2020 MERCEDES-BENZ SL ROADSTER tire size

surfaces
thatarenot icyorcovered withsnow.
Take appropria tecare when driving.
Temper ature G
WARNING
The temperature gradeforthis tireisestab-
lished foratire that isproperly inflatedand
not overloaded .Exc essive speed, underinfla-
tion, orexcessive loading,either separately
or incombination, cancause excessive heat
buil d-up andpossible tirefailu re.
The temperature gradesareA(the highest), B,
and C,representing thetire's resistance tothe
generation ofheat anditsabil itytodissipa te
heat when tested undercontrolled conditions
on aspecified indoorlaboratorytestwheel.
Sustained hightemperature cancause the
material ofthe tire todegenerate andreduce
tire life, and excessive temperature canlead to
sudden tirefailu re.The grade Ccorresponds
to alevel ofperformance whichallpassenger
car tires must meet under theFederal Motor
Vehicle SafetyStandard No.109. Grades B
and Arepresent higherlevelsofperformance
on the labora torytestwheel thantheminimum
required bylaw. Tire
labeli ng
Overview 0043
Uniform TireQuali tyGradi ngStandard
(Y page 314)
0044 DOT, TireIdentification Number
(Y page 313)
0087 Maximum tireload (Ypage 313)
0085 Maximum tirepressure (Ypage 302)
0083 Manufacturer
0084 Tire material (Ypage 314)
006B Tire size designation, load-bearingcapacity
and speed rating(Ypage 310)
006C Load index (Ypage 312)
006D Tire name
The markings described aboveareonthe tire
in addition tothe tire name (sales designation)
and themanufacturer's name.
i Tire
data isvehicle-specific andmay devi-
ate from thedata inthe example.
Tire size designation, load-bearing
capacity andspeed rating G
WARNING
Exc eeding thestated tireload-bea ringcapa-
city and theapproved maximum speed
could leadtotire damage orthe tire burst-
ing. There isarisk ofaccident.
Therefore, onlyusetiretypes andsizes
approved foryour vehicle model.Observe 310
All
about wheelsand tiresWheels andtires

the
tire load rating andspee dra ting
req uired foryour veh icle. 0043
Tire width
0044 Nom inalas pe ct ratio in%
0087 Tire cod e
0085 Rim diam ete r
0083 Loadbe aring index
0084 Spe edrating
Ge neral: dependi ng on the manuf actu rer's
sta nda rds,the size impri nted inthe tire wall
ma ynot conta inany letters orma yconta in
one letter thatpre ced esthe size descri ption.
If the reisno letter preced ingthe size descri p-
tio n(a ssho wnabove ):the searepa sse nge r
veh icletire sacc ording toEur opeanma nuf ac-
tur ing standa rds.
If "P "pre ced esthe size descri ption: theseare
pa sse nge rveh icletire sacc ording toU.S. man-
uf actu ringsta nda rds.
If "L T" pre ced esthe size descri ption: theseare
li ght truck tire sacc ording toU.S. manuf actu r-
ing standa rds.
If "T "pre ced esthe size descri ption: comp act
eme rgency wheelswith high tire pressu retha t
ar eonl yde signe dfor temp oraryusein an
eme rgency .
Tire width: tirewidth 0043sho wsthe nomi nal
tire width inmi llim ete rs.
He ight-w idth ratio :as pe ct ratio 0044 isthe size
ra tio betwe enthe tire height and tirewidth
and issho wninpe rcen t.The aspe ct ratio is
cal cul ate dby divid ing the tire width bythe tire
he ight.
Tire code: tire code0087 speci fiesthe tire type.
"R "rep resents radial tire s;"D" represents
di ag ona ltire s;"B" represents diag ona lra dial
tire s. Op
tional ly,tire swi th ama xim um spee dof ove r
149 mph (240km/h )ma yha ve "ZR" inthe
si ze descri ption, dependi ng on the manuf ac-
tur er(e.g. 245/4 0ZR 18) .
