Tyres are one of the most vital components of your vehicle. Not only they make your car go, but also, make sure you stop in time. And it is a sad fact that even though tyres are of immense importance, they are often most neglected as well. Your car or SUV comes with certain specs of tyres recommended by the manufacturer of the vehicle to make sure you get the best possible service. We have talked about some of the writings mentioned on the sidewalls of the tyres in our previous blog. So let’s continue with the same theme in this second instalment.
Also Read: Find Out More About Specifications And Date Of Manufacturing Of Your Car Tyres
In our previous article, we talked about tyre size and the date of manufacturing. Both are critical aspects of tyres, especially to keep in mind when buying replacement tyres for your used vehicle. So this time around, let’s talk about two more important pieces of information printed on the sidewalls.
Load Rating
The load rating will be a number and mentioned before a single alphabet. Take a look at the photo below.
Here 97 is the load rating of the tyre. And this represents that the tyre can bear loads of up to 730 kg. Multiply it with 4 and you have the total load index of 4 tyres and how much weight they can safely carry including the weight of your car. If you have a commercial or semi-commercial vehicle and your rear tyre says 108, it means each tyre can support up to 1000 kg, and 2000 kg for the rear axle. We get 15″ Euro Star tyres made by General Tyre Pakistan in our local new Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla. And that tyre has the load rating of 91. It means your tyres are safe for up to 615 kg of weight. Below is the chart containing full load index.
Speed Rating
The alphabet next to load index represent the speeds your tyre can easily go to without blowing up. If your tyre sidewall says Q, it means you can go up to 160 km/h safely. If it says W, like in the photo below, it means your tyres are safe up to the speeds of 270 km/h. 15″ Euro Star tyres have speed rating of H. Those tyres are safe up to the speeds of 210 km/h. So with 91H, you can go up to 210 km/h with maximum load of 615 kg on each tyre safely.
The rule of the thumb is, higher the letter, the faster you can go. And if your tyres say Z on them, they are safe for more than 240 km/h. Newwer performance tyres have speed rating of Y or (Y). Those are safe for traveling over 300+ km/h.
Keep one thing in mind that both load index and speed rating should be view in a combination. So if you are purchasing new tyres for your used car, or are thinking of upgrading to higher performance tyres, you must consider these two attributes before finalising the purchase. Below is the complete speed ratings chart.
