If you have ever stopped and taken a closer look at your car, or rummaged through the tyre shop, you will see different markings written on the sides of your tyres, also known as the tyre sidewall. Although at first glance you might understand most of it, after reading through our article you’ll become a pro in no time!
Manufacturer
The biggest marking and probably the easiest of them to understand would be the name of the manufacturer and model of the tyres. For example: Michelin (brand) Pilot Sport 4 S (model). But in the illustration it would be ezauto (brand) ezfeed (model).
Tyre size
The most important and confusing information on a tyre, it is usually in the format of something like this: 225 / 45 / R 17.
| 225 | This stands for the width of the tyre which would be 225mm. |
| 45 | This is the aspect ratio of the height of the tyre relative to its width, so the height of your tyre would be 45% of 225mm. |
| R | Stands for radial construction of your tyres, another type of it would be cross-ply. |
| 17 | The size of your rims, here your rims would be 17 inches in diameter. |
Load index and Speed rating
Usually following after the tyre size, it is often seen in this combination 94 Y:
| 94 | A code depicting the maximum load a tyre can carry, here 94 stands for 670kg per tyre. |
| Y | The maximum speed a tyre can handle under its load rating and properly inflated, with supporting up to 300km/h |
Date of manufacture
There are 4-digits often seen in an oval like so: (3618), with the first 2 digits representing the week of the year and the latter 2 digits the year of manufacture. So this tyre was produced in the 36th week of the year 2018. This is something to take note of when purchasing tyres as you wouldn’t want to buy tyres that have been in inventory for too long as tyres do have a usable lifespan.
Extra information
There should also be an arrow showing which direction the tyre should roll when your car is going forwards, so make sure that there is no error. And if you’re curious about tyre pressure, come read this article that will tell you all you need to know about pumping air into your tyres.
And here’s a table of load ratings (L) and speed indexes (S) for those curious:
| L | kg | L | kg | L | kg | L | kg | S | km/h |
| 62 | 265 | 80 | 450 | 98 | 750 | 116 | 1250 | F | 80 |
| 63 | 272 | 81 | 462 | 99 | 775 | 117 | 1285 | G | 90 |
| 64 | 280 | 82 | 475 | 100 | 800 | 118 | 1320 | J | 100 |
| 65 | 290 | 83 | 487 | 101 | 825 | 119 | 1360 | K | 110 |
| 66 | 300 | 84 | 500 | 102 | 850 | 120 | 1400 | L | 120 |
| 67 | 307 | 85 | 515 | 103 | 875 | 121 | 1450 | M | 130 |
| 68 | 315 | 86 | 530 | 104 | 900 | 122 | 1500 | N | 140 |
| 69 | 325 | 87 | 545 | 105 | 925 | 123 | 1550 | P | 150 |
| 70 | 335 | 88 | 560 | 106 | 950 | 124 | 1600 | Q | 160 |
| 71 | 345 | 89 | 580 | 107 | 975 | 125 | 1650 | R | 170 |
| 72 | 355 | 90 | 600 | 108 | 1000 | 126 | 1700 | S | 180 |
| 73 | 365 | 91 | 615 | 109 | 1030 | T | 190 | ||
| 74 | 375 | 92 | 630 | 110 | 1060 | U | 200 | ||
| 75 | 387 | 93 | 650 | 111 | 1090 | H | 210 | ||
| 76 | 400 | 94 | 670 | 112 | 1120 | V | 240 | ||
| 77 | 412 | 95 | 690 | 113 | 1150 | W | 270 | ||
| 78 | 425 | 96 | 710 | 114 | 1180 | Y | 300 | ||
| 79 | 437 | 97 | 730 | 115 | 1215 | (Y) | 300+ |