Tire replacement

On my 03 Park Ave are 235/55/17 Goodyear Eagle LS tires. They are H rated. I want to replace them with the Cooper CS4 tire - same size but these are T rated. Is this an issue? I want a softer, more touring like ride. These are what people are recommending!

Actually, what you want is; Cooper CS4 TOURING V-RATED 235/55VR17 CS4 TOURING 99V BLK

The CS4 Touring is Cooper's premium luxury touring tire designed for drivers who wants optimum ride comfort, sporty handling, all-season traction and attractive styling in a touring tire. The CS4 Touring is suitable for a diverse range of vehicles including passenger cars, minivans, small SUV.s and crossovers (CUV).

Response . Technology construction utilizes design features what work in concert to provide enhanced tire performance.
Coupled Silica Tread Compound . The chemically couple silica and carbon black compound allows for superior wet traction without sacrificing tread wear. An optimized polymer matrix allows the compound to remain pliable at lower temperatures while contributing to lower rolling resistance.
Innovative 5 Rib All-Season Tread Design . The innovative 5 rib tread design incorporates numerous features to provide for excellent stability, traction, and treadwear.
Ventless Technology . Utilizing ventless technology in the tread area, the CS4 Touring exhibits a crisp, clean, premium appearance.
Performance Rating: (http://www.automotiveforums.com/infopages/performance-rating.html)V
Item Number: (http://www.automotiveforums.com/infopages/item-number.html)22511
UTQG: (http://www.automotiveforums.com/infopages/utqg.html)520 A A
Tread Depth: (http://www.automotiveforums.com/infopages/tread-depth.html)11
Load Ply: (http://www.automotiveforums.com/infopages/load-ply.html)Load Capacity: (http://www.automotiveforums.com/infopages/load-capacity.html)1709
Maximum PSI (http://www.automotiveforums.com/infopages/max-psi.html)44
Sidewall: (http://www.automotiveforums.com/infopages/sidewall.html)BLK
Section Width (http://www.automotiveforums.com/infopages/section-width.html)9.94
Overall Diameter: (http://www.automotiveforums.com/infopages/overall-diameter.html)27.15
Mileage Warranty: (http://www.automotiveforums.com/infopages/mileage-warranty.html)60k
Tire Weight: (http://www.automotiveforums.com/infopages/tire-weight.html)30

My Review:

This tire is awesome, its the quitest tire I haver ever owned and handling is unbeleivable. It's great in the rain and very surprisingly grippie in the snow. They are very quite on open hwy (asphalt or concrete) and found them to handle very well in day to day city driving also. I would highly recommend this tire and would buy them again. It's very well worth every penny and your car will ride so different. I had Goodyears Comforttread before, this tire is 100% quiter better ride. The best tire I have ever purchased.

Could I use the T rated instead without any problem?

because it's cheaper?

i've gotten away w/ it as well from stepping down to a t rating

basically the speed rating coincides w/ your speed limiter of the vehicle

i don't go ~140 mph so i don't need the H rated tire and went down from a soft tire to a harder T-rated touring tire

the softer tire i had were dunlops and they wore out on me after ~30,ooo miles

i went to a touring tire w/ an 80,ooo mile tread warranty & they did lasted me 7 years before showing signs of sun dryrotting

here's some good reading for you:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=35&;

We are talking "Cooper tires" here! If you deviate too much from the recommended speed rating, you will sacrifice ride & handling quality and with some unexpected noise. If you compare all specifications of the Cooper CS4 between the H,T & V rated, you will see a much improved quality with each upgrade, along with the usual price increase. You get what you pay for!

Thanks for the fast replies HotZ28 - But I am a bit confused now...... I want the softest, quietest ride I can get. I want to get away from the sport ride of the Eagles. When I compare the specs bewteen the T rated CS4 and the H rated cs4, they are the same. In fact, the T rated has an 80,000 mile warranty, and the H rated has a 60,000 mile warranty. Am I missing something??? :-) Thanks, Mike

The T-rated tire is a good tire, but it has a tendency to make more noise than the H-rated or V-rated tire. Take a close look at the comparison matrix on both tires and you will see the difference. In addition, notice that the T-rated tire has only 4-ribs as opposed to the H/V-rated 5-rib design. I am not sure if that is what makes them quieter, or if it is in the rubber compound, or firmness of the sidewall. If you are looking for a quite, good handling, good wet traction & excellent touring tire, consider the H or V rated CS4. If you like the additional tread warranty, firmer ride with more noise, select the T-rated tire. Like I said, Cooper CS4 is one of the best tires on the market regardless of rating.

Click here (http://www.coopertire.com/html/products/tires_passenger.aspx?page=cs4_touring_t) for the T-rated specs

Click here (http://www.coopertire.com/html/products/tires_passenger.aspx?page=cs4_touring_hv) for the H/V-rated specs