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6-1. Specifications
6
Vehicle specifications
■DOT quality grades
All passenger vehicle tires must conform to Federal Safety Require-
ments in addition to these grades. 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
■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 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 practices and differences in road characteris-
tics and climate.
■Traction AA, A, B, C
The traction grades, from highest to lowest, are AA, A, B and C, and
they represent the tire's ability to stop on wet pavement as measured
under controlled conditions on specified government test surfaces of
asphalt and concrete.
A tire marked C may have poor traction performance.
Warning: The traction grade assigned to this tire is based on braking
(straight ahead) traction tests and does not include cornering (turning) trac-
tion.
