Decoding tire markings on the sidewall

Look at your car tire. It’s confusing isn’t it? All numbers, letters, symbols, mysterious codes. Actually, most of that information in a tire marking is surplus to what you need to know. So here’s the important stuff:

A – Manufacturers or brand name, and commercial name or identity.B – Tire size, construction and speed rating designations. Tubeless designates a tire which requires no inner tube. DIN-type tire marking also has the load index encoded in it. These go from a load index of 50 (190kg) up to an index of 169 (5800kg).

C – Denotes type of car tire construction.

D – M&S denotes a car tire designed for mud and snow. Reinforced marking only where applicable.

E- Pressure marking requirement.

F – ECE (not EEC) type approval mark and number.

G- North American Dept of Transport compliance symbols and identification numbers.

H- Country of manufacture.

This information was provided by Christopher J Longhurst