Rim diamete r:rim diam ete r0085 isthe diam e-
ter ofthe bead seat, not thediam ete rof the
rim flange .Th erim diam ete ris sp eci fiedin
inch es(in).
Lo ad-b earingin dex :lo ad -be aring index0083 is
a num erical cod etha tsp eci fiesthe maxim um
lo ad -be aring capacityof atire .
Do not overload the tiresby exce eding the
sp eci fiedload limi t.Th ema xim um permi ssible
lo ad can befou ndonthe vehicle'sTire and
Loa ding Info rma tionplaca rdon the B-pi llar on
the driver 'sside (Ypage 306) .
Exam ple:
Loa d-bearin gind ex91 indicates ama xim um
lo ad of1,3 56 lb(615 kg)tha tthe tirescan
be ar.For furthe rinf orm ation onthe maxim um
tire load inkilog rams and lbs, see
(Y page 313 ).
For furthe rinf orm ation onthe load bearing
ind ex, see"L oa dind ex" (Ypage 312) .
Spe edratin g:spee dra ting 0084speci fiesthe
ap pro ved maxim um spee dof the tire.
i Ti
re data isveh icle-s pecificand mayde vi-
ate fromthe data inthe exampl e.
Re gardl essof the spee dra ting ,al wa ysobserve
the spee dlimi ts. Drivecar efully and adapt
yo ur drivin gsty leto the trafficcond itions . Summe
r
tire s In
dex Spe
edratin g Q up
to100 mph (160km/h ) R up
to106 mph (170km/h ) S up
to112 mph (180km/h ) T up
to118 mph (190km/h ) H up
to130 mph (210km/h ) V up
to149 mph (240km/h ) W up
to168 mph (270km/h ) Y up
to186 mph (300km/h ) ZR
...Y up
to186 mph (300km/h ) Al
labo utwhee lsan dtire s
311Whe elsand tires Z

Summ
er
tires Index Speed
rating ZR...(..
Y) over
186mph (300km/h) ZR over
149mph (240km/h) R
Optionally, tireswithamaximum speedof
over 149mph (240 km/h) mayhave "ZR"in
the size description, dependingonthe man-
ufacturer (e.g.245/ 40ZR18 ).
The service specification ismade upofload-
bearing index0083and speed rating0084.
R Ifthe size description ofyour tireincludes
"ZR" andthere arenoservice specifications,
ask thetire manufacturer inorder tofind
out themaximum speed.
If aservice specification isavaila ble,the
maximum speedislimited according tothe
speed ratinginthe service specification.
Example: 245/40ZR18 97Y.Inthis exam-
ple, "97Y"isthe service specifica tion.The
letter "Y"represents thespeed rating. The
maximum speedofthe tire islimi ted to
186 mph (300 km/h).
R The size descriptio nfor alltires withmaxi-
mum speed sof over 186mph (300 km/h)
must include "ZR",and theservice specifi-
cation mustbegiven inparentheses .Exam-
ple: 275/40 ZR18 (99 Y).Speed rating"(Y)"
indicates thatthemaximum speedofthe
tire isover 186mph (300 km/h). Askthe
tire manufacture rabou tthe maximum
speed . All
-
weather
tires
and win-
ter tires Index Speed
rating Q
M+S 1 up
to100 mph (160 km/h) T
M+S 1 up
to118 mph (190 km/h) H
M+S 1 up
to130 mph (210 km/h) V
M+S 1 up
to149 mph (240 km/h) i
Not
alltires withtheM+S marking provide
the driving characteristics ofwinter tires.In
addi tion tothe M+S marking, wintertires
also have the004D snowfla kesymbo lon the
tire wall.Tires withthismarking fulfillthe
requi rements ofthe Rub ber Manufa cturers
Association (RMA)andtheRub ber Associa-
tion ofCana da(RAC) regard ingthe tire trac-
tion onsnow. Theyhave been especia lly
devel oped fordriving onsnow.
