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      An Understanding Of The Numbers On The Tyre Sidewall

      CarTrade Editorial Team

      CarTrade Editorial Team

      How many times in our day-to-day life do we come across such a thing that we don’t understand, but just pass it for future knowledge even in the case if it is important for us to know what that thing was all about! Such things that are ignored by us are present all around us. Beginning from the concept of global warming to the concept of how law works, we don’t feel it important to get some basic knowledge about it. At a later stage of time, having lesser knowledge about something leads to our own loss as we are not equipped with the remedy if a problem arises in it!

      An understanding of the numbers on the tyre sidewall
      An understanding of the numbers on the tyre sidewall

      One such thing is understanding the numbers of tyre sidewall! We all need to the process of reading a tyre sidewall and answer the question of how to read a side tire wall. There is a need to understand the numbers of tyre sidewall. The numbers seem to be random to us, and if we want an exchange of the tyres, we just go to the dealer and ask him to change them without even reading a tyre sidewall! Thus understanding numbers of tyre sidewall is important. Reading a tyre sidewall sure does help in decreasing the chances of getting looted by some dealer.

      Understanding numbers of tyre sidewall is of utmost importance. Mentioned below is the manner of reading a tyre sidewall. Let us take an example of the numbers and alphabets on a tyre sidewall to teach you how to read a tyre sidewall. They are written as 205/55R1691W.

      • 205: It depicts the width of the tyre (in mm). It is called the    nominal section width. It basically helps you to know how to read tyre size.

      • 55:    It is the height of the tyre sidewall as a percentage of the width that is 55% of 205mm in this case. It is called the aspect ratio.

      • R:     This R implies that the tyre has a Radial Construction which is the most common construction type among the cross ply, radial and bias belted construction types.

      • 16:    This is the diameter of the tyre’s inner rim (in inches).

      • 91:    This is the value of Load Index which identifies the maximum load that a tyre can bear when driven at the maximum speed. The value of maximum load corresponding to the value of Load Index can be found from the table prescription that comes with the tyre. In this case, the value of load corresponding to 91 value is 615 kg.

      • W:    It depicts the Speed Rating of the tyre that is the maximum speed that a tyre can bear when at maximum load condition. The various codes like Q, R, S, T, H, V etc. has a unique value of speed associated with it. It must always be remembered that when replacing a tyre, the new tyre must have the same or higher value of speed rating.

      We hope that this basic knowledge would help you in understanding numbers of tyre sidewall. Through this, the question of how to read a tyre sidewall would become easy for you and you won’t be easily cheated upon when replacing your tyre. This basic standard is used for almost all cars in India and has a common format.