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traction under those conditions.
We
suggest you
use the recommended snow or all-season tires
specified for your vehicle, or their equivalent.
Refer to
q
page 269 for more detai led informa
-
tion regarding winter tires.
Uniform tire quality grading
-
Tread wear
- Traction AA A B C
-
Temperature ABC
Quality grades can be found where applicable on
the tire side wall between tread shoulder and
maximum sect ion width
q
page 253, fig. 202.
For example:
Tread wear
200
,
Traction
AA,
Tem
-
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 contro
ll
ed conditions on a specified gov-
ernment test course.
For examp le, a tire graded
150
would wear one
and one ha lf
(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 significant ly from the norm due to
variations in driving habits, service practices and
differences in road characteris
t
ics and climate.
Traction
The traction grades, from highest to lowest, are
AA, A, B and
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
q
.&.
.
,....,
Temp eratur
e
N
0
ii;
The temperature grades are A (the highest), B,
and C, representing the tire's resistance to the
generation of heat and its ability to diss ipate
Tir
es
and
w
h
e
el
s
heat when tested under controlled conditions on
a specified indoor laboratory test wheel.
Sustained high temperatu re can cause the mate-
rial
of the t ire to degenerate and reduce ti re
life,
and excessive temperature can lead to sudden
tire failure
q
.&.
The grade C corresponds to a level of perfo rm-
ance which all passenger car tires must meet un-
der the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standa rd
No.
109.
Grades Band A represent higher levels
of performance on the laboratory test wheel than
the minimum requ ired by law.
A
WARNING
-
The tract ion grade assigned to this t ire is
based on straight -ahead braking traction
tests, and does not include acceleration, cor-
nering, hydroplaning or pea
k
traction cha rac-
terist ics.
A
WARNING
The temperature grade for this tire is estab-
lished for a tire that is properly infl,;1ted and
not overloaded
.
Excessive speed, underinfla-
tion, or excessive loading, either separately or
in combination, can cause heat buildup and
possib le tire failure
.
A
WARNING
-
-
Temperature grades apply to tires that are
properly inflated and not over or under inflat-
ed.
Tire pressure
monitoring
system
(l)
General notes
Appli
es to vehicles: wi
th t
ire pressure mo nito ring
system
Each tire, including the spare (if provided),
shou ld be checked monthly when cold and inflat-
ed to the inflat
ion
pressure recommended by the
vehicle manufacturer on the vehicle placard or
t ire inflation pressure label. (If your vehicle has
t ires of a different size than the size indicated on
.,..
271
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