Tyres are being illegally imported into the country without any checks and balances. For example, people have bought snow tyres in a country where it never snows and has one of the hottest climates in the world. Those tyres can be a serious hazard as they would grip differently than the ones suited to our climate. So it is highly recommended that you know as much about them as possible. One of the good things about tyres is that they have everything written on them that is of any importance. You will find all the information you need on the sidewalls of your car tyres. But here are a couple of things you must know about tyres before you buy a new set. And one of those things is the size of the tyre.
Tyre Size
Knowing your tyre size is important for you to determine the best suitable replacement tyres for your vehicle. Going wider or thinner, longer or shorter, will affect things like fuel consumption of your car, handling, and braking of your vehicle and speedometer accuracy. So if the tyre size says, 195/65 R15, which is the standard OEM General tyre in your new Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic, and in this equation 195 is the width of the tyre in millimeters. It means the tyre is 195mm wide. 65 is the height of the sidewall. Sidewall height is measured in percentage of the width of the tyre. So you can say in above size measurement, the sidewall is 65% of 195mm. Whereas 15 is the diameter of the wheel itself and R stands for Radial.
Also Read: Using Fuel Efficient Tyres Can Help You Significantly Improve Your Fuel Economy
Manufacturing Date
Your car tyre has month and year of its manufacturing written on its sidewall. It is especially useful if you are looking for used tyres from your local tyre shop or online from a private seller. That date is important even if you’re buying a brand new set of pairs. You can be assured the tyres have not been sitting on the shelves for years and years. On the side of the tyres, you will find an oval with some numbers punched into it. If you find three digits in the oval, it means the tyres are old…very old. Three digit codes were in use before 2000. After the year 2000, the tyre makers standardized four digit code. First two digits are a week, and last two digits are the year. So if the numbers say ‘4708,’ it means the tyres was made in the 47th week of the year 2008.
I hope this has helped you guys in understanding your car tires better. We will talk about few more important things mentioned on the sidewalls in our next articles.
Pakwheels definitely helped me out when buying new tyres. The guy thought I was a rookie in the field and was selling 4 year old tyres saying they were manufactured in 2015. Thanks!
I’ve bought Dunlop ECO Digi-tyres for my car all 4 shows the date X2715 .. i mean is it alright ???
kindly tell me the price and size of tyre you bought. thanx
155/70 R12, price was 14000 including fitting and alignment
Datestamp is only present on tyres manufactured for Japan, US or Canada. Generally, tyres manufactured for other countries are also made on the same moulds so everybody receives datestamped tyres.
Tyres made in Pakistan for Pakistani market or Afghani market do not have a datestamp. Some tyres made in China or Indonesia (whether by local or foreign brands) for export to countries which do not require a datestamp on the tyre also do not have a datestamp.
“I hope this has helped you guys in understanding your car tires better.”
“That date is important even if you’re buying a brand new set of pairs.
You can be assured the tyres have not been sitting on the shelves for
years and years.”
Unfortunately the article does not impart needful knowledge. The article somehow promotes that buying a fresh tyre which has not been sitting on the shelves for a long time is for achievement’s sake or just to outwit the seller.
On the other hand the writer could have easily noted in one or 2 sentences that tyres go stale with time regardless they are being used or not. Just like what happens to an old rubber band laying around, which converts to a slimy mess. Tyres which have completed their useful life suffer material degradation and are dangerous to use, they can burst or suffer bead failure. Canada has outlawed use of tyres more than 6 years old, regardless of tread depth or other physical condition parameters looking good.
This is doesn’t matter until the tire is more than 5 years old if its storage is proper without sunlight and water. Here in Pakistan if 2 tyre shops are a distance away they will mention ( SIR US K PASS 2014 KA TIRE MAIN APKO FRESH TIRE DAITA HUN 2015 KA) this rubbish, Trust me I have been working in tires from past 2 years and it really doesn’t matter. and mostly old tires you ll find will be 2 or max 3 years old, other wise only fresh tires are in the market.
– 2 years’ experience is worth nothing.
– The fact you have a vested interest weakens your claim.
– Customer has no way of knowing (even shopkeeper has no way of knowing) about the history of tyre whether it was properly stored and handled or not. Therefore customer will insist on fresh date.
– 5 years old tyre will also work very good for the first few days. Then as it exceeds its seventh year, it will catastrophically fail by bursting, tread separation or bead tear-off.
– Trust me as I have suffered multiple tyre failures and also seen tyre failures happening to others.
– In fact I have met people whom I told your tyres are older than 7 years now, soon they will burst. But the same people said they have driven only 30,000 km and more than half the groove is left. Then suddenly all 4 of their tyres burst within a week. One burst one day, another the next day – so on.
– I have had cars for more than 50 years and each car I keep for a long term, like 10-20 years. So you should trust me.
– Recently the older tyres menace has been curbed because of stricter control on smuggled tyres, and also because customers have more awareness, and also because smuggling has become more expensive, and also because tyres have become so expensive people are prefering local tyres. Otherwise people know about the Bridgestone B70, you had to beware of “Quetta-wala-maal” which everybody knew has been sitting in godowns since ever so long. Sales of fresh and authentically imported B70 was jeopardized because customers couldn’t differentiate.
thanx
Faraz
Always insist on fresh date tyres .never buy even 1 year old manufactured tyre as i will tell u another aspect not discusses here.i.e a slightly old tyre will drive soft for its first 10 -20000 km and soon u ll find that ur dive has become hard .As a fresh date tyre would remain soft and without cracks for atleast 3_4 years of its life.Actually these cracks later on burst in severe harsh weather withering conditions in pakistan .
An strong lover of new tyres drive .
ECO series for Dunlop was ended in 2010 , ur ”new” tyres are restamped for date
Could be i don’t know but it seems brand new they have Dunlop written on the center thread too and its Made it Japan … i agree its smuggled ones
We can measure wheel size with simple measuring tape e.g wheel size is 15″, but when I read the tyre specification its written R14…are they compatable or should I use R15 tyre size??
According to newer tyre formulation standards ,industry has uprated tyre life from 5 to 7 years .replacement required after that.
Hi, can anyone suggest THE BEST tires company and/or model for Suzuki Alto VXR. Please give some more tips (authentic) on buying new tires for car. I got it that fresh date is important but what about local weather conditions of Pakistan. I have also heard of fake/imposter tire brands being sold here.
Hi, I want to buy Japanese company tires for my Prado 2006 model. I was going for dunlop but here shopkeepers were saying Now dunlop is made by malaysian company only yokohama is made by japan. I asked for bridgestone they said it is also now made in thai or malaysian. Kindly suggest me a good company for local use. Here in Peshawar market is full of chinese tires I am confused how to pick the right one. What about michilin ?