2020 MERCEDES-BENZ SLC flat tire

Chec
kwheel sand tires for damag eatleast
on ce am onth.C hec kwheel sand tires after
driv ingoff-road oron roug hroad s.Dam aged
wheel scan caus ealossoftirep ressur e.Pay
part icular attentio nt od amag esucha s:
R cut sint he tires
R punc tures inthet ires
R tears inthet ires
R bulges ontires
R def orm ationorsevere corrosio nonw heel s
Regular lych eck thet iret read dept hand the
co ndi tiono fthe tread across thew hole width
of all tires (Y page 269). Ifne ces sary, turnthe
fr on tw heel stof ull loc kino rder to ins pec tthe
inn erside ofthet ires urface.
All wheel smust have avalvec ap topro tect
th ev alvea gain stdirt and mois ture.Do not
moun tanyt hingo ntot he valv eother than the
st and ard valvecap orother valvecaps
appro vedbyMer cedes-Ben zfor your vehicle.
Do notu se any other valvecaps orsyst ems ,
e.g .tirep ressur emonito rin gs yst ems .
Regular lych eck thep ressur eofallth et ires
part icular lyprio rtol on gt rips. Adjus tthe tire
pre ssur easnecessary (Ypage 271).
Obse rvet he noteso nthe eme rgencys par e
wheel (Ypage 294).
The servicelife oftires depen ds,amon gother
th ing s,on thef ollowin gfactors:
R Dr ivin gstyle
R Tire pressur e
R Dis tan cecover ed Not
eson tiret read G
WAR
NING
If th ere isins ufficie nttiret read, thet iret rac-
tio nd ecreas es.The tiret read isno longer
able todiss ipatewater.This increas esthe
ris ko fhydr oplan ingwhen ther oad surface
is wet ,part icular lywhen thev ehicle 'sspee d
is no ta dapt edtother oad condi tions.T her e
is ar isko fana cciden t.
When thet irep ressur eist oo high ortoo
low, tires may wear differe ntly at diff ere nt
poin tson thet iret read. Ther efore, regularly
ch eck thet iret read dept hand thec onditio n of
thet read acr oss thew hole widthofall
tir es.
Min imum tiret read dept hon:
R Sum mer tires: 00CEin(3 mm)
R M+S tires: 00CFin(4 mm)
For safe tyreas ons,have thet ires rep lace d
bef ore they reac hthe legally prescribe dmin-
imum tiret read dept h. Mark
ing0043sho wswher ethe bar indicat orfor
tr ead wear (arrow) isint egr atedintot he tire
tr ead.
Tre adwear indicat ors (TWI )are req uired by
law. Sixindicat ors are posi tionedo nthe tire
tr ead. They arevisible once atread dept hof
appr oximat ely00CD in(1.6 mm)has been
re ach ed. Ifth is isthec ase, thet irei ss ow orn
th at itmust berepl aced . Select
ing,mou nting and replacing
tir es
Tire sand wheels
R On lymoun ttires and wheels ofthes ame
type andmake.
Ex cep tion:itis perm issibleto moun tadif-
fer ent type ormak eint he even tofaf lat
tir e. Obse rvet he "MOE xtend edtires (tires
with run-flat charac terist ics)"sec tion
(Y page 254).
R On lymoun ttires ofthec orrec tsizeo ntot he
wheels .
R Break innew tires atmode rates pee dsfor
th ef irst 60 miles (100km). The new tires
on lyreac htheirfull perf ormanceafter this
dist ance. Oper
ation
269Wheels andtires Z

R
Do not drive with tire sw hich have too little
trea ddepth.T hiss igni fic antl yreduce sthe
tra ctio nonw etroa ds(hyd rop laning ).
R Re place thetiresafter sixy ears at the lat-
est, regardless ofwe ar. MOE
xtende dtires(tires with run-f lat
prope rties)
Wi th MOExte ndedtires(tires with runf lat
cha racteri stics) ,you can conti nuetodrive your
veh iclee veni fthe re isat ota llos so fpressu re
in one ormor etires.
