Before you go about buying tyres, it might pay to know a little about what you are buying. The tyre has a lot of hieroglyphics actually say something. Here’s an example.
The tires on a Toyota Corolla might be labelled: P175/65R14 81H
‘P’ stands for passenger vehicle.
175 – The width of the tire is 175 mm at the widest point.
65 – Indicates that the height of the side-wall of the tire is 65% of the width – 114 mm.
R – This is a radial tire.
14 – This tire fits 14 inch diameter rims.
81 – The load index per wheel. The maximum load for an 81 tyre is 462kg (in other words a total weight of 1,848 kg for the entire vehicle).
H – The speed index. The maximum speed for an H tyre is 210 kmh.
Tire speed rating codes
Code km/h
- N 150
- Q 160
- R 170
- S 180
- T 190
- U 200
- H 210
- V 240
- W 270
- Y 300
- ZR Over 240
Tire load index – weights
Code kg
- 71 345
- 72 355
- 73 365
- 74 375
- 75 387
- 76 400
- 77 412
- 78 425
- 79 437
- 80 450
- 81 462
- 82 475
- 83 487
- 84 500
- 85 515
- 86 530
- 87 545
- 88 560
- 89 580
- 90 600
- 91 615
- 92 630
- 93 650
- 94 670
- 95 690
- 96 710
- 97 730
- 98 750
- 99 775
- 100 800
- 101 825
- 102 850
- 103 875
- 104 900
- 105 925
- 106 950
- 107 975
- 108 1000
- 109 1030
- 110 1060
There is usually a lot more information on a tyre as well:
The production date, DOT 3214 = 32nd week in 2014
TL – Tubeless
TT – tyre with an inner-tube (tubetype)
Made in – country of production
C (commercial) – tyres for light trucks (eg 185R14C)
XL (extra load) – tyre for heavy loads
rf – reinforced tyre