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Wheels
- These tires may wear more quickly than others .
- Please also remember that, wh ile these ti res
deliver responsive handling, they may ride less
comfortably and make more noise than other
choices.
Reduced performance in winter/cold season
conditions
All tires are designed for certain purposes. The
low aspect ratio, ultra high performance tires
originally installed on your vehicle are intended
for maximum dry and wet road performance and
handling. They are not suitable for cold, snowy or
icy weather conditions. If you drive under those
circumstances, you should equip your vehicle
with all-season or winter tires, which offer better
traction under those conditions. We suggest you
use the recommended snow or all-season tires
specified for your vehicle, or their equivalent.
Refer to ¢
page 248
for more detailed i nforma·
tion regarding winter tires .
Uniform tire quality grading
- Tread wear
- Traction AA A BC
- Temperature ABC
Quality grades can be found where applicable on
the tire side wall between tread shoulder and
maximum section width ¢
page 233, fig. 195 .
For example: Tread wear 200, Traction AA, Tern·
perature A.
All passenger car tires must conform to Federal
Safety Requirements in addition to these grades.
Tread wear
The
tread wear
grade is a comparative rating
based on the wear rate of the tire when tested
under controlled conditions on a specified gov·
ernment test course.
For example, a tire graded 150 would wear one
and one half (11/2) times as well on the govern·
ment course as a tire graded 100.
The relative performance of tires depends upon
the actual conditions of their use, however, and
may depart significantly from the norm due to
250
variations in driving habits, service practices and
differences in road characteristics and climate.
Traction
The
traction
grades, from highest to lowest, are
AA, A, Band C. Those grades represent the tire's
ability to stop on wet pavement as measured un-
der controlled conditions on specified govern -
ment test surfaces of asphalt and concrete. A tire
marked C may have poor traction performance
¢ _&.
Temperature
The
temperature
grades are A (the highest), B,
and C, representing the tire 's resistance to the
generation of heat and its ability to dissipate
heat when tested under controlled conditions on
a specified indoor laboratory test wheel.
Sustained high temperature can cause the mate·
rial of the tire to degenerate and reduce tire life,
and excessive temperature can lead to sudden
tire failure ¢ & .
The grade C corresponds to a level of perform·
ance which all passenger car tires must meet un·
der the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
No. 109. Grades Band A represent higher levels
of performance on the laboratory test wheel than
the minimum required by law.
A
WARNING
-
The traction grade assigned to th is tire is
based on straight-ahead braking traction
tests, and does not include acceleration, cor·
nering, hydroplaning or peak traction charac-
teristics.
A
WARNING
The temperature grade for this tire is estab-
lished for a tire that is properly inflated and
not overloaded. Excessive speed, underinfla·
tion, or excessive loading, either separately or
in combination, can cause heat buildup and
-
possible tire failure.
..,_
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