What does the writing on my tyre mean?
There is a whole lot of information on the tyre flanks. You are informed about size, load, maximum air pressure and the age of the tyre. The measurements may look like the following: 205/70R15 90 W. When broken down this means: • Tread width 205 mm. • Profile 70% (and not 70 mm, as is often assumed) in relationship to the tread. • Wheel rim diameter 15 inches. • The “R” stands for radial construction. • The “90” refers to the load and can be deciphered using a table in Kilograms (in this case 90 = 600 kg). • “W” stands for the speed limit (in this case “W” = 270 km/h). • For diagonal tyres all measurements are in inches, for example 5.60-15 P. Here even the tyre width is given only in inches. A low profile did not yet exist.
