Gidday DJ1080
Here in Oz we are tied down with the very strict conditions under the Australian Design Rules (ADRs). These and associated regulations dictate all safety and pollution aspects of any car sold here.
I am sure that other countries have much the same sort of enactments, just a bit different here and there, is all.
In Oz, the H rating would probably be acceptable under the ADRs and VSB14 (IIRC. Vehicle Standards/Safety Bulletin version 14). Decreasing the load rating could be a problem. It depends ...
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What would not be acceptable here would be an increase in tyre diameter by more than 15 mm, or an increase in width of the rim or tyre to larger than the largest OEM tyre/rim fitted to that particular model and year. So fitting a 225/60 16" or 215/65 16" would trigger problems under the ADRs.
My insurer is happy about the 215/65 16" but will not accept changes from OEM rims to after-market rims, even if the same size. Nor will the insurer accept wider tyres than supplied as OEM.
All of these statutory provisions were introduced to cut down unsafe modifications to cars that were rife here up to around 20 years ago. In my youth, we did some appallingly dangerous modifications to our cars, without a single thought as to their safety/pollution ramifications. This has mostly been stopped now.
This topic has generated quite a lot of discussion on this forum, and today Kevin has created a new sub-forum for exactly these kinds of discussions. It is here:
https://offroadsubarus.com/forumdisplay.php?f=57
Hope this helps to explain why this is such a big issue here.
