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I purchased a 2nd hand GTI recently and it came with 215/40 R17 87 Y tyres and when I do a tyre search on Kwik fit or National Tyres it recommends a V rated tyre replacement.

Y rated tyres are rated to 186mph and I don't plan on driving anywhere near these speeds either on V, W or Y rated tyres!

My question is as the top speed of the car is 146mph, can I fit V rated tyres which cover to 150mph as long as the load factor is good? The ride on the car is pretty miserable and and I was hoping this might improve the ride if the pressures were lower.

TIA.

100% fine.

One thing, and it sounds like you are not wanting to achieve this - in fact you are trying to get "softer" handling, any Y rated tyres I have on my cars tend to be also ZR and not SR "versions" which just tends to mean that they have a more "sporting" handling characteristics - the speed difference between V and Y is so little that there must be another reason for them to exist and so maybe it is the ZR instead of SR that warrants their existence.

You need to fit what the tyre rating label inside the fuel cap/drivers door opening says. Anything else can give your insurance a reason to be void. I have seen people fit the wrong speed rating, and their claims be invalidated.