An electronic speedlimiterprevents yourvehi-
cle from exceeding thefollow ingspeed s:
R 130 mph (210 km/h):
- All vehicle s(except Mercedes-AMG vehi-
cles)
R 155 mph (250 km/h ):
- Mercedes-AMG SL63
- Mercedes-AMG SL65
R 186 mph (300 km/h):
- Mercedes-AMG SL63 (Performa ncePack-
age)
- Mercedes-AMG SL65 increased maxi-
mum speed
The speed ratingoftires mounted atthe fac-
tory may behighe rthan themaximum speed
that theelectronic speedlimiterpermits.
Make surethatyourtires have therequi red
speed rating, e.g.when buying new tires. The
requi redspeed ratingforyou rvehicle canbe
found inthe "tires" section (Ypage 321).
Further information aboutreadi ngtire data
can beobtained fromanyqualifiedspecia list
workshop.
Load index In
addi tion tothe load -bearing index,load
index 0043may alsobeimprinted onthe side-
1 Or M+S 004D forwinter tires. 312
Al
labout wheelsand tiresWheel sand tires

wall
ofthetir e. You willfindth is aft erthelet-
ter that iden tifies thespeed rating
(Y page 310).
R Ifno spec ification isgiven :no text(as inthe
exam pleabove) ,repr esen tsast andar dload
(SL )tir e
R XL orExtra Load: represen tsarein forced
tir e
R Light Load: represen tsalight loadtire
R C, D, E:repr esen tsaload rangethat
depen dson themax imum loadthat thetir e
can carryat acer tain pressure
i Tire
data isvehic le-speci ficand may devi-
ate fromthedata intheexam ple.
Max imumload rating Maxim
umtireload 0043isthemax imum permis-
sible weight forwhich thetir eis approv ed.
Do not over load thetir es by exc eedin gth e
spec ified loadlimit.The maximum permissible
load canbefoun don thevehic le'sTire and
Loadin gIn for mat ionplacar don theB- pillar on
th edriv er's side (Ypage 306).
i The
actual values fortires are vehic le-spe-
cif icand may deviat efro mthevalues inthe
illust ration.
DOT, TireIdent ification Number (TIN) US
tireregulat ionsstipulate that ever ytir e
man ufact urerorret reader mustimprintaTIN
in or on thesidewall ofeach tireproduc ed. The
TINisaunique identificat ion num ber. The
TIN enabl esthetir eman ufact urersor ret read-
ers toinform purchaser sof rec alls and other
safet y-relevan tmat ters.Itmak esitposs ible
for thepurc haser toeasily identifyth eaffe cted
tir es.
The TINismade upofman ufact ureridentifica-
tio ncod e0044, tiresiz e0087, tiretype code0085
and man ufact uringdate 0083.
DOT (Depa rtment ofTransp ortation): tire
symbo l0043 mark sth at thetir ecom plies with
th erequir ementsof theU.S .Dep artmen tof
Tran spor tation.
Man ufactu rer ident ification code: manufac-
tur eriden tificat ion code0044 prov ides details on
th etir eman ufact urer.New tires have acod e
with twosymbo ls.Retr eaded tires have acod e
with foursymbo ls.
For further inform ation about retreaded tires,
see (Ypage 321).
Tir esize: identifier 0087 desc ribes thetir esiz e.
Tir ety pe code: tiretype code0085 can beused
by theman ufact urerasacod eto desc ribe
spec ificchar acterist icsofthetir e.