MOExte ndedtiresm ayonl ybeu sedi nc on-
juncti onwith an acti vetire pressu reloss wa rn-
ing system orwith an acti vetire pressu remon-
ito ra nd onwheelssp eci fically teste dby
Me rced es-Benz.
Note sond rivin gw ithM OExte ndedtiresw itha
fla ttire (Ypage 254 ).
Veh icles equipp ed with MOExte ndedtiresa re
not equipp ed with aT IREFIT kitatthe factory .
It is the refore reco mme ndedthaty ou additio n-
al ly eq uipy ourv ehiclew ithaT IREFIT kitifyo u
mou nttire sthatd on otfea turerun-flat cha rac-
teri stics, e.g.winter tires.AT IREFIT kitcan be
ob tained fromaq ualifi ed speci alistw orksh op. Win
terope ratio n Ge
neral notes
Hav eyourv ehiclew inter-p roofed ataq ualifi ed
sp eci alistw orksh opatthe onse tofw inter.
Ob ser vethe note sint he "Cha ngi ng aw heel"
sec tion(Ypa ge 289 ). Dri
ving with summe rtire s
At temp eratures below4 5‡ (+7†),sum mer
tire slos ee last ici ty and therefore tractio nand
bra king powe r.Ch ang ethe tire sonyourv ehi-
cle toM+S tires.Us ings umme rtires atvery
cold tempera turescould cause cracks toform,
thereby damagingthetires perma nently.
Mercede s-Benzcannot acceptresponsi bility
for this type ofdama ge. G
WARNING
Damage dtires cancause tireinflati onpres-
sure loss. Asaresul t,you could losecontrol
of you rvehicl e.There isar isk ofaccide nt.
Check thetires regularlyforsigns ofdam-
age and repla ceany dama gedtires immedi -
ately . M+S
tires G
WARNING
M+S tireswithatire tread depth ofless than
00CF in(4 mm) arenot suitable foruse inwin-
ter and donot provid esuffici enttraction.
There isar isk ofan accide nt.
M+S tireswithatread depth ofless than 00CF
in (4 mm) must berepla cedimmedi ately.
At temperatu resbelo w45‡ (+7†), use win-
ter tires orall-season tires.Bothtypes oftire
are identifi edbythe M+S marking.
Only winter tiresbearing the004D snowfla ke
symbo lina ddition tothe M+S marking provide
the best possi blegrip inwintry roadcondi-
tions.
Only these tireswillallow drivi ngsafety sys-
tems suchasABS andESP®
to function opti-
mall yinw inter. These tireshave been devel-
oped specifi callyfor drivi nginsnow.
Use M+S tiresofthe same make andtread on
all whee lsto maintai nsafe handl ingcharacter-
istics.
Alwa ysobserve themaximu mpermis sible
speed specifiedfor the M+S tiresyouhave
mounted.
When youhave mounted theM+S tires:
X Check thetire pressu res(Ypage 274).
X Vehic lesforCanada: restartthetire pres-
sure losswarni ngsystem (Ypage 275).
X Resta rtthe tire pressu remonitor
(Y page 275).
Information aboutdrivi ng with anemergency
spare wheel(Y page 294). 270
Winter
operationWheelsand tires

Snow
chains G
WARNING
If snow chains areinstalled tothe front
wheels, theymaydrag against thevehicle
body orchassis componen ts.This could
cause damage tothe vehicle orthe tires.
There isar isk ofan accident.
To avoid hazardous situations:
R never install snowchains tothe front
wheels
R alwa ysinstall snowchains inpairs tothe
rear wheels.
For safety reasons, Mercedes-B enzrecom-
mends thatyouonly usesnow chains that
have been specially approved foryour vehicle
by Mercedes-B enz,orare ofac orrespondin g
standard ofquali ty.For more information ,
please contactaquali fied specialist workshop.
If you inten dtom ount snow chains, please
bear thefollowing pointsinmind:
R Snow chains maynotbemounted onall
wheel/tire combinations .Permissible
wheel-tire combinations (Ypage 293).
