Tire Specifications | Should They Bother?

Last updated on April 30th, 2023 at 03:43 pm

When buying new tires, there are things like tire size, tire specifications, and tire driving condition has to be considered to make a good tire purchase. Even though the most important factor is the tire size, however, if you won’t examine tire specifications before buying new tires, you won’t get the ride that you would want from your new tires.

Tire specifications are like a summary of a tire’s performance, if you understand everything that is written as tire specifications, you won’t have to ask anything about the tire from any other person, just by reading the specs you will be able to decide whether this tire will fulfill your need or won’t.

The specifications consist of tire speed, load ranges, tread and traction performance, and many other things. Before releasing a tire in the market, a test is examined on the tire, and based n that, the tire is given these ratings. It is very important to learn about tire specifications to make a better decision when buying a new tire.

Tire Specifications And Size

Diameter, Width, and Aspect ratio

These are tire size-related specs, the diameter of the tire is also considered as the rim size. For example, if you have a 17 inches rim in your vehicle, then the tire has to be 17 inches in diameter to fit well on the vehicle’s wheels. This is the major determinant of how big and small your tire looks.

The width of the tire is the distance between one sidewall to the other sidewall. It is usually measured in millimeters. Off-terrain and all-terrain tires have more width than all-season tires, due to the more contact required on off-terrain roads.

The aspect ratio is calculated in percentages by dividing section height/shoulders size by the section width. Whatever the number comes out is the percentage that tells the tire height is that percentage of its width. It is important to know because if you have a low aspect ratio, the tire will not provide a good steering response.

UTQG

Uniform Tire Quality Grade (UTQG) is the rank given to the tire based on its treadwear performance, traction control, and temperature stability. Before ranking tires, all tires are tested on close ground with the instruction of the vehicle safety department. The ranks are already given by vehicle authorities, and based on the tire’s performance a certain rank is given to that tire.

The treadwear rank ranges between 100-999, usually, all-season touring tires have a high treadwear rating of around 800, and summer performance tires have a low treadwear rating of around 200. This is the major decider of whether the tire’s tread is how much durable.

The traction performance and temperature rank range between the C rating and the AA rating. The highest is AA and the lowest is C. However the highest rating on temperature rank is A. Usually, all-season and performance tires have a maximum rating in both of these areas of AA in traction and A in temperature, and winter tires have a low rating of B in traction and C in temperature.

Tire Weight

Tire weight means a lot for someone who is looking to carry weight on their tires. The heavy tire is capable of holding more weight compared to lighter-weight tires. On the other hand, tire weight is also important for sports cars driver, heavyweight tires slow down the car’s speed, and lightweight tires are preferred with fast cars, which improves the car’s speed and performance on tracks.

Tire ply/Load Range

Tire ply or load ranges are the deciders how much a tire air pressure should be preferred. The ranges start from the SL load range which has a tire ply rating of 4 and the maximum range is G which has a tire ply rating of 14. Heavy-duty truck tires have higher ply ratings as well however for passenger cars and light trucks, no tires go above that.

Load Range	Ply Rating
SL	4
XL	4
C1	6
C2	6
D1	8
D2	8
E1	10
E2	10
F1	12
G	14

load index

Load index tire specification tells you how much weight each tire can carry while moving, the lowest load index is 0 which can carry around 99 lbs of weight and the highest is 150 which can carry 7835 lbs of weight. Most off-terrain and highway drivers require higher load index tires that can carry weight while delivering smooth performance on pavements and broken roads.

