Treadwear indicators
Narrow bands, sometimes called “wear
bars” that show across the tread of a tire
when only 1
/ 16 in (1.6 mm) of tread remains.
Uniform Tire Quality Grading Standards A tire information system that provides
consumers with ratings for a tire’s trac-
tion, temperature and treadwear. Ratings
are determined by tire manufacturers
using U.S. government testing procedures.
The ratings are molded into the sidewall of the tire.
Vehicle maximum load on the tire Load on an individual tire that is deter-
mined by distributing to each axle its
share of the maximum loaded vehicle
weight and dividing it by two. Winter driving
Before the onset of winter, have your vehi- cle winterized at an authorized electric
drive smart center.
This service includes:
R Check of anticorrosion and antifreeze
concentration.
R Addition of washer concentrate to the
water of the windshield/rear window.
Use a windshield washer concentrate
labeled for winter which is formulated
for temperatures below freezing point
(Y page 218).
R 12 V battery test. The capacity of the
12 V battery test drops with decreasing
ambient temperature.
R Tire change. Winter tires
G
WARNING
Winter tires with a tread depth of less than 1 / 6 in (4 mm) must be replaced. They are no
longer suitable for winter operation.
Always use winter tires at temperatures
below 45 ¦(7¥) and whenever wintry road
conditions prevail. Not all M+S rated tires provide special winter performance. Make
sure the tires you use show the mountain/
snowflake marking ion the tire side-
wall. These tires meet specific snow trac-
tion performance requirements of the Rub- ber Manufacturers Association (RMA) and
the Rubber Association of Canada (RAC) and
have been designed specifically for use in
snow conditions. Use of winter tires is the only way to achieve the maximum effective-
ness of the ABS and ESP ®
in winter opera-
tion.
For safe handling, make sure all mounted
winter tires are of the same make and have
the same tread design.
For information on winter tires for your
vehicle model, see the "Technical data"
section (Y page 216).
Always observe the speed rating of the win-
ter tires installed on your vehicle. If the
maximum speed for which your tires are
rated is below the speed rating of your
vehicle, you must place a notice to this
effect where it will be seen by the driver.
Such notices are available at your tire
dealer or any authorized electric drive
smart center. Snow chains*
! Remember that snow chains must always
be compatible with the tire sizes of a
vehicle. Snow chains that are approved
by smart are only permitted for the fol-
lowing tire size:
175/55 R15 on the rear axle. 146
Winter driving>> Operation.
* optional
