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CONSUMER INFORMATION, REPORTING SAFETY DEFECTS & BINDING ARBITRATION OF WARRANTY CLAIMS
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I130B04A-AATUniform tire quality grading
Department of Transportation quality
grades - All passenger vehicle tires
must conform to Federal Safety Stan-
dards in addition to these grades. These
quality grades are molded on the
sidewall.
Treadwear - The tread wear grade is a
comparative rating based on the wear
rate of the tire when tested under con-
trolled conditions on a specified gov-
ernment test course. For example, a
tire graded 150 would wear one and a
half (1 - 1/2) times as well on the
government course as a tire graded
100. The relative performance of tires
depends upon the actual conditions of
their use, however, and may depart
significantly from the norm due to varia-
tions in driving habits, service prac-
tices and differences in road character-
istics and climate.Traction AA, A, B, C - The traction
grades, from highest to lowest, are AA,
A, B, and C. Those grades represent
the tire's ability to stop on wet pave-
ment as measured under controlled
conditions on specified government test
surfaces of asphalt and concrete. A tire
marked C may have poor traction per-
formance.
WARNING:
The traction grade assigned to this
tire is based on straight-ahead brak-
ing traction tests, and does not in-
clude acceleration, cornering, hy-
droplaning, or peak traction charac-
teristics.Temperature A, B, C - The tempera-
ture grades are A (the highest), B, and
C, representing the tire's resistance to
the generation of heat and
its ability to dissipate heat when tested
under controlled conditions on a speci-
fied indoor laboratory test wheel. Sus-
tained high temperature can cause the
material of the tire to degenerate and
reduce tire life, and excessive tempera-
ture can lead to sudden tire failure. The
grade C corresponds to a level of perfor-
mance which all passenger car tires
must meet under the Federal Motor
Vehicle Safety Standard No. 109.
Grades B and A represent higher levels
of performance on the laboratory test
wheel than the minimum required by
law.
