Preceding letter 1 :R
Wi th out :p assenger ve hicle tires according to
Europea nm an ufactu ri ng st andards.R
"P": passenger ve hicle tires according to US
manufacturing st andards.R
"LT": light truc kt ires accordin gtoUSm anu‐
fa cturing st andards.R
"T": compact emer ge ncy spa re wheels with
high tir ep re ssur et hat ar eo nly designe df or
te mp orar yu se in an emer ge ncy.
Aspec tr atio 3 :
Ra tio betwee nt ir eh eight and tir ew id th in per‐
cent (ti re height divided by tir ew id th ).
Tir ec od e 4 (ti re type):R
"R "r adial tireR
"D": bias ply tire R
"B": bias belted tires R
"ZR": ra dial tir ew it ham aximum speed abo ve
14 9m ph (240 km/h) (optional) Rim diame te r 5 :
The diam et er of th eb ead seat (no tt he diame te r
of th er im fl ange). The ri md iame te riss pecified
in inches (in).
Load-bearing index 6
Numerical code th at specifies th em aximum
load-bearing capacity of at ir e( e.g. "91" cor re ‐
sponds to 13 56 lbs (6 15 kg )).
The load-bearing capacity of th et ir em us tbea t
leas th alf th ep ermissible axle load of yo ur ve hi‐
cle. Do no to ve rl oad th et ires by exc eeding th e
specified load limit.
See also: R
Maximum permissible load on th eT ir ea nd
Loading In fo rm atio np lacar d( →
pag e3 19 )R
Maximum tir el oa d( →
pag e3 25)R
Load index
Spee dr ating 7 :
Specifies th ea ppr ove dm aximum speed of th e
tire.
Inde xS pee dr ating
ZR...Y 1
up to 18 6m ph (300 km/h)
ZR...(..Y) 1
ove r1 86 mp h( 300 km/h )
ZR 1
ove r1 49 mp h( 24 0k m/h)R
Specifying th es peed ra ting as th e" ZR" index
in tir ec ode 4 is optional fo rt ires up to
18 6m ph (300 km/h).R
If yo ur tir ec od e 4 includes "ZR" and th ere
is no speed ra ting 7 ,f ind out what th em ax‐
imum speed is from th et ir em anufacturer.R
If load-bearing index 6 and speed ra ting 7
ar einb ra ck et s, th em aximum speed ra ting of
yo ur tir eisa bo ve 18 6m ph (300 km/h). To
fi nd ou tt he maximum speed, ask th et ire
manufacturer. All-weather tires and winter tires
Inde xS pee dr ating
QM +S 2
up to 10 0m ph (160 km/h)
TM +S 2
up to 11 8m ph (190 km/h)
HM +S 2
up to 13 0m ph (2 10 km/h)
VM +S 2
up to 14 9m ph (240 km/h)
Wi nter tires bear th e M snowflak es ymbol
and fulfill th er equirements of th eR ubber Manu‐
fa cturer sA ssociation (RMA) and th eR ubber
Associatio nofC anada (RAC) re ga rd ing traction
on sno w.
Load index 8 : R
No specification given: st andar dl oad (SL)
tire R
"XL" or "Extra Load": ex tr al oa dt ir eorr ein‐
fo rc ed tire R
"Light Load": light load tire R
"C", "D", "E": al oad ra ng et hat depe nd so n
th em aximum load th at th et ir ec an car ry at a
cer ta in pressure
Definitions fo rt ires and loading
Ti re stru ctu re and ch aracteristics: describes
th en umber of la ye rs or th en umber of ru bber-
coated belts in th et ir ec on ta ct su rf ace and th e
tir ew all. These ar em ade of st eel, ny lon, poly‐
es te ra nd ot her materials.
Bar: metric unit fo rt ir ep re ssu re .
14 .5038 pounds per squar ei nc h( ps i) and
10 0k ilopasca l( kPa) is th ee qu ivalent of one bar.
DO T( Department of Tr anspo rt ation): DOT
mar ke dt ires fulfill th er equirements of th e
US Department of Tr anspor ta tio n.
Av erag ew eight of th ev ehicle occupants: th e
numbe rofv ehicle occupants fo rw hi ch th ev ehi‐
cle is designed, multiplied by 15 0lb( 68 kg ).
1
"ZR" st ated in th et ir ec ode.2
Or "M+S M "f or winter tires328
Wheels and tires