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• Tire speed rating – When lower-speed-rated winter tires replace
higher-speed-rated touring and high performance all-season radial
tires, do not exceed the lower-rated speed.
•
Follow recommendations in the vehicle Owner’s Manual for winter
tires, studs, and chains.
•
Consult your tire dealer, the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association
website (www.ustires.org), or your state’s Department of
Transportation (DOT) for information regarding regulatory and
seasonal restrictions for stud usage.
•
Also see the “Tire Mixing” section in this manual for more details.
•
Toyo Tires recommends that snow tires be installed in matched
sets of four.
ADVERSE WEATHER DRIVING
Take special care when driving in adverse weather conditions. •
Rain and snow – Driving in rain or snow considerably reduces the
traction between your tires and the road surface. You must always
reduce your speed to allow additional stopping distance between
you and the vehicles ahead of you.
•
Hydroplaning and wet weather driving – Hydroplaning occurs on
wet roads and refers to the loss of tire contact with the road due to
the build-up of water between the tire contact patch and the road
surface. Three main factors affect hydroplaning and, consequently,
your tire traction on wet roads: 1.
Vehicle Speed – As speed increases, wet traction is
considerably reduced.
2.
Water Depth – The deeper the water, the sooner your tires
will lose traction. Even thin water layers can create sufficient
lubrication to cause traction loss at low speeds, depending on
road conditions.
3.
Tire Tread Depth – As your tires wear down, their decreased
ability to resist hydroplaning can result in a complete loss of
traction and vehicle control. You should always reduce your
speed with consideration for the traffic around you.
•
Driving on ice and snow – Your all-season tires were designed to
provide higher levels of snow traction compared to non-all- season
tires. You have all-season tires if you find the letters “M&S” are
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UNIFORM TIRE QUALITY GRADING (UTQG)
The Uniform Tire Quality Grading (“UTQG”) standards are intended to
assist you in making an informed choice in your purchase of passenger
car tires by providing information indicating relative performance in th\
e
areas of treadwear, wet stopping traction, and temperature resistance.
All passenger car tires must conform to federal safety requirements in
addition to these grades.•
Treadwear - The treadwear grade is a comparative rating based
on the wear rate of the tire tested under controlled conditions on
a specified government test track. For example, a tire graded
200 would wear twice as long on the government course as a
tire graded 100. It is wrong to link treadwear grades with your
projected tire mileage. The relative performance of the tires
depends upon the actual conditions of their use and may vary
due to driving habits, service practices, differences in road
characteristics, and climate.
•
Traction - The traction grades from highest to lowest are AA, A, B,
and C, and they represent the tire’s ability to stop on wet pavement
as measured under controlled conditions on specified government
test surfaces of asphalt and concrete.
• Temperature - The temperature grades are A (the highest), B, and
C, representing the tire’s resistance to the generation of heat and
its ability to dissipate heat when tested under controlled conditions
on a specified indoor laboratory test wheel. Sustained high
temperatures can cause the materials of the tire to degenerate and
reduce tire life, and excessive temperature can lead to sudden tire
failure. The grade C corresponds to a level of performance that all
passenger car tires must meet under the Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard No. 139. Grades B and A represent higher levels
of performance on the laboratory test wheel than the minimum
required by law.
