Wild video shows exactly why tires have a speed limit
Published on Aug 04, 2025 at 12:02 AM (UTC+4)
by Henry Kelsall
Last updated on Aug 01, 2025 at 3:33 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
A wild video on Reddit has shown us exactly why tires have a speed limit.
You might think that the tires on your car can handle nearly any speed, but the truth is that certain ones can handle higher speeds than most.
The tires on our normal daily driver, for example, probably wouldn’t be able to handle the speeds that a Bugatti Veyron or Ferrari LaFerrari produces.
The video on Reddit shows a go-kart being tested on a workbench, and the mechanic shows us how much they move and deform as the speed of the wheels increases.
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The tires deform massively on the go-kart.
It is only a short video, but it shows us everything you need to see regarding tires and speed.
At the start, the kart’s rubber looks normal and is spinning at a relatively normal pace.
However, as the wheel speed increases, they begin to move and deform dramatically.
Demonstration of why Tires have a speed limit
byu/Anschuz-3009 innextfuckinglevel
They first start to widen before getting taller and thinner as the speed of the kart builds up.
At the top speed, they look like they have come straight from a Formula 1 car of the 1950s.
They are tall and skinny, and it is quite scary to see just how much they flex and move.
The video shows us why exactly we have limits on how fast certain tires go.
Why tires have a speed limit
The rubber has what is called a speed safety rating, and it applies to virtually all types of tires.
It is the maximum speed at which they can be driven, and it all depends on things such as the size.
For example, a tire with the speed safety rating A1 can only travel at a maximum of 3mph.
But if you have a Y-rated tire, it means you can go up to 300mph and be perfectly safe.
Tires with such a high rating will only be present on cars like the Rimac Nevera or Pagani Zonda.
As you might expect, going faster than those ratings permit could be incredibly dangerous.
The best thing to do is stick with what’s safe, and don’t put your and other people’s lives at risk.
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Henry joined the Supercar Blondie team in February 2025, and since then has covered a wide array of topics ranging from EVs, American barn finds, and the odd Cold War jet. He’s combined his passion for cars with his keen interest in motorsport and his side hustle as a volunteer steam locomotive fireman at a leading heritage steam railway in England.