Load Index	Load (lbs)	Load Index	Load (lbs)	Load Index	Load (lbs)	Load Index	Load (lbs)	Load Index	Load (lbs)	Load Index	Load (lbs)
0	99	26	209	52	441	78	937	104	1984	130	4189
1	102	27	215	53	454	79	963	105	2039	131	4289
2	105	28	220	54	467	80	992	106	2094	132	4409
3	107	29	227	55	481	81	1019	107	2149	133	4541
4	110	30	234	56	494	82	1047	108	2205	134	4674
5	114	31	240	57	507	83	1074	109	2271	135	4806
6	117	32	247	58	520	84	1102	110	2337	136	4938
7	120	33	254	59	536	85	1135	111	2403	137	5071
8	123	34	260	60	551	86	1168	112	2469	138	5203
9	128	35	267	61	567	87	1201	113	2535	139	5357
10	132	36	276	62	584	88	1235	114	2601	140	5512
11	136	37	282	63	600	89	1279	115	2679	141	5677
12	139	38	291	64	617	90	1323	116	2756	142	5842
13	143	39	300	65	639	91	1356	117	2833	143	6008
14	148	40	309	66	639	92	1389	118	2910	144	6173
15	152	41	320	67	677	93	1433	119	2998	145	6393
16	157	42	331	68	694	94	1477	120	3086	146	6614
17	161	43	342	69	716	95	1521	121	3197	147	6779
18	165	44	353	70	739	96	1565	122	3307	148	6844
19	171	45	364	71	761	97	1609	123	3417	149	7165
20	176	46	375	72	783	98	1653	124	3527	150	7385
21	182	47	386	73	805	99	1709	125	3638
22	187	48	397	74	827	100	1764	126	3748
23	193	49	408	75	852	101	1819	127	3858
24	198	50	419	76	882	102	1874	128	3968
25	204	51	430	77	908	103	1929	129	4079

Load Index Chart

speed Rating

The speed rating is another important factor that people look at in tire specifications when they are searching for high-performance tires. The higher the speed rating of the tire, the faster that tire will be. The lowest speed rating on passenger car tires is B which has a maximum speed of 31 MPH and the highest rating is Y which can reach up to 186 miles per hour. There are different variants of tires that offer different load indexes and speed ratings so choose the best tire based on your preferences.

Speed Rating	Speed (mph)
A1	3
A2	6
A3	9
A4	12
A5	16
A6	19
A8	25
B	31
C	37
D	40
E	43
F	50
G	56
J	62
K	68
L	75
M	81
N	87
P	94
Q	100
R	106
S	112
T	118
U	124
H	130
V	149
W	168
Y	186
Z	Over 149

Tread Depth

Tread depth tells you how much tread depth your tire has. For example, if you see any off-terrain tire, you will have a deep tread depth due to the harsh condition performance, although deep tread tires are good for extreme performance, however, the comfort and noise are bad in deep tread tires. The tread depth is measured in the 32nd of an inch, most of the tire has 9/32 tread depth or 11/32 which is 9mm. This thing should not bother you because the manufacturer doesn’t provide options in this tire specification so you will have to go with the delivered one.

Sidewall Designation

Sidewall designation is usually for looks rather than performance, although there are some variants like thin sidewalls and extra load capacity sidewalls that impact performance. There is designation like white lettering, black sidewalls, and other that gives the tire based on your wheel and car looks.

Revolution Per Mile

This tire specification tells you about how many times a tire revolves after covering one mile. It is tested in a laboratory and sometimes, the technology uses to determine it. Choose the tire which has a low revolution per mile for the better-performing tire.

Do these things matter

Tire specifications matter a lot for someone who has planned to achieve a certain type of performance from their tires and car. A driver who knows each of these tire specs will make a better decision based on the speed and load rating they required which will improve his experience and will be better spending of their money.

How important are they?

If a driver wants a high-speed tire and without knowing he picks a tire that has a high load index, the whole experience of his ride will be ruined. That is how important these tire specifications can be for someone who wants a certain type of performance. If you want to be satisfied with your tires for a longer period of time then choose the tire after reading all its specs to achieve the best ride possible.

Conclusion

Tire specifications are something that makes the great tire greatest for the driver who wants the same performance as that tire delivers. Everyone should know about tire specifications and the meaning of each of its matric, having all this information a driver can make a proper buying decision according to their driving conditions and style which will be very effective for their rides in the future.