R Only usesnow chains whendriving onroads
completely coveredbysnow. Remove the
snow chains assoon aspossible whenyou
come toaroad that isnot snow-cov ered.
R Local regulations mayrestrict theuse of
snow chains. Observe theappropriate regu-
lations ifyou wish tomount snowchains.
R Do not exceed themaximum permissible
speed of30 mph (50km/h).
You may wish todeactivate ESP®
when pulling
away withsnow chains installed (Ypage 61).
You canthereby allowthewheels tospin ina
cont rolled manner, achieving anincreased
driving force(cuttin gaction).
Inform ationabout driving withanemergency
spare wheel (Ypage 294). Tire
pressur e Tire
pressur especifications
Import antsafety notes G
WARNING
Underinflated oroverinflated tirespose the
following risks:
R the tires mayburst, especially asthe load
and vehicle speedincrease.
R the tires maywear excessively and/or
unevenly, whichmaygreatly impairtire
tract ion.
R the driving characterist ics,aswell as
steering andbraking, maybegreatly
impaired.
There isar isk ofan accident.
Follow recommen dedtireinflation pressures
and check thepressure ofall the tires
including thespare wheel:
R mont hly,atleast
R ifthe load changes
R before beginning along journey
R under different operating conditions,e.g.
off-r oad driving
If necessary, correctthetire pressure.
The data onthe Tire andLoading Information
placard andtirepressure tableshown hereare
examples. Tirepressure specifications are
vehicle-specific andmay deviate fromthedata
shown here.Thetirepressure specifications
that arevalid foryour vehicle canbefound on
the Tire andLoading Informationplacard and
tire pressure tableonthe vehicle.
General notes The
recommen dedtirepressures forthe tires
mounted atthe factory canbefound onthe
labels described here.
Operat ionwith anemergency sparewheel:
information onoperation withanemergency
spare wheel canbefound inthe general notes
in the "Emergenc yspare wheel" section
(Y page 295).
Further information ontire pressures canbe
obtained ataq uali fied specialist workshop. Tire
pressure
271Wheelsandtires Z

Imp
ortant noteson tire pressu re G
WAR
NING
If th et irep ressur edrops rep eatedly, the
whee l,valv eortirem aybe damag ed.Tire
pre ssur ethatist oo low may result inat ire
blow- out.Ther eisar isko fana cciden t.
R Chec kthe tire for foreign objects.
R Chec kwhether thew hee lisl osi ng air or
th ev alveisleak ing.
If you areunab leto rec tify thed amag e,con-
tac taq ualifiedspec ialist workshop. G
WAR
NING
If you fituns uitable accessories onto tire
valv es,thet irev alves may beove rloaded
and malf unction ,w hic hc an caus etirep res-
sur eloss .Due totheir desi gn,retrof itte dt ire
pre ssur emonitors keep thet irev alveo pen .
This canalso result intire pre ssur eloss .
Ther eisar isko fana cciden t.
On lyscrew thes tand ard valvecap orother
valv ecapsa ppr ove dbyM erce des- Benzfor
your vehicleo ntot he tire valv e.
Use asuitable pressur egauge tocheckt he
ti re pre ssur e.The outerappear anceofat ire
does notp ermit any reliable conclusio nabout
th et irep ressur e.On veh icles equipp edwith
th ee lectron ictire pre ssur emonitor, thet ire
pre ssur ecan be checke di nt he on-board com-
put er.
The tire tempe rature and pressur einc reas e
when thev ehiclei sinm otion .This isdepe nd-
en to nthe driv ingspee dand thel oad.
Ther efore, you should onlyco rrec ttirep res-
sur eswhen thet ires are cold.
