Mercedes-Benz 300 TE Owner's Manual page 19

Tires
Tread w e ar in d ic a to rs (TWI) are
re q u ire d by law. These in d ic a to rs are
lo cated in six places on th e tre a d c ir­
c u m fe re n c e and b e co m e visib le at a
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d e p th of ap pro x. m m ( V
w h ic h p o in t the tire is co n s id e re d
w o rn and sho uld be rep la ced.
The tre a d w e a r in d ic a to r ap pe ars as a
s olid band acro ss th e tread .
W arning!
Do not allo w your tires to w ear
down to o far. W ith less than 3 mm
(t/8 in) of tre ad , the adhesion
pro perties on a w e t road fall off
sharply.
Depending upon th e w ea th e r
a n d /o r road su rface (co n dition s),
th e tra ctio n varies w idely.
S p e cifie d tire p re s s u re m u s t be m ain­
tained. This a p plies p a rticu la rly if the
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tire s are s u b je c te d to high lo ad s (e.g.
high spe ed s, heavy loads, high
a m b ie n t te m p e ra tu re s ).
Aquaplaning
D e p e n d in g on th e d e p th of th e w a te r
in), at
layer on th e road, aquapla ning may
o c c u r, even at lo w sp e e d s and w ith
new tire s. A vo id tra c k g ro o v e s in the
road and ap ply bra ke s c a u tio u s ly in
th e rain.
Tire traction
The safe sp e e d on a w et, s n o w c o v ­
e re d o r icy road is always lo w e r than
on a d ry road.
You sh o u ld pay p a rtic u la r a tte n tio n to
th e c o n d itio n o f th e road as soo n as
th e pre vailin g te m p e ra tu re s fall close
to th e fre e zin g po in t.
W arning!
If ice has form ed on th e road, tire
tra ctio n will be su b stan tially
reduced. Under such w ea th e r
conditions, drive, s te e r and brake
with ex tre m e caution.
W e re c o m m e n d M + S rad ia l-ply tire s
fo r th e w in te r sea son fo r all fo u r
w h e e ls to in sure norm al balanced
ha nd lin g c h a ra c te ris tic s . On packed
snow , th e y can re d u c e y o u r sto p p in g
d is ta n c e as c o m p a re d w ith s u m m e r
tire s . S to p p in g d ista n ce , how ever, is
still c o n s id e ra b ly g re a te r than when
th e road is w e t o r dry.
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