When it comes to tyres, you should at least know a thing or two about the wording on sidewall of a tyre. There are a lot of important information embossed on the sidewall of a tyre.Information regarding of size to safety rating are mentioned on the sidewall. Its a big advantage to know all of these especially if you want to buy new tyres.


Date of Manufacture:
On the sidewall of a tyre, there is a number code that indicates the date when the tyre is manufactured. You shouldn't be using old rubber. It just isn't safe. Tyres produced after 2000 must bear important information including manufacture date, which can be found in the string of numbers known as tyre identification code. You should be looking for the last four digits that are usually separated from the rest of code. The last two numbers correspond to the year (01) while the first two digits (03) tell you the week that the tyre was made in.

Tyre Size:
Tyre Size example: 215/65R15. The first three digits represent the width of the tyre in millimeters: 215mm. The pair of numbers that follows immediately after denotes the aspect ratio of the sidewall and is represented as a percentage of the width. in this example, the height of the tyre's sidewall is 65 percent of 215mm, which equates to about 140mm. The letter R after the aspect ratio stands for Radial construction. The pair of numbers after the construction is the corresponding wheel diameter in inches.In this example: 15inches.


Load Rating/Load index:
One of the most important bits of information in the tyre buying equation, the load rating is used to compare weight bearing capabilities of different tyres. The higher the number, the greater load the tyre can carry. as a rule of thumb, we advise against getting tyres with a load rating lower than the original supplied rubber.In this example, it is 96.

Speed Symbol:
There is such a thing as a fast tyre.
The speed rating states the maximum allowable speed the tyre can run without failing in. Most family sedans today come with H rated tyres that are good for 210km/h, V rated tyres are good for 240km/h and Y rated tyres is capable of traveling speed at 300km/h. N rated are best kept in the boot as spares.


Thread Wear:
It is numerical rating code that indicates the wear rate of the tyre. A tyre rated at 200 should last twice as long as a tyre rated 100.

Traction:
This rating shows the tyre's ability to stop in a straight line on wet roads. The 'AA' rating is the best and 'C' is the lowest.

Temperature Resistance:
This rating measures the ability of the tyre to resist overheating during sustained high speed use. An 'A' rating is the best.