How to read tire markings correctly?

Tips

Artur Owczarek

Brand Product Manager Moje AutoHe has been involved in the automotive industry for years. He is passionate about cars and detailing. On his blog, he shares his knowledge and experience, offering tips on how to effectively care for your car and extend its life.

• The most important tire markings are those for summer, winter and all-season tires.
• Other important markings on tires include size information, as well as speed index, load index and homologation.
• Find out what to choose – premium or economy tires?

• What information will you find on tires?
• The most important tire markings
• Car tire size markings
• Tire Speed ​​Index
• Tire Load Index
• Tyre approval
• Winter tire marking
• All-season tire marking

Do you need to buy a new set of tires? Or maybe you have several car models and can't remember which one fits the spare tire stored in the basement or garage? In both cases, you will need to know how to properly read the markings on your tires.

What information will you find on tires?

Primarily tire markings is a real treasure trove of knowledge for the driver. One tire can contain information such as:

• manufacturer name,
• tire model,
• operational warnings,
• number of layers and types of warp cords,
• EU approval and its number,
• production date code,
• DOT code (for US tires),
• type – radial or tubeless,
• width,
• purpose – reinforced or supply,
• profile height,
• class designation according to the UTQG standard (for tires from the USA),
• the diameter of the rim the product fits,
• assembly technique,
• maximum allowable pressure and load,
• load capacity and speed index.

In addition, tires are marked with information about the season in which they can be used. Winter tires and all-season sets have a snowflake symbol embossed on them. Products that do not have this symbol are for summer use.

Check, how to care for car tires!

The most important tire markings

Time for the key question – how to read tire markings? In fact, it is crucial to know the appropriate symbols. While the model of a car tire or its installation technique are usually information of little interest to the customer, the same cannot be said about the size, load and speed index or homologation. These are the parameters that are most often taken into account when buying tires or matching them to a specific car model.

Car tire size markings

Of course, among the most important markings on tires is information about the size of the car tire - for example, the code 235/50/R19 means a tire with a width of 235 mm, a profile height of 50 mm. What does R mean in the tire size? This number indicates the size of the rim the tire fits. In the case of R19, it is 19 inches.

It is worth remembering that sometimes it will be necessary to fit tyres of a slightly different size. It may happen, for example, in the case of rarer or older cars, that tyres of the same size as the ones fitted are no longer manufactured. In such a situation, it will be necessary to find a replacement. Where can I find information on the tyre sizes suited to the vehicle? They can often be found by the fuel filler cap, as well as in the service booklet. There is also the boot recess or a sticker on the driver's door.

Tire Speed ​​Index

Next marking on tires is a Speed ​​Index – it indicates the maximum speed at which a given tire can be driven. The further the letter in the alphabet, the faster you can drive. For example, B means 50 km/h, and Y – 300 km/h. In the case of passenger cars, the most common markings are F:

Tire Load Index

The next piece of information on the tire is the tire load index – this is the permissible load of one tire when driving at maximum speed (according to the index). This parameter is expressed numerically. The higher it is, the greater the load in kilograms the tire can withstand. For example, the designation 78 means 425 kg of load capacity, and 99 – as much as 775 kg.

Tyre approval

Homologation – this is a broad term that provides information on two issues: which car brands a given tire fits, and its approval for use in Europe. The letter designations indicate the manufacturer (FI=Fiat, AO=Audi, SK=Skoda, etc.)

Additionally, there are markings on the tires indicating approvals for the country. E or ECE confirms that the tires can be used in Europe, and the number informs about the country of production (E1 = Germany, E27 = Slovakia, E20 = Poland, etc.).

Winter tire marking

It also matters what time of year a given product was created for. typical winter tire marking to

• 3PMSF symbol (snowflake)
• M+S (Mud + Snow) shortcut.

It is worth remembering that summer models do not have any of this information. This makes it easy and quick to recognize winter tires.

All-season tire marking

Time for marking of all-season tires, which looks a bit different than those designed exclusively for winter or summer driving. They have the 2PMSF and M+S symbols - similar to tires for colder months. In addition, they are also marked with the words All Weather, All Seasons or 4Seasons, depending on the manufacturer. Thanks to these markings, we can be sure that we are dealing with all-season tires. or in other words, multi-season.

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There are definitely more markings on tires, so it is worth using the help of specialists when buying tires. Since 2012, stickers have also been used on new units, which collect all the most important parameters in graphic form - they do not have to be read directly from the symbols embossed in the rubber.