Dat eof ma nuf acture: date ofman ufact ure
0083 prov ides inform ation about theage ofa
tir e. The firstand second posit ionsrepresen t
th eweek ofman ufact ure,start ing with "01"
for thefirs tcalen darweek .Posit ionsthree and
four represen tth eyear ofman ufact ure.For
exam ple,atir eth at ismark ed"321 4"was
man ufact ured inweek 32in20 14.
i Tire
data isvehic le-speci ficand may devi-
ate fromthedata intheexam ple. All
abou twheels andtires
313Wheels andtires Z

Maximum
loadedvehi cleweight
The maximu mwei ght isthe sum of:
R the curb weight ofthe vehicl e
R the weight ofthe accesso ries
R the loadlimi t
R the weight ofthe factory installedoptiona l
equ ipme nt
Kil opasc al(kPa)
Metric unitfortire pressu re.6.9 kPa corre-
sponds to1psi. Another unitfortire pressu re
is bar. 100 kilop ascals(kPa) arethe equivalent
of 1bar.
Load index
In add ition tothe load-bea ringindex, theload
index mayalsobe impri nted onthe side wallof
the tire. This speci fiestheload-bea ringcapa -
city more precis ely.
Curb weight
The weight ofavehicl ewith standard equip-
ment includ ingthe maximu mcapa cityoffuel ,
oil and coola nt.Itals oinclud esthe air-condi -
tioning system andoptiona lequ ipme ntifthese
are install edinthe vehicl e,but does not
includ epass engers orlug gage .
Maximum loadrating
The maximu mloa drating isthe maximu mper-
missi bleweight inkilog rams orlbs forwhi cha
tire isapp roved.
Maximum permissibletire pressure
Maximu mpermi ssibletire pressu refor one
tire.
Maximum loadonone tire
Maximu mloa don one tire. This iscalcu lated
by divi ding themaximu maxle loadof one axle
by two.
PSI (poun dsper square inch)
A standar dunit ofmeasu refor tire pressu re.
Aspe ctratio
Rel ationshi pbetwe entire heig htand tirewidth
in percent.
Tire pressure
This ispressu reinsid ethe tire applying anout-
ward force toeach square inch ofthe tire's
surfa ce.The tirepressu reisspeci fiedin pou
nds persquare inch (psi),in kilop ascal
(kPa) orinbar. Thetirepressu reshou ldonly
be corrected whenthetires arecold.
Col dtire pressure
The tires arecold:
R ifthe vehicl ehas been parked withthetires
out ofdire ctsunli ghtforatlea stthree hours
and
R ifthe vehicl ehas notbeen drivenfurther
than 1mile (1.6km)
Tread The part ofthe tire that comes intocontact
with theroad .
Bead
The tirebeadensure sthat thetire sits
secure lyon the whee l.There aresevera lsteel
wire sin the beadto prevent thetire from com-
ing loos efrom thewhee lrim.
Sidew all
The part ofthe tire betwe enthe tread andthe
bea d.
Weig htofoption alextras
The combined weight ofthose optiona lextras
that weighmore thanthereplaced standard
parts andmore than2.3kg(5lbs) .These
optiona lextras, suchashigh -performa nce
brakes ,level control, aroof rack orahigh -per-
formance battery,are not includ edinthe curb
wei ght and theweight ofthe accesso ries.
TIN (Tire Identification Number)
This isauniq ueidentifier whichcan beused
by atire manufa cturertoide ntify tires, for
exampl efor aprodu ctrecal l,and thus identify
the purcha sers.TheTINismade upofthe
manufa cturer's identity code, tiresize, tire
type code andthemanufa cturing date.
Load bearin gindex
The loadbea ring index (also loa dindex) isa
code thatcontains themaximu mloa dbea ring
capa cityofatire.
Traction Traction isthe resul tof friction betweenthe
tires andtheroad surface. Al
labout wheelsand tires
315Wheelsand tires Z

Treadw
earindic ators
Na rro wba rs (tre adwearbars) thatar edistri b-
ute dove rthe tire trea d.Ifthe tire trea dis level
wi th the bars, the wearlimit of00CD in(1.6 mm)
ha sbe en rea che d.