The tires are cold:
R ifth ev ehicleh asbeen parkedwiththe tires
out ofdire ctsun lightfor atleast three hour s
and
R ifth ev ehicleh asnotb een drivenfurther
th an 1m ile(1.6k m)
The tire tempe rature chang esdepe nding on
th eo utside tempe rature, thev ehicles pee d
and thet irel oad. Ifth et iret em perat ure
ch ang esby 18 ‡(10 †), thet irep ressur e
ch ang esby appr oximat ely10kPa( 0.1b ar/
1. 5p si).T aket hisi ntoa ccoun twhen checkin g th
ep ressur eofwarm tires .Onlyc orrect the
ti re pre ssur eifiti st oo low forthec urren t
oper ating cond ition s.Ifyou checkt he tire
pre ssur ewhen thet ires are warm ,the res ult-
ing value willbehigh erthan ifth et ires were
co ld. This isno rm al. Do notred uce thet ire
pre ssur etot he value specifiedfor cold tires .
The tire pre ssur ewould other wise betool ow.
Obs ervethe rec omm ended tire pre ssur esfor
co ld tires :
R on theT irea nd Load ingInfor mat ionplac ard
on theB -pillar onthed river' ss ide
R in thet irep ressur etableon thei nside ofthe
fuel filler flap
R prin tedi ny ellow onther im ofthee me r-
gen cy/ collaps iblespar ewhee l(dep endin g
on veh iclee quipm ent) Und
erinflated orover inflated tires
Und erinflated tires G
WAR
NING
Tir es wit hp ressur ethatist oo low can over-
heat andburs tasa consequen ce.Ina ddi-
ti on ,the ya lso suffer from exce ssiv eand/o r
irr egular wear,whic hc an sev erelyimpa irth e
brak ingproperties and thed riving charac ter-
ist ics .Ther eisar isko fana cciden t.
Av oid tire pre ssur esthat are tool ow inall
th et ires ,inc ludin gthe spar ewhee l.
Un der inflat ed tires may:
R ove rheat,leadin gtot ired efec ts
R adve rselyaff ecth andlin g
R wear exce ssiv elyand /oru neven ly
R hav eana dve rse effecto nfuel consumpt ion
Over inflated tires G
WAR
NING
Tir es wit he xces siv ely high pressur ecan
burs tbecause they are damag edmor eeas-
ily by road debris,pot hole setc.Ina ddit ion,
th ey also suffer from irregular wear,whic h
can severelyimpa irth eb rak ing properties
and thed riving charac teris tics .T her eisa
ris ko fana cciden t. Ti
re pressu re
273Wheels andtire s
Z

Avoi
dtire pre ssu res thatare too high inall
the tires,incl uding the sparewh eel.
Ove rinflated tiresm ay:
R incr ease the braking dista nce
R ad ver selya ffect handl ing
R we arexce ssivel ya nd/or unevenl y
R ha ve an adver seeffe cton ridec omf ort
R be more susce ptiblet od amage
Maxi mum tirepres sure s 0043
Exam ple: ma ximu mpermi ssi blet ire pre s-
su re
Nev erexce edthe maximu mpermi ssi blet ire
infl ation pre ssu re.Alw ayso bserve the reco m-
mend edtire pressu refor your veh iclew hen
ad jus ting thetire pressu re(Y page 271) .
i The
actu alvalues for tiresareveh icle-sp e-
cifi cand maydeviate from thevalues inthe
il lu stra tion. Che
ckingt he tire pres sure s
Impo rtant safetynotes The
tirepressu remoni tordoes not warnyou
of:
R inco rrectly settire pressu re
R sudd en loss oftire pressu re,e.g.from afor-
ei gn object thathas penetra tedthetire
Obs ervethe notes ontire pressu re
(Y page 271 ). Info
rma tiono nairpre ssu refor the tireson
yo ur veh iclec an be fou nd:
R on the vehicle's Tire and Loading Info rma -
tio np laca rd on the B-pi llar
R on the tire pressu retab lein the fuel filler
fla p
R in the "Tire pre ssu re" section
Che ckingt ire pres sure smanua lly To
determ ineand setthe corr ecttire pressu re,
pro cee dasfollows :
X Re move thevalve cap ofthe tire thatist o
be che cked .
X Pre ssthe tire pressu regaug es ecurelyo nto
the valve .
X Re ad the tire pressu reand comp arei ttot he
reco mme ndedvalue on the Tire and Loading
Info rma tionp laca rd orthe tire pressu re
tab le(Y page 271 ).
X Ifthe tire pressu reistoo low, incr ease the
tire pressu reto the reco mme ndedvalue.
X Ifthe tire pressu reistoo high, release air.
To do so, pressdown the meta lpininthe
va lve ,using the tipofap en for exa mpl e.
The ncheck the tire pressu reagainu sing the
tire pressu reche cker.
X Screw thevalve cap onto thevalve .
X Re peat thes estep sfor the othe rtire s. Tire
pres sure loss wa rning sys tem
(C anada only)
Ge neral notes Whi
lethe vehiclei sinm otion, the tire pres-
su re loss wa rning system monitorsthesettire
pre ssu reusing the rota tional speedofthe
wh eels.T hise nables the system todetect sig-
nifi cant pressu reloss inat ire.Ift he spe edof
rota tiono fa wheelcha nge sasa resulto fa
lo ss ofpre ssu re,acorresp ond ingwarning
mes sage willap pe ar inthe multifu nctio ndis-
pl ay .
Yo uc an reco gnizethe tire pressu reloss wa rn-
ing bythe Run FlatIndica tor Active Run
FlatIndica tor Active
Pre ss 'OK'toR estar t Pre
ss 'OK'toR estar tmes sage which
ap pe arsi nt he Ser v. Ser
v.menu ofthe multifu nc-
tio nd ispl ay .Info rma tiono nthe mes sage dis-
pl ay can befou ndinthe "Resta rting thetire 27
4 Tire
pres sureWhe elsa nd tire s

pressure
losswarning system" section
(Y page 275).
Impor tantsafet ynotes The
tirepressure warningsystemdoesnot
warn youofan inco rrectlyset tire pressure.
Observe thenoteson the recom mended tire
pressure (Ypage 271).
The tirepressure losswarning doesnot
replace theneed toregularly checkthe tire
pressure. Aneven lossofpressure onseveral
tires atthe same timecannotbe detec tedby
the tire pressure losswarning system.
The tirepressure monitorisnot able towarn
you ofas udden lossofpressure, e.g.ifthe
tire ispenet rated byaforeign object.In the
event ofas udden lossofpressure, bringthe
vehicle toah alt bybrakin gcarefully. Avoid
abrupt steeringmoveme nts.
The func tion ofthe tire pressure losswarning
system islimited ordelayed if:
R snow chains aremount edon your vehicle's
tires.
R road condition sarewintr y.
R you aredriving onsand orgravel.
R you adopt avery sport ydriving style(corner-
ing athigh speeds ordriving withhigh rates
of accelerat ion).
R you drive withaheavy load.
Resta rting the tirep ressure losswarn-
ing system Restart
thetire pressure losswarning system
if you have:
R chang edthe tire pressure
R chang edthe wheels ortires
R mount ednew wheels ortires
X Befor erest artin g,make surethatthetire
pressures aresetproperly onallfour tires
for the respect iveoperatin gcondition s.
The recom mended tirepressure canbe
found onthe Tire andLoading Informat ion
placard onthe B-pillar .Addit ionally, atire
pressure tableisattac hedtothe fuel filler
flap. Thetirepressure losswarning system
can only givereliable warningsify ou have
set the corr ecttire pressure. Ifan incorrec ttire
pressure isset, these incorrectvalues
will bemonit ored.
X Also observe thenotesinthe sect ionontire
pressures (Ypage 271).
X Make surethattheSmart Keyisin position
0048 inthe ignit ionlock (Ypage 118).
X Press the0059 or0065 buttononthe steer -
ing wheel toselect theServ. Serv.
menu.
X Press the0063 or0064 buttontos elect
Tire Pressu re Tire
Pressu re.
X Press the0076 button.
The Run Flat Indica torActive Press Run
Flat Indica torActive Press
'OK' toRestar t 'OK'
toRestar tmessage appearsinthe
multifun ction display.
If you wish toconfirm therest art:
X Press the0076 button.
The Tire Pressu reNow OK? Tire
Pressu reNow OK?message
appears inthe multifun ction display.
X Press the0063 or0064 buttontos elect
Yes Yes.
X Press the0076 button.
The Run Flat Indica torRestar ted Run
Flat Indica torRestar tedmes-
sage appears inthe multifun ction display.
Aft erateach -inperiod, thetire pressure
loss warning systemwillmonit orthe settire
pressures ofall four tires.
If you wish tocancel therest art:
X Press the0038 button.
or X Ifthe Tire Pressu reNow OK? Tire
Pressu reNow OK?message
appears, usethe0063 or0064 buttonto
select Cancel Cancel
.
X Press the0076 button.
The tirepressure valuesstoredatthe last
rest artwill continue tobe monit ored. Tir
ep ressure monitor
General notes If
at ire pressure monitorisinst alled, thevehi-
cle's wheels havesensor sthat monit orthe tire
pressures inall four tires. Thetirepressure
monit orwarns youifthe pressure dropsinone
or more ofthe tires. Thetirepressure monitor
only functionsifthe corr espondin gsensor s
are installed inall wheels.
Inf ormat ionontire pressures isdisplayed in
the multifun ction display. Afterafew minut es
of driving ,the curren ttire pressure ofeach tire Tir
ep ressure
275Wheels andtires Z

is
shown inthe Serv . Serv
.men uofthe multif unc-
tion display. Ex
ample: currenttirep ress uredisplay
For informat iononthe mess agedisplay, refer
to the "Check ingthe tirep ress ureelect roni-
cally" section(Ypage 277).
Imp ortant safet ynotes G
WARN
ING
Eac htire, inc luding thespare (ifprov ided),
should bechec kedatleast onceam onth
when coldandinflated tothe press urerec-
omme ndedbythe vehic lemanuf acturer on
the Tire andLoadin gInformat ionplacard on
the drive r'sdoor B-pillar orthe tirep ress ure
label onthe inside ofthe fuel filler flap.If
your vehic lehas tires ofad iffe ren tsize than
the size indic ated onthe Tire andLoadin g
Inf ormat ionplacard orthe tirep ress ure
label, youshould determin ethe proper tire
press ureforthosetires.
As anadded safetyfeat ure, your vehic lehas
been equipped withatirep ress uremon itor-
ing syst em(TPMS )that illuminat esalow tire
press uretelltalewhen oneormore ofyour
tir es are sign ifican tlyunder inflated. Accor d-
ingly, when thelow tirep ress uretelltaleillu-
min ates, youshould stopand chec kyour
tir es assoon aspossible ,and inflate themt o
the proper pressure.Drivin gonas ignifi-
can tlyunder inflated tirec auses thetiret o
over heat andcanlead totiref ailure. Under-
inf lation alsoreduc esfuel effic iencyand tire
tr ead life,and may affec tthe vehic le'shan-
dling andstopping ability.
Please notethat the TPMS isnot asubst i-
tut efor proper tirem aint enan ce,and itis
the drive r'srespo nsibilit ytom aintaincor-
rec ttirep ress ure, even ifunder inflation has not
reach edthe level totrigger illuminat ion
of the TPMS lowtirep ress uretelltale.
Your vehic lehas also been equipped witha
TPMS malfun ction indic atortoindic ateifthe
syst emisnot operat ingproper ly.The TPMS
malfun ction indic atoriscom bined withthe
low tirep ress uretelltale. When thesyst em
dete ctsam alfunction, thewarnin glamp will
flash forapprox imatelyam inute and then
remain continuously illuminat ed.This
sequen cewill berepeat edever ytimet he
vehic leisstar ted aslong asthe malfun ction
exis ts.
When themalfun ction indic atorisillumina-
ted, thesyst emmay notbeable todete ctor
sign allow tirep ress ureasintended .TPMS
malfun ctions may occurfor avariet yofrea-
son s,inc luding theinstallation ofinc ompat i-
ble replac ementoralter natetires orwheels
on the vehic lethat preventtheTPMS from
func tioningproper ly.Always checkthe
TPMS malfun ction tellt aleafterreplac ing
one ormore tires orwheels onyour vehic le
to ens ure that thereplac ementoralter nate
tir es and wheels allowtheTPMS tocon tinue
to func tion proper ly.
It is the drive r'srespo nsibilitytoset the tire
press uretothat recomme ndedforcold tires
which issuitable forthe operat ingsituat ion
(Y page 271).Notet hat the correcttirep res-
sure forthe curr entoperat ingsituat ionmust
firs tbetaught -intothe tirep ress uremon itor.
If as ubst antialloss ofpress ureoccurs, the
warnin gthreshold forthe warnin gmessage is
aligned tothe taught -inrefe rencevalues.
Restar tthe tirep ress uremon itorafteradjust -
ing the press ureofthe cold tires
(Y page 278). Thecurrentpress uresare
saved asnew referencevalues. Asaresult ,a
warnin gmessage willappear ifthe tirep res-
sure drops significant ly.
The tirep ress uremon itordoes notwarn youof
an incorre ctly set tirep ress ure. Obser vethe
not eson the recomme ndedtirep ress ure
(Y page 271).
The tirep ress uremon itorisnot able towarn
you ofas udden lossofpress ure,e.g.ifthe
tir ei sp enet ratedbyaf oreign object.Int he
even tofas udden lossofpress ure,bringthe 276
Tir
ep ressur eWheels andtires

i
The
actual values fortires arevehicle-spe-
cific andmay deviate fromthevalues inthe
illustration.
Tr eadwear The
treadwear gradeisac omparative rating
based onthe wear rateofthe tire when tested
under controlled conditionsonaspecified U.S.
governm entcourse. Forexample, atire graded
150 would wearoneandone-half timesaswell
on the governm enttest track asatire graded
100.
The relative performan ceoftires depends
upon theactual conditionsoftheir use,how-
ever, andmay depart significant lyfrom the
norm duetovariations indriving habits, ser-
vice practic esand differenc esinroad charac-
terist icsand climate.
Tr action G
WARNIN
G
The tract iongrade assigned tothis tireis
based onstraight -aheadbraking traction
test s,and does notinclude acceleration ,
corn ering, hydroplaning, orpeak traction
charact eristics.
! Avoid
wheelspin. Thiscanlead todamage
to the drive train.
The tract iongrades –from highest tolowest –
are AA, A,Ba ndC.Those grades represent the
tire's ability tostop onwet pavement asmeas-
ured under controlled conditionsonspecified
governm enttest surfaces ofasphalt andcon-
cret e.At ire marked Cmayhave poortraction
performan ce.
The safe speed onaw et,snow covered oricy
road isalway slower thanondry road surfa-
ces.
You should payspecial attentiontoroad con-
ditions whentemperat uresarearound freezing
point.
Mercedes- Benzrecomm endsaminimum tread
depth of00CF in(4 mm) onallfour winter tires.
Observe thelegally required minimum tire
tread depth (Ypage 269). Winter tirescan
reduce thebraking distance onsnow-c overed
surfaces incomparison withsummer tires.The
braking distance isstill much further thanon surfaces
thatarenot icyorcovered withsnow.
Take appropriate carewhen driving.
Temp erature G
WARNIN
G
The temperat uregrade forthis tireisestab-
lished foratire that isproperly inflatedand
not overloaded. Excessive speed, underinfla-
tion, orexcessiv eloading, eitherseparately
or incombinat ion,cancause excessiv eheat
build-up andpossible tirefailure.
The temperat uregrades areA(the highest), B,
and C,represent ingthe tire's resistanc etot he
generation ofheat anditsability todissipate
heat when testedunder controlled conditions
on aspecified indoorlaboratory testwheel.
Sustained hightemperat urecan cause the
material ofthe tire todegenerate andreduce
tire life, and excessiv etemperat urecan lead to
sudden tirefailure. Thegrade Ccorrespon ds
to alevel ofperforman cewhich allpassenger
car tires must meet under theFederal Motor
Vehicle SafetyStandard No.109. Grades B
and Arepresent higherlevelsofperforman ce
on the laboratory testwheel thantheminimum
required bylaw. All
about wheelsand tires
283Wheels andtires Z