This Saturday I fell into a huge pot hole and now my front passenger tire has a crack of about 4 inches long.

The plot thickens when TireRack informs me that they don't have the Dunlop 205/45VR17 in stock, and I have to wait 4 weeks for delivery.

They DO have the 205/45WR17 in stock. My question is: What does the V or W stands for, and if I can install the W instead of the V with no "side effects".

Right now I'm stuck driving my mother in law's Nissan Sentra I really miss my Mini.

I can't seem to find the tire anywhere. Someone please help.

Ricardo

 

See http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=35

The short answer is yes.

 

Thanks chows4us, I'm ordering it right now. (Judging by my luck with pot holes, maybe I should buy one extra just in case. )

Just out of curiosity and risking sounding like a fool,
If the W speed rating is higher than the V, why is the V tire more expensive?
And, does this mean that the W tire is "harder/softer" than the V?

Thanks again,
Ricardo

 

The cost of the tire is linked to manufactoring and materials requirements as well as the number of tires produced.

V and W rated tires are all good and for street use you should be fine.

I would not expect that much difference between the two for ride firmness to be noticable in normal use- if the construction of the tires is quite different (number of plys or materials used for the sidewall plys) then maybe a little difference.