Oc cupant distrib utio n
The distri butio nof occu pants inaveh icleat
thei rde signa ted seating positio ns.
Total load limit
Nom inallo ad and lugga geload plus 68 kg
(150 lbs) mu ltiplied by the num berof sea tsin
the vehicle. Ch
ang ingawh eel Fl
at tire
The "Breakdo wnassista nce" section
(Y page 281 )conta insinfo rma tionand note s
on how todealwith afla ttire .Info rma tionon
dri ving with MOExte ndedtire sin the eventofa
fla ttire can befou ndund er"M OExtend edtire s
(ti res with run-fla tcha racteri stics"
(Y page 281) . Rotati
ngthe wheels G
WA
RNING
Ro tati ngthe fron tand rearwh eelsifthe
wh eelsor tire sha ve diffe rent dimens ions
ma ysev erelyimp airthe driving characteri s-
tics .The servicebra keorwh eelsu spe nsion
comp onents mayal so be dama ged. The reis
a ris kof an acci dent.
Ro tate front andrearwh eelsonl yif the
wh eelsand tiresar eof the same dimen-
si ons.
! On
veh icles equipp ed with atire pressu re
moni tor,electro niccomp onents arelocate d
in the wheel.
Ti re-m ounting toolssho uld not beused nea r
the valve .Thi scou ldda ma gethe electro nic
comp onents.
Onl yha ve tire scha nge dat aqu alifi ed spe -
cia list wo rksh op. Alw
ayspa yatte ntionto the instructio nsand
sa fety note swh en cha nging awh eel
(Y page 316 ).
The wearpatterns onthe fron tand reartire s
di ffe r,de pendi ng on the opera ting cond itions.
Ro tate thewheelsbe fore acle arwe arpattern
ha sform edon the tires.Front tirestyp ically
we armor eon the shoulde rand reartire sin
the cente r.
On veh icles tha tha ve the same size front and
rea rwh eels,yo ucan rotatethe wheelsacco rd-
ing tothe intervalsin the tire manuf actu rer's
wa rranty book inyour veh icledo cum ents. Ifno
wa rranty book isavaila bl e, the tiressho uld be
rota tedevery3,0 00 to6,0 00 miles(5,000 to
10, 000 km).Dep endingontire wear,thi sma y
be req uired earlier. Do not change thedirec-
tio nof wh eelrota tion.
Cl ea nthe conta ctsurfa ces ofthe wheeland
the brakedisc thor oughl yeve rytime awh eel
is rota ted.Ch eck thetire pressu reand reacti-
va te the tire pressu remoni torifnece ssary. Di
rec tionof rotati on
Ti res with aspe cified directi onofrota tionha ve
ad ditio nal benefi ts,e.g.if ther eis aris kof
hy dro plani ng. Theseadvantag escan onlybe
ga ine difthe tiresar eins talled corr espond ing
to the directi onofrota tion.
An arrow onthe side wa llof the tire indicates
its corr ectdirecti onofrota tion. Sto
ringwh eels
Store wheelstha tar enot being used inacoo l,
dry and preferablyda rk place .Pro tect thetires
from oil,gre ase, gasol ine and diese l. Mou
nting awh eel
Pre parin gthe vehic le X
Stop thevehicleon solid,non-sl ippe ry and
le vel ground .
X Unl oadthe vehicle. The jack canonlybe
us ed when the vehicleis unl aden.
X App lythe electri cpa rking brakema nua lly.
X Bri ng the fron twh eelsinto thestra ight-
ah eadpo sitio n. 31
6 Ch
ang ingawh eelWhe elsand tires

tor
cann otfunctio nrel iabl y. Onl yres tartthe
tire pressu remoni torwhen the defecti ve
wh eelha sbe en rep laced with anew wheel.
