Tire marking consists of several parts, indicating various tire sizes, indices of permissible speeds and loads, as well as additional qualities of tires.
Speed and load indices are related indicators that are considered when buying tires.
Example tire marking: 215/55 R16 96H XL
What does it mean:
215 - tire profile width in millimeters.
55 - the height of the tire profile as a percentage of its width.
R - indicates the design of the tire, in this case the tire is radial.
16 - the diameter of the wheel (disk) in inches.
96 - load index, it is also the index of permissible load capacity of the tire.
H - tire speed index. the bigger it is, the faster you can ride on this bus. Moreover, with maximum speed you can ride for several hours in a row.
XL - Index, means a reinforced tire
The speed index and load are closely related.
Tire speed index
Tire Speed Index Table
| Speed Index | N | P | Q | R | S | T | U | H | V | VR | W | Y | Z | ZR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| km / h | 140 | 150 | 160 | 170 | 180 | 190 | 200 | 210 | 240 | above 210 | 270 | 300 | above 240 | above 240 |
* speed indices Z and ZR have the same speed values in km \ h
Tire load index
Tire load index table
| Load index | Max. load (kg) | Load index | Max. load (kg) | Load index | Max. load (kg) |
| 50 | 190 | 67 | 307 | 84 | 500 |
| 51 | 195 | 68 | 315 | 85 | 512 |
| 52 | 200 | 69 | 325 | 86 | 530 |
| 53 | 206 | 70 | 335 | 87 | 545 |
| 54 | 212 | 71 | 345 | 88 | 560 |
| 55 | 218 | 72 | 355 | 89 | 580 |
| 56 | 224 | 73 | 365 | 90 | 600 |
| 57 | 230 | 74 | 375 | 91 | 615 |
| 58 | 236 | 75 | 387 | 92 | 630 |
| 59 | 243 | 76 | 400 | 93 | 650 |
| 60 | 250 | 77 | 412 | 94 | 670 |
| 61 | 257 | 78 | 425 | 95 | 690 |
| 62 | 265 | 79 | 437 | 96 | 710 |
| 63 | 272 | 80 | 450 | 97 | 730 |
| 64 | 280 | 81 | 462 | 98 | 750 |
| 65 | 290 | 82 | 475 | 99 | 775 |
| 66 | 300 | 83 | 487 | 100 | 800 |
Additional indexes and tire markings
XL or Extra Load is a reinforced tire with higher load ratings.
M + S or M&S tire index (Mud + Snow) - dirt plus snow. It is usually indicated on tires for SUVs
All Season or AS all season tires. Aw (Any Weather) - any weather.
RF \ ROF \ others - RunFlat tires. these are tires on which you can continue driving on a car at a speed of no more than 80 km / h with a FULL pressure drop in the tire (during puncture or cut).
