I have a 2010 Galaxy Titanium X; 2.0 Ecoboost; Powershift.
Current tyres are 2 x Nexen N8000 and 2 x Hankook Ventus Prime 2 (which are reaching the end of their life, not because they are worn out, but because they are 'perished', to quote my last service).
I wish to put "All Season" tyres on, but there aren't many of the specified W rated ones about.
Would it be OK to use V rated tyres (many more of them) instead?
I don't see any reason why not as V is rated up to 149mph.
Won't they need to be XL (high load) rated?
I have a set of Crossclimates on my Mondeo estate. They are looking to last about 20-25k miles, compared to the nearer 50K I get out of Primacys. Mixed driving, with about 2-3k of high(ish)-speed continental travel, late summer. Just to give you an idea of the potential difference.
Yes they will need to be xl load for a galaxy I assume xl tyres also come in different speed ratings?
It depends on the size of tyre I think as virtually all the XL tyres available in the size fitted on my Mk2 are 97 W rated (any 97 rated tyre would be classed as 'XL' or extra load if my understanding is correct), there's a few 97 / Z rated ones as well which would be fine but also W rated ones which are only 93 load rated which wouldn't.
It's all very confusing.....
The load rating is going to be more important than the speed rating in the majority of cases, I don't know what the situation would be regarding insurance if you had an accident with tyres fitted of a speed rating lower than the original fitment tyres but for real world use any tyre rated with a speed rating of 'H' (130mph) or above would suffice, especially as the legal limit is 70mph and there can't be many Galaxies out there in standard form able to top 130mph!
Common sense would say so long as they are XL and speed rating H or above they will be fine,but like you say if some eagle eyed insurance assessor spotted it no doubt they would use as an excuse to refuse or limit pay out?