How to read a tire and understand the information indicated

How to read a tire and understand the information indicated

I know how to find the tire's description on a tire, but there is so many other important things written on it. What does it mean? I inquired for you, here are my discoveries.

For example : 

P205 / 55R16 XL 95T 

P indicates that it is designed for tourism cars. For light trucks, the inscription is LT.

205; width of the tire in milimeters.

55 It's the ratio between the tire's height and width. In this example, the height equals 55% of the width.  The smaller this ratio is , the thiner is the flank.  The lower the flank is, the more grip you have in curves.

R ;  indicates that the tire is «?radial?».  Almost every tire in circulation those days are radials. This means that the textile cables of the carcass pass through the tire from one bead to the other. 

16: It is the internal diameter, so the wheel size, in inches. 

XL: Those letter, after the dimensions, tells us that the tire is reinforced, charge capacity is then higher than another tire of the same size. 

 

 

Numbers after the dimension, what is it? 

 

 

95T 

95:  It’s  the maximal speed rating  a tire is certified to safely support a load. The speed indices range from A (the lowest) to Y (the highest) with one exception: the H is located between the U and the V see the  corresponding table which indicates for each number the charge capacity in pounds. For number 95, the maximal charge capacity is 1521 pounds by tire.  It is forbidden to use a tire with an index lower than the original tire. Be aware that you could damage the tires and put your safety at risk.

T; It’s  the speed rating the maximum speed a tire is certified to safely support a load. The speed indices range from A (the lowest) to Y (the highest) with one exception: the H is located between the U and the V see the table of correspondence. As for the load index, each letter corresponds to an equivalent in km / h. For an index T, the maximum speed is 190 km / h. It is forbidden to use a tire with an index lower than thof the original tire. Be aware that you could damage the tires and put your safety at risk. 

That's when you say "I will choose a higher speed index to be able to go faster" it would be a mistake, just like the load index must respect the original rating or stay close to it because the super control computers of the vehicles are calibrated to "feel" the road through the tires. A different speed rating can mislead them and cause various problems. In winter, it is possible to use a tire with a lower index (of a letter) for example if in the summer you have tires with index W you can use a tire with index V but never an index H. 

 

There are other markings and can change depending on the manufacturer, these markings are not found on all the tire.

 

Here is a small lexicon of these markings

UTQG; see our blog https://www.autoperfo.com/en/blogue/18-utqg.html?page=1

4-PR, 6-PR, 8-PR ...; This is the load capacity index used for commercial tires PR (ply rating)

 

The writings on the flank

BL; Writings on the sidewal are black 

OWL, WL; Writings on the sidewall are white 

RB;Writings on the sidewall are black surrounded by white 

RBL; Writings on the sidewall are black or embossed 

RGL; Writings on the sidewall are gold and embossed 

RWL; Writings on the sidewall are white and embossed 

 

Color of flanks

BSW; The sidewall is black

WSW, WW or WSW; The sidewall is white 

 

Run-Flat

DSST; Tire with run-flat technology from manufacturer Dunlop

EMT, ROF; Tire with run-flat technology from manufacturer Goodyear

HRS; Tire with run-flat technology from manufacturer Hankook

MOExtended; Tire with run-flat technology for Mercedes

RFT or EXT; Tire with run-flat technology from manufacturer Bridgestone

SSR; Tire with run-flat technology from Continental manufacturer

ZP; Tire with run-flat technology from Michelin manufacturer

 

Other markings

DOT ...; Year of manufacture of the tire (we'll talk about it in a future blog)

FP, FR, FSL, MFS, MFSL; Tire with rim protection

M + S; (Mud and Snow) inscription on the sidewall of the winter tires

RF, RFD or RENF; Reinforced tire

SPIKE; studded tire

STUDDABBLE; studdabble tire

TL; tubeless tire

 

 

For winter tires you know now that your tires must have the pictogram of the mountain with a snowflake  be careful a tire mark M + S is not a winter tire if it is not accompanied by the pictogram of the mountain.

 

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