C O Nsu M Er Inform Ation - Mercedes-Benz 350 SDL TURBO 1991 Owner's Manual

C o n su m er Info rm ation
T his has been prepared as required of
all m anufacturers of p a sse n g e r cars
under T itle 49, C ode o f U.S. Federal
Regulations, P art 575 pu rsua nt to the
"N ational T raffic and M otor V ehicle
S afety A ct of 1966" .
U niform T ire Q u ality G rad ing
R elevant tire grade inform ation on tire
sidew alls.
All passenger c a r tires m ust conform
to federal safe ty requirem ents. In
addition, c o n s u m e r inform ation on
treadw ear, traction and tem pe rature
m ust be provided.
T read w e ar
T he tre a d w e a r gra de is a com p ara tive
rating based on th e w e a r rate of the
tire w hen te ste d un de r con tro lled
co n d itio n s on a spe cifie d g o v e rn m e n t
te st course. For exa m ple, a tire
gra de d 150 w o uld w e a r one and a half
(1 2
V ) tim e s as w ell on the go ve rn m e n t
cou rse as a tire graded 100. T he re la ­
tive pe rfo rm an ce of tires depe nd s
upon the actual con ditions of the ir
use, how ever, and m ay d e p a rt s ig n ifi­
can tly from the norm due to variatio ns
in driving habits, service pra ctices and
d iffe re nce s in road c h a ra cte ristics and
clim ate.
T raction "A " , " B " , "C "
T he traction grades, from high est to
lowest, are "A ", " B" and "C " and the y
rep rese nt the tire 's ab ility to stop on
w e t p a vem e nt as m easured un de r
con tro lled c o n d itio n s on specified
go ve rn m e n t te st surface s of asp ha lt
and con crete. A tire m arked "C " m ay
have poor traction pe rform ance.
W arn in g !
T h e tra c tio n g rad e as sig n e d to
th is tire is b ased on b raking
(straig h t ah ead ) tra c tio n tes ts and
d oes not in c lu d e co rn erin g
(tu rn in g ) tra ctio n .
T e m p e ra tu re "A " , " B " , "C "
T he te m p e ra tu re gra de s of "A " (the
highest). " B" and "C " representing the
tire 's resista nce to the ge neration of
heat and its ab ility to d issipa te heat
w h en tested un de r con tro lled c o n d i­
tio n s on a spe cifie d indo or laboratory
te st w h ee l. S usta ine d high te m p e ra ­
ture can cau se the m aterial of the tire
to d e ge ne ra te and reduce tire life, and
e xce ssive te m p e ra tu re can lead to
sudden tire failure. T he grade "C "
c o rre spo nds to a level of perform ance
w h ich all p a sse n g e r car tires m ust
m eet un de r the Federal M otor V ehicle
S afe ty S tan dard No. 109. G rade s " B"
and "A " rep rese nt hig h e r levels of
pe rfo rm an ce in the laboratory test
than th e m inim um required by law.
W arn in g !
T h e te m p e ra tu re g rad e fo r this
tire is es tab lis h e d fo r a tire th at is
p ro p e rly inflated and not o ver­
loaded. E xcessive sp eed , u n d er­
in flatio n, or ex ce ss iv e loading,
e ith e r s e p a ra tely or in co m b in a­
tion , can ca u s e ex ce ss iv e heat
build up and p o s sib le tire failure.
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