2012 TOYOTA AVALON Owners Manual

529
6-1. Specifications
6
Vehicle specifications
■
Gasoline quality standards
●Automotive manufacturers in the US, Europe and Japan have developed
a specification for fuel quality called World-Wide Fuel Charter (WWFC)
that is expected to be applied worldwide.
● The WWFC consists of four categories that are based on required emis-
sion levels. In the US, category 4 has been adopted.
● The WWFC improves air quality by lowering emissions in vehicle fleets,
and customer satisfaction through better performance.
■ Toyota recommends the use of gaso line containing detergent additives
● Toyota recommends the use of gasoline that contains detergent additives
to avoid build-up of engine deposits.
● All gasoline sold in the US contains detergent additives to clean and/or
keep clean intake systems.
■ Toyota recommends the use of cleaner burning gasoline
Cleaner burning gasoline, including reformulated gasoline that contains oxy-
genates such as ethanol or MTBE (Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether) is available in
many areas.
Toyota recommends the use of cleaner burning gasoline and appropriately
blended reformulated gasoline. These types of gasoline provide excellent
vehicle performance, reduce vehicle emissions and improve air quality.

530 6-1. Specifications
■Toyota does not recomm end blended gasoline
● If you use gasohol in your Toyota, be sure that it has an octane rating no
lower than 87.
● Toyota DOES NOT recommend the use of gasoline containing methanol.
■ Toyota does not recommen d gasoline containing MMT
Some gasoline contains octane enhancing additive called MMT (Methylcy
clopentadienyl Manganese Tricarbonyl).
Toyota DOES NOT recommend the use of gasoline that contains MMT. If
fuel containing MMT is used, your emission control system may be
adversely affected.
The malfunction indicator lamp on the instrument cluster may come on. If
this happens, contact your Toyota dealer for service.
● Use only gasoline containing a maxi-
mum of 10% ethanol.
DO NOT use any flex-fuel or gasoline
that could contain more than 10% etha-
nol, including from any pump labeled
E15, E30, E50 E85 (which are only
some examples of fuel containing more
than 10% ethanol).Do not use gasoline
containing more than
10% ethanol.
(15% ethanol)
(50% ethanol)
(85% ethanol)

531
6-1. Specifications
6
Vehicle specifications
NOTICE
■
Notice on fuel quality
●Do not use improper fuels. If improper fuels are used the engine will be
damaged.
● Do not use leaded gasoline.
Leaded gasoline can cause damage to your vehicle’s three-way catalytic
converters causing the emission control system to malfunction.
● Do not use gasohol other than that stated here.
Other gasohol may cause fuel system damage or vehicle performance
problems.
● Using unleaded gasoline with an octane number or rating lower than that
stated here will cause persistent heavy knocking.
At worst, this will lead to engine damage.
■ Fuel-related poor driveability
If after using a different type of fuel, poor driveability is encountered (poor
hot starting, vaporization, engine knocking, etc.), discontinue the use of that
type of fuel.
■ When refueling with gasohole
Take care not to spill gasohol. It can damage your vehicle’s paint.

532
6-1. Specifications
Tire infor mation
Typical tire symbolsTire size ( P. 534)
DOT and Tire Identification Number (TIN) ( P. 533)
Location of treadwear indicators ( P. 421)
Uniform tire quality grading
For details, see “Uniform Tire Quality Grading” that follows.
Tire ply composition and materials
Plies are layers of rubber-coated parallel cords. Cords are the
strands which form the plies in a tire.
Radial tires or bias-ply tires
A radial tire has RADIAL on the sidewall. A tire not marked RADIAL
is a bias-ply tire.
TUBELESS or TUBE TYPE
A tubeless tire does not have a tube and air is directly filled in the
tire. A tube type tire has a tube inside the tire and the tube main-
tains the air pressure.

533
6-1. Specifications
6
Vehicle specifications
Typical DOT and tire identification number (TIN)
DOT symbol
*
Tire Identification Number
(TIN)
Tire manufacturer’s identifica-
tion mark
Tire size code
Manufacturer’s optional tire
type code (3 or 4 letters)
Manufacturing week
Manufacturing year
*: The DOT symbol certifiesthat the tire conforms to
applicable Federal Motor
Vehicle Safety Standards.
Maximum cold tire in flation pressure ( P. 538)
This means the pressure to which a tire may be inflated.
Load limit at maximum cold tire inflation pressure ( P. 538)
Summer tire or all season tire ( P. 426)
An all season tire has “M+S” on the sidewall. A tire not marked
“M+S” is a summer tire.

534 6-1. Specifications
Tire size■ Typical tire size information
The illustration indicates typical
tire size.
Tire use
(P = Passenger car,
T = Temporary use)
Section width (millimeters)
Aspect ratio
(tire height to section width)
Tire construction code
(R = Radial, D = Diagonal)
Wheel diameter (inches)
Load index (2 or 3 digits)
Speed symbol
(alphabet with one letter)
■ Tire dimensions
Section width
Tire height
Wheel diameter

535
6-1. Specifications
6
Vehicle specifications
Tire section names
Bead
Sidewall
Shoulder
Tread
Belt
Inner liner
Reinforcing rubber
Carcass
Rim lines
Bead wires
Chafer
Uniform Tire Quality GradingThis information has been prepared in accordance with regulations
issued by the National Highway Tr affic Safety Administration of the
U.S. Department of Transportation.
It provides the purchasers and/or prospective purchasers of Toyota
vehicles with information on uniform tire quality grading.
Your Toyota dealer will help answ er any questions you may have as
you read this information.

536 6-1. Specifications
■DOT quality grades
All passenger vehicle tires mu st conform to Federal Safety
Requirements 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 speci-
fied government 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 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,
and they represent the tire’s ab ility to stop on wet pavement as
measured under controlled cond itions 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 (turn-
ing) traction.