All mou nted wheelsmu stbe equipp ed with
fu nctio ningsenso rsfor the tire pressu remoni -
tor. Whe
eland tirecombi nati ons
Yo ucan askfor inform ation reg arding permi t-
ted wheel/ti recomb inations atan author ized
Me rced es-Benz Center.
! For
safety reason s,Me rced es-Benz recom-
mend stha tyo uonl yus etire sand wheels
wh ich have been appro ved byMe rced es-
Benz speci fically for your veh icle.
The setire sha ve been speci ally ad ap ted for
us ewi th the contro lsy ste ms, such asABS
or ESP ®
,and arema rked asfollows :
R MO =Me rced es-Benz Original
R MOE =Me rced es-Benz Original Extend ed
(ti res featuring run-fl atcha racteri stics)
R MO1 =Me rced es-Benz Original (only cer-
tai nAMG tires)
Me rced es-Benz Original Extend edtire sma y
onl ybe used on wheelstha tha ve been spe-
cif ica lly ap pro ved byMe rced es-Benz.
Onl yus etire s,wh eelsor acc essor iestes ted
and appro ved byMe rced es-Benz. Certa in
cha racteri stics, e.g.ha ndl ing,veh iclenoi se
emi ssions orfuel cons umption, mayothe r-
wi se be adver selyaffecte d.Inadditio n,
wh en drivin gwi th aload ,tire dimens ion va r-
ia tio ns cou ldcau sethe tiresto come into
conta ctwith the bodywo rkand axlecomp o-
nents .Thi scou ldres ultin da ma getothe
tire sor the vehicle.
Me rced es-Benz accepts no liab ility for dam-
ag eres ulting fromthe useof tire s,wh eels
or acc essor iesothe rtha nthos etes ted and
ap pro ved .
Info rma tionon tire s,wh eelsand appro ved
comb inations can beobtained fromany
qu alifi ed speci alistwo rksh op.
! Re
trea dedtire sar enei the rtes ted nor rec-
omm endedbyMe rced es-Benz, since previ-
ou sda ma gecann otalwa ysbe detecte don
retr eade dtire s.As ares ult, Me rced es-Benz
cann otguarante eveh iclesa fety ifretr eade d
tire sar emou nted .Do not mou ntused tire s if
yo uha ve no inform ation abou tthe irpre vi-
ou sus ag e.
Th erec omm endedpre ssu res forvario us oper-
ati ng cond itions canbefou nd:
R on the Tire and Loading Info rma tionplaca rd
on the B-pi llar on the driver 'sside
R in the tire pressu retab leon the fuel filler
fla p
Ob serve the note son rec omm endedtire pres-
su res und ervario us opera ting cond itions
(Y page 299 ).
Ch eck tirepressu res regular ly,and onlywh en
the tiresar ecol d.Co mpl ywi th the mainte -
nanc erec omm endations ofthe tire manuf ac-
tur erinthe vehicledo cum entwallet.
Note son the vehicleeq uipme nt–alwa ys
eq uip the vehicle:
R with tire sof the same size on agiven axle
(l eft and right)
R with the same typeof tire sat agiven time
(s um mer tires,winter tires,MOExte nded
tire s)
Excep tion:itis pe rmi ssible to mou ntadi f-
fer ent typeor ma keinthe eventofafla t
tire .Ob serve the "MOExte ndedtire s(ti res
wi th run-fl atcha racter istics )"se ctio n
(Y page 281 ).
Veh icles equipp ed with MOExte ndedtire sar e
not equipp ed with aTIR EFIT kitatthe factory .
It is the refore recomm endedtha tyo uad ditio n-
al ly eq uip yo ur veh iclewi th aTIR EFIT kitifyo u
mou nttire stha tdo not featureru n-fl atcha rac-
teri stics, e.g.wi nter tires.ATIR EFIT kitmaybe
ob tained fromaqu alifi ed speci alistwo rksh op. Whe
eland tirecombi nati ons
321Whe elsand tires Z