I knew how to 'read' a tyre sidewall in all respects except what the 'Traction' and 'Treadwear' indicators (A,B,C) really mean, and how they are calculated, so asked Google to find out.
Thought I'd share the (full!) explanation with fellow BR's:
www.toyo.com.au/tech_info4.html
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Thanks for the link SjB, it wasn't too wordy.
My Yoko A539 195/60 15s are marked
Traction A
Treadwear 300
That's quite a long lasting tyre according to the rating, and will probably mean that the compound is not as 'sