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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.
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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
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Un ifor mT ir eQ uality Grading St andards: a
unifor ms ta ndar dtog ra de th eq ualit yoft ires
wit hr egar dtot re ad qu alit y, tir et ra ction and
te mp eratur ec haracteristics. The qu alit yg ra ding
assessment is made by th em anufacturer fo llow‐
ing specifications from th eU .S. go ve rn ment. The
qu alit yg ra de of at ir eisi mp ri nted on th es ide
wa ll of th et ire.
Re commende dt ir ep re ssu re : th er ecommen‐
ded tir ep re ssur eist he tir ep re ssur es pecified
fo rt he tires mounted to th ev ehicle at th ef ac‐
to ry .
The tir ea nd information ta ble con ta ins th er ec‐
ommended tir ep re ssur ef or cold tires, th em axi‐
mum permissible load and th em aximum permis‐
sible ve hicle speed.
The tir ep re ssur et able con ta ins th er ecommen‐
ded tir ep re ssur ef or cold tires under va ri ous
operating conditions, i.e. loading and/or speed
of th ev ehicle.
Increased ve hicl ew eight due to optional
equipment: th ec ombined we ight of all st andard
and optional equipment av ailable fo rt he ve hicle, re ga rd less of whe th er it is actually ins ta lled on
th ev ehicle or not.
Rim: th ep ar toft he wheel on whic ht he tir ei s
mounted.
GA WR (Gross Axl eW eight Ra ting): th eG AW R
is th em aximum gross axle load. The actual load
on an axle mus tn ev er exc eed th eg ro ss axle
we ight ra ting .T he gross axl ew eight ra ting can
be fo und on th ev ehicle identification plat eo n
th eB ‑pillar on th ed ri ve r's side.
Speed ra ti n
g: th es peed ra ting is pa rt of th et ire
identification .Its pecifies th es peed ra ng ef or
whic hat ir eisa ppr ove d.
GV W( Gross Ve hicl eW eight): th eg ro ss ve hicle
we ight comprises th ew eight of th ev ehicle
including fuel, to ols, th es par ew heel, accesso‐
ri es ins ta lled, occupants, luggag ea nd th et ra iler
dr aw bar nose we ight ,ifa pplicable. The gros s
ve hicle we ight mus tn ot exc eed th eg ro ss ve hicle
we ight ra ting GV WR as specified on th ev ehicle
identification plat eont he B‑pillar on th ed ri ve r's
side.
GV WR (Gross Ve hicl eW eight Ra ting): th e
GV WR is th em aximum permitted gross we ight of th ef ully laden ve hicle (weight of th ev ehicle
including all accessories, occupants, fuel, lug‐
ga ge and th et ra iler dr aw bar nose we ight if appli‐
cable). The gross ve hicle we ight ra ting is speci‐
fi ed on th ev ehicle identification plat eont he
B‑pi llar on th ed ri ve r's side.
Maximum we ight of th el aden ve hicle: th e
maximu mw eight is th es um of th eu nladen
we ight of th ev ehicle, th ew eight of th ea ccesso‐
ri es, th em aximum load and th ew eight of
optional equipment ins ta lled at th ef actor y.
Kilopasca l( kP a): metric unit fo rt ir ep re ssu re .
6.9 kP ac or re sponds to 1p si .A no th er unit fo r
tir ep re ssur eisb ar .1 00 kilopasca l( kPa) equals
1b ar.
Load index: in addition to th el oad-bearing
index, th el oad inde xm ay also be imprinted on
th es ide wa ll of th et ire. This specifies th el oad-
bearing capacit y
of th et ir em or ep re cisel y.
Cur bw eight: th ew eight of av ehicle wit hs ta nd‐
ar de qu ipment includin gt he maximum capacity
of fuel, oil and coolant. It also includes th ea ir
conditionin gs ys te ma nd optional equipment if Wheels and tires 329
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th ese ar ei ns ta lled on th ev ehicle, but does not
include passenger sorl uggage.
Maximum tir el oad: th em aximum tir el oad is
th em aximum permissible we ight in kilog ra ms or
lbs fo rw hi ch at ir eisa ppr ove d.
Maximum permissible tir ep re ssure: maxi‐
mum permissible tir ep re ssur ef or one tire.
Maximum load on one tire: maxim um loa do n
one tire. This is calculated by dividing th em axi‐
mum axle load of one axle by two.
PSI (pounds per squar ei nch) : st andar du nit of
measuremen tf or tir ep re ssu re .
Aspect ra tio: ra tio betwee nt ire height and tire
widt hinp er cent.
Tir ep re ss ure: pressur ei nside th et ir ea pplying
an outwar df orce to eve ry squar ei nc hoft he tire.
The tir ep re ssur eiss pecified in pounds per
squar ei nc h( psi), in kilopascals (kPa) or in bar.
The tir ep re ssur es hould onl ybec or re cted when
th et ires ar ec old.
Cold tir ep re ssure: th et ires ar ec old when th e
ve hicle has been par ke df or at leas t3h ou rs without direct sunlight on th et ires or th ev ehicle
has been driven fo rl ess th an 1m ile (1.6 km).
Ti re contact sur fa ce: th ep ar toft he tir et hat
comes int oc on ta ct wi th th er oad.
Ti re bead: th ep urpose of th et ir eb ead is to
ensur et hat th et ir es its securel yont he wheel
ri m. Ther ea re se ve ra ls te el wires in th eb ead to
pr eve nt th et ir ef ro mc omin gl oose from th e
wheel ri m.
Side w a ll: th ep ar to ft he tir eb et we en th et re ad
and th et ir eb ead.
We ight of optiona le qu ipment: th ec ombined
we ight of th eo pt ional equipment we ighin gm ore
th an th er eplaced st andar dp arts and mor et han
5l bs (2. 3k g) .T his optional equipment, suc ha s
high-per fo rm anc eb ra ke s, le ve lc ontrol sy st em, a
ro of luggag er ac korh igh-per fo rm anc eb at te ri es,
is no ti ncluded in th ec urb we ight and th ew eight
of th ea ccessories.
TIN (Tir eI dentification Nu mber): au ni qu e
identification number whic hc an be used by a
tir em an ufactu re rtoi dentify tires, fo re xa mp le,
in ap ro duc tr ecall, and th us identif yt he pur‐
ch asers. The TIN is made up of th em anufactur‐ er's identit yc ode, tir es ize, tir et ype code and
th em anufacturing date.
Load-bearing index: th el oad-bearing index
(also load index) is ac ode th at con ta ins th em ax‐
imum load-bearing capacity of at ire.
Tr action: traction is th eg ri pr esulting from fric‐
tion between th et ires and th er oad sur fa ce.
We ar indicator: nar row bar s( tread we ar bars)
th at ar ed istributed ove rt he tir ec on ta ct su rf ace.
If th et ir et re ad is le ve lw it ht he bars, th ew ear
limit of 1/1 6in( 1. 6m m) has been re ached.
Distribution of ve hicl eo cc upants: distribution
of ve hicle occupants ov er designated seat posi‐
tion sinav ehicle.
Maximum permissible pa yl oad we ight: nomi‐
nal load and luggag el oad plus 15 0lb( 68 kg )
mu ltip lie dbyt he number of seats in th ev ehicle.330
Wheels and tires
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