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Consumer information and Reporting safety defects
– CONTINUED –
Uniform tire quality grading stan-
dards
This information indicates the relative perfor-
mance of passenger car tires in the area of
treadwear, traction, and temperature resistance.
This is to aid the consumer in making an in-
formed choice in the purchase of tires.
Quality grades can be found where applicable on
the tire sidewall between tread shoulder and
maximum section width. For example:
Treadwear 200 Traction AA Temperature A
The quality grades apply to new pneumatic tires
for use on passenger cars. However, they do not
apply to deep tread, winter type snow tires,
space-saver or temporary use spare tires, tires
with nominal rim diameters of 12 inches or less,
or to some limited production tires.
All passenger car tires must confirm to Federal
Safety Requirements in addition to these grades. „Treadwear
The treadwear grade is a comparative rating based on the wear rate of the tire when tested
under controlled conditions on a specified gov-
ernment test course.
For example, a tire graded 150 would wear one
and one-half (1-1/2) times as well on the govern-
ment 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 variations in
driving habits, service practices and differences
in road characteristics 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 pavement as mea-
sured under controlled conditions on specified
government test surfaces of asphalt and con-
crete. A tire marked C may have poor traction
performance.
The traction grade assigned to this tire is
based on straight-ahead braking traction
