2020 MERCEDES-BENZ SL ROADSTER tire type

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

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

Tire
charac teristics Thi
sinfo rma tionde scri besthe typeof tire cord
and thenum berof laye rs inside wa ll0043 and
und ertire trea d0044.
i Ti
re data isveh icle-s pecificand mayde vi-
ate fromthe data inthe exampl e.
De finition ofterms fortire sand load-
in g Tire
plycompos ition and materi aluse d
Desc ribes the num berof pliesor the num ber
of laye rs of rubb er-c oated fabri cin the tire
trea dand side wa ll. The searema de ofstee l,
nyl on, polyeste rand othe rma teri als.
Bar
Me tric unitfor tire pressu re.14.50 38pound s
pe rsq ua re inch (psi)and 100 kilop ascal s(kP a)
ar ethe equiva lent of1ba r.
DO T(D epa rtmen tof Trans portation)
DOT-m arked tiresfu lfillthe requirem ents of
the USDep artment ofTra nsp orta tion.
Normal occu pant weight
The num berof occu pants forwhich the vehicle
is de signe dmu ltiplied by 68 kilog rams
(15 0lbs).
Un iform Tire Quality Gradi ngStan dards
A uni formsta nda rdtogra dethe quality oftire s
wi th reg ards totrea dqu ality ,tire tractio nand
temp eraturecha racteri stics. The quality gra d-
ing asses sme ntisma de bythe manuf actu rer
fol lowi ng speci ficati ons fromthe U.S. gover n-
ment. Therating sar emol dedinto theside wa ll
of the tire. Rec
omme ndedtire pres sure s
The reco mme ndedtire pressu reappliesto the
tire smou nted atthe factory .
The Tire and Loading Info rma tionplaca rdcon-
tai ns the reco mme ndedtire pressu res forcold
tire son afu lly lo ad ed veh icleand forthe maxi-
mu mpermi ssible veh iclesp ee d.
The tirepressu retab leconta insthe reco m-
mend edpre ssu res forcoldtire sfor vario us
op era ting cond itions, i.e.di ffe ringload and
sp ee dcond itions.
In cre ase dve hic lewe ight due toopti onal
equ ipme nt
The comb inedwe ight ofallsta nda rdand
op tio nal equipme ntavaila bl e for the vehicle,
reg ardless ofwh eth eritis actu ally ins talled on
the vehicleor not.
Rim
Thi sis the partof the wheelon which the tire
is mou nted .
GA WR (Gros sAx leWe ight Rati ng)
The GAW Ris the maxim um grossaxl ewe ight
ra ting .The actu alload on anaxlemu stneve r
exce edthe grossaxl ewe ight rating .The gross
axl ewe ight rating canbefou ndonthe vehicle
id enti ficati on plate onthe B-pi llar on the driv-
er' sside .
Spe edratin g
The spee dra ting ispa rtof the tire identi fica-
tio n.Itsp eci fiesthe spee dra nge forwhich the
tire isap pro ved .
GVW (Gros sVeh icle We ight)
The grossveh iclewe ight incl udes the weight
of the vehicleincl uding fuel,tool s,the spare
wh eel,acc essories installed, occu pants, lug-
ga ge and thedrawbarnose weight, ifap plica -
bl e. The grossveh iclewe ight mu stnot exce ed
the grossveh iclewe ight rating GVWR asspeci -
fie don the vehicleidenti ficati on plate onthe
B-pi llar on the driver 'sside .
GVWR (Gros sVeh icle We ight Rati ng)
The GVWR isthe maxim um permi ssible gro ss
we ight ofafu lly lo ad ed veh icle(th ewe ight of
the vehicleincl uding allacc essories, occu -
pa nts, fuel,lu gga geand thedrawbarnose -
we ight, ifap plica ble) .The grossveh iclewe ight
ra ting issp eci fiedon the vehicleidenti ficati on
pl ate onthe B-pi llar on the driver 'sside . 31
4 Al
labo utwhee lsan dtire sWhe elsand tires

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

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