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been damaged, rep lace the t ire as soon as
possible .
- These tires may wear more q uickly than others.
- Please a lso remembe r t hat, while these t ires
deliver responsive handling, t hey may ride less
comfortab ly and make more noise than other
choices .
Reduced performance in wint er/ cold season
condit ions
All ti res are designed fo r ce rtain purposes. The
low aspect ratio, ultra high performance tires
originally insta lled on your vehicle are intended
for maximum dry and wet road performance and
handling . They are not suitable for cold, snowy or
icy weather cond it ions. If you dr ive under those
circumstances,
you should equ ip your vehicle
with a ll-season or winter tires, wh ich offer better
traction under those condit ions. We suggest you
use the recommended
snow or all-season tires
specified for yo ur vehicle, or the ir eq uivalent.
Refer to
c::;,
page 251
for more detai led informa-
tion rega rding 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 w idth
c::>
page 236, fig .
205.
For example: Tread wear 200 , Traction AA, Tem-
perature A.
All passenger car tires m ust conform to Federa l
Safety Requirements
in addition to these grades .
Tread wea r
The
tread wear
grade is a comparat ive rating
based on t he wear rate of t he t ire when tes t ed
under cont rolled conditions on a specified gov -
ernment test course.
For examp le, a t ire graded 150 would wear one
and one hal f (1 1/2) t imes as well on the govern-
ment course as a tire g raded 100 .
Wh e el s
The re lat ive pe rformance of tires depends upon
the actual cond itions of their use, however, and
may depart significantly from the norm due to
variations in driv ing habits, service practices and
differences in road character istics and climate.
Traction
The
traction
grades, from highest to lowest, are
AA, A, Band C. Those grades rep resent the tire's
ability to stop on wet pavement as measured un-
der controlled cond itions on specified govern-
ment test surfaces of asphalt and concrete. A tire
marked C may have poor traction performance
c::;, .&_ .
Temperature
The
temperature
grades are A (the highest), B,
and C, representing
the tire 's resistance to the
generat ion 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
c::;,
.&. .
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 pe rformance on the laboratory test wheel than
the minim um req uired by law.
A
WARNING
-
The t ract ion g rade assigned to this t ire is
based on straight -ahead braking traction
tests, and does not include acceleration,
co r-
nering, hydroplaning or peak traction charac-
terist ics.
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 comb inat ion, can cause heat bu ildup and
-
possib le tire fai lure.
~
253
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