks and springs at a track, they had ordered/spec’d a Bridgestone Dueler Alenza for it and would test drive it and then pull in and remove the tires and lay them on the ground then remove the struts and go behind closed doors to change something with them, then come back out and install everything and go test drive again, they were changing the specs on the shocks/spring (rates, damping or whatever) to match with the tires not trying to find a tire to match the shocks/springs… So, tire speed ratings can/will have a lot to do with the springs and shocks (struts) on some vehicles…
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I have also had that same experience with those cars. Once had a customer with an Accord EX complaining about squirrely steering after having new tires put on. Of course the customer tried to save a few bucks with an H rated instead of V (at a shop that only did tires). He insisted on getting new struts (because tire shop told him they were old), but that didn’t improve the handling.
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Yup, I only made that mistake once on an Accord EX, recommended a tire (I am/was normally very good at that) and the wife was almost crying she was so upset, hubby wasn’t to happy either, I swapped them out the the best tire of their choice after trying to balance them a few times, never had an issue with said tire before, even ran them on my vehicle… But I stood behind my word and made it right, didn’t care what it took to make them happy again…
A lot of people, don’t realize that on some vehicles anyway, tires make or break the ride…
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I suspect it’s the middle or higher trim level cars that called for v-rated tires?
My 2025 Camry LE came with H-rated tires, for reference . . . that said, I’ve heard the SE trim line is more popular, and I believe IT calls for V-rated tires
It was more to do with the tire size then anything else, but I guess trim level has to do with the tire size… lol
Either way, it was on the tire plaque, stated v rated…
EDIT: IIRC it was for the 215/55R17 tire size on the Camry’s that had to be V rated or it vibrated… Accord might have been the same size…
Yes, some vehicle manufacturers decided to go the higher speed rating route - don’t ask me how or why.
But to clear up a point: Tire sidewall stiffness doesn’t affect a tire‘s speed rating, but it is common for higher speed rated tires to have stiffer sidewalls for handling reasons.
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And the struts and sometimes springs will be “tuned” to the sidewall and speed rating chosen for the car.
The bump enters at the tire tread, the tire’s carcass absorbs and damps some of the bump and passes the rest along to the strut. The springs and fluid holes inside the strut are changed to take care of the rest of the bump that ends up at the strut to complement the tire.
Since the tire is the first point of contact with the bump, it is an important part of the overall ride of the car. Once tuned to the chosen tire, then you can compare different tires to see how sensitive the car is to a different tire… IF you are allowed the time to do that!
Expensive cars get better tires than your bottom basement Corolla or Malibu. The struts are tuned to get the best out of that tire.
And then the owner of that $75,000 car buys the cheapest tire that will fit when the good ones wear out and complains about the ride! 
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… and the reduced wet-weather traction, lousy handling, longer braking distances, and higher noise level. I’ve seen fairly expensive cars shod with Ling Long or Westlake tires, and I just shake my head in disbelief at the way that the owners cheaped-out on replacement tires.
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Unfortunately sometime on base trim models tires that meet the minimum specifications are chosen for cost to the manufacturer. Happened to me, on wet roads, OEM tires felt like I was driving on ice. Replaced them well before the tread wore out. Only thing, I wish I had gone to the local mall where the parking lot was empty at the Sears end and did a few burnouts like Walter White did with the orange Challenger.
Bmw and Porsche buyers refer to the tire lottery. Not knowing which brand they get until it arrives.
I have a different take on this.
It is common for car manufacturers to equip their base models with very fuel efficient, but performance lacking tires in order to reach CAFE requirements - then equip their higher end models with tires more appropriate to the task - knowing that the result will be many dissatisfied, but non-loyal customers, but the government requirements will have been met. Cost isn’t a strong factor - except to say that not meeting government requirements is costly - much more costly than dissatisfying certain customers.
Please note I am not saying that cost doesn’t enter the picture when a car manufacturer selects tires for its vehicles, What I am saying is the specs that the car manufacturers publish for tires is frequently biased towards fuel economy, which results in poor treadwear and grip. - AND - that the cost to make tires for an OEM isn’t closely tied to the price.
On a side note: Almost to 600!!
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CAFE could be the reason, I will concede to that.
My truck however came with very grippy tires, Wranglers, , I bought identical tires as replacements. This last time I went with Michelins that had similar traction ratings to see if I could get more that 30K from them. Otherwise the Michelins are not impressive in ride or noise over the Wranglers.
Yeah SIX HUNDRED! To infinity and beyond.