We are often asked why all Blockley radial tyres have such high speed ratings - typically T (118mph / 190kph) on the smallest sizes, H (130mph / 210kph), V (149mph / 240kph) and W (168mph / 270kph), when the tyre sizes are usually fitted to vehicles with significantly lower achievable speeds.

The reason for the higher speed rate is that not doing so is just an excuse by a manufacturer for making a poor quality cheaper produced product. Or using ancient moulds and tooling incapable of making a round or consistent tyre. What the end user benefits from by having a high speed capable tyre is having a tyre constructed to much better tolerances. This means consistent tread thickness and a high build quality which means good balance and free from the inconsistencies that lead to poorer handling and ride qualities. Remember a lower build quality or out of round tyre would show up and fail the higher speed rating test - a 1 hour run under the load listed on the sidewall of the tyre. So having a high speed rating and good load rating is an indication that if nothing else the tyre is round and consistent. And it won't be needing a mass of balance weights to compensate for the lack of quality.

In addition to the speed rating, every single Blockley Radial tyre is dynamically checked for consistency and balance and anything that does not pass our tolerances is rejected. This ensures that the tyres we supply to the customer require little balancing and are even marked up on the sidewall to show the tyre fitter the optimum position to put it on the rim, by aligning the small painted yellow circle on the sidewall in the vicinity of the valve stem.

All this leads to the benefit at low speed when using a Blockley tyre. The steering is free from wobbles or any shaking, and as the tyres wear over the years they will not need to be re balanced, as tyres often need. So when a customer says their car will not achieve anything like the speed that the Blockley tyres are capable of, you'll see why there is only advantage in having a high speed capable and rated tyre. And because at Blockley we only sell our tyres and tubes direct to the end user or garage / restoration shop the price of a Blockley is invariably much less than the alternatives offered elsewhere, especially the tyres sold on "brand name".

But remember, if your cars wheels require the fitment of inner tubes, you should fit a correct sized thick butyl Blockley Superior tube because they are sized correctly - unlike much of what is available - so the tube will not be folded over (or stretched out thinly) and so on which, apart from anything else, also affects the balance. You would be surprised how many tubes available are a single tube with too many tyre sizes written on them, which is the reason why we produced the large range of Blockley Superior tubes, to cover all the tyre sizes we produce. 

Fitting a higher speed rated tyre than you think you need can only ever be a good thing. Having said all this, a high speed rating on its own is not a guarantee of handling quality as we have observed on one particular "Classic" tyre brand!