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Updated by user May 27, 2011

I received a call today from the Roanoke Sam\'s Club offering to install the Michelins if I sign a waiver that I am aware that the handling would be \"compromised\".

Updated by user May 25, 2011

Sorry for the duplication; the website said I gave the wrong security code, but it posted anyway.

Updated by user May 25, 2011

I went to Sam\'s Club in Roanoke, VA tonight and spoke with John (a manager). I explained my issue and he said he had the same problem!He went to WalMart.com and ordered his tires and had WalMart in Botetourt county install them!

Incredibly a Sam\'s Club manager had to circumvent his own company\'s ridiculous policy!I compared the 205-**-** \"H\" speed rated Good(for a)year Assurance Touring against the Michelin \"X\" \"T\" speed rated tire and found that the Assurance has a 70k mileage warranty vs. X\'s 80k.More importantly, the Assurance has a tread carcass with 2 steel belts and a polyester cord while the X has that and a Polyamid (high tech) cord. The Assurance has one sidewall polyester cord and the X has two. The Michelin\'s sidewall feels much stiffer and stronger than the Goodyear.

I think the speed ratings should be reversed! They are assigned by the manufacturer, not the DOT.

Updated by user May 25, 2011

I went to Sam\'s Club in Roanoke, VA tonight and spoke with John (a manager). I explained my issue and he said he had the same problem!

He went to WalMart.com and ordered his tires and had WalMart in Botetourt county install them! Incredibly a Sam\'s Club manager had to circumvent his own company\'s ridiculous policy!

I compared the 205-**-** \"H\" speed rated Good(for a)year Assurance Touring against the Michelin \"X\" \"T\" speed rated tire and found that the Assurance has a 70k mileage warranty vs. X\'s 80k.

More importantly, the Assurance has a tread carcass with 2 steel belts and a polyester cord while the X has that and a Polyamid (high tech) cord. The Assurance has one sidewall polyester cord and the X has two. The Michelin\'s sidewall feels much stiffer and stronger than the Goodyear. I think the speed ratings should be reversed! They are assigned by the manufacturer, not the DOT.

Updated by user May 25, 2011

From Wikipedia; \"In its test results for the 2004 Mazda3 5-door with the 2.3 litre engine, Car and Driver magazine reported a 0-60 mph (0รขโ‚ฌโ€œ97 km/h) acceleration time of 7.4 seconds and a governor-limited top speed of 190 km/h (118 mph).\"

Again, my car is only a 2.0 liter and a \"T\" speed rated tire is actually good for 118 mph!

Original review posted by user May 24, 2011

Sent to Sam's Club Monday a.m.; "I want to buy 205-**-** Michelin X radials for my 07 Mazda 3i 2,0L auto, economy sedan. Your website said it will fit the car, but when I called the store the manager said he would NOT install them since Mazda recommends H (130mph!) speed rated tires and these are T (116 mph) rated tires, I can't even have Consumer Reports #1 rated Michelin Hydroedge T rated ones! He also said hypothetically he could not honor the treadlife warranty since it was a different speed rating! I would be willing to sign a waiver to have the X radials installed even without the treadlife warranty. I want a high rated treadlife tire for this light, low power economy car, not a higher speed rated tire with half the treadlife! I understand that the handling would be compromised, but I don't care!"

On WalMart's website; "WARNING: For safety reasons, Walmart will not install tires with a load index below that of your vehicle's Original Equipment (OE) tires. Please make sure that the tires you select meet the load index requirements for your vehicle."

Walmart's tire load rating policy makes sense, while (WalMart's) Sam's Club tire speed rating policy does not!!!

Why would there be 2 different policies from the same parent company?!!!

Crazy stupid and incredibly frustrating when I (and countless others I'm sure)paid for a Sam's Club membership mainly to save on tire installations!!!

Monetary Loss: $150.

Location: Roanoke, Virginia

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Guest

Okay, I admit I was caught sleeping. I have a "G" van for my large family.

When my wife had the tires replaced, Sams put regular tires on the van. After 4000 miles, they are shot.

I happen to notice the excessive wear realizing they were not E rated tires. What should I do?

Guest

Would you put tires made for a lincoln towncar on your porsche? Like rotty said, youll blow a tire easily, your braking and cornering would be messed up and bc of that you will put 70,000 mile tires on your car and wonder why you call them Good(for a) Year bc thats about how long any brand will last if you do.

Youll be replacing brakes sooner bc youll be stomping twice as hard to stop, and youll be replacing your suspension system if you do this repeatedly so they are really saving you a *** ton of money and Its dangerous and if you look into your auto insurance policy if you get into an accident with the wrong rated tires on your auto, your policy wont cover you for the accident! Top that off with one big factor, if you decide to sue us and we dont have the waiver, we are screwed for not only you, the other victim(s), and your insurance company! They are telling you right and if you choose not to listen then we must cover our behinds!

Lets see, tire size and rim are important, thats why dot puts them on the tire....load range is important bc the tire must be able to support the vehicles weight and dot puts that on them bc its important! Point is, how important could speed rating be if dot puts it on the tire, is it making sense yet?

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-506163

I will not be doing any more business at Sam's club because of their idiotic policy regarding mounting tires. I bought a brand new 2004 Toyota Camry off the dealer's lot that came with 235/45/18's.

Sam's will not mount new tires that I purchased from them because the sticker on the door of the Camry says that stock tires are 16's. I've replaced these tires three times already from other dealers and have not once had an issue.

Guest

The real issues with speed rated tires has nothing to do with speed at all except with stoppiing and cornering. The speed rating is decided by the weight of your suspension system.

Cars that have heavier suspension system require higher speed ratings.

This means that the tire is made of a harder rubber to prevent the sidewalls from blowing out during sudden stops or hard cornering. Since heavy suspensions tend to eat tires a 70,000 warranty is very good, Michelin usually only offers 45,00 on their H rated tires so you would save more with the Goodyears and you may prevent a really bad accident

Guest

The liability for Sam's to install tires of the wrong speed rating is significant enough to have a policy, plain and simple. Tires are extremely complicated, and the only things connecting you to the road.

People who do not understand the importance of service descriptions should just go with the policies, as they are intact for a reason.

Joe Shmoe's shop down the street will install whatever you'd like. ***, put on the wrong load index if you really enjoy compromising the ride of your vehicle.

Joseph K Dxs

Thanks for the info. Yahoo Serious!

Guest

Hey Geo, a Mazda 3 is hardly a high performance vehicle...its basically Mazda's version of a Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla.

I had the same problem at Sam's....they would only put an H rating on my Honda Accord EX. Yet they are willing to put T rated tires on a Honda Accord LX...when the only difference between the EX and LX is leather seats and some wood trimmed interior....no difference in performance whatsoever.

Guest

:grin I have worked with tires for many years now the speed rating on your tires is a SAFETY issue. No one drives at 118 miles and hour, it all has to do with stopping distence and safety of you driving.

If you don't like having a high speed rating, then don't drive a high performance vehicle. get yourself a bike.

Joseph K Dxs
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-293788

Did he really think a Mazda 3i 2.0l naturally aspirated engine is a"high performance vehicle?" Compared to a horse and buggy, yes.

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