Uniform tire quality grading standards – Mercedes-Benz E-Wagon 2006 Owners Manual User Manual

Page 349

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348

Operation

Tires and wheels

Uniform Tire Quality Grading Standards
(U.S. vehicles)

Tire manufacturers are required to grade
tires based on three performance factors:
treadwear, traction and temperature resis-
tance.

1 Treadwear
2 Traction
3 Temperature resistance

Quality grades can be found, where appli-
cable, on the tire sidewall between tread
shoulder and maximum section width. For
example:

All passenger car tires must conform to
federal safety requirements in addition to
these grades.

Treadwear

The treadwear grade is a comparative rat-
ing based on the wear rate of the tire when
tested under controlled conditions on a
specified government test course. For ex-
ample, a tire graded 150 would wear one
and one-half (1

1

/

2

) times as well on the

government course as a tire graded 100.
The relative performance of tires depends
upon the actual conditions of their use,
however, and may depart significantly
from the norm due to variations in driving
habits, service practices and differences in
road characteristics and climate.

i

For illustration purposes only. Actual
data on tires are specific to each vehi-
cle and may vary from data shown in
above illustration.

Treadwear Traction

Temperature

200

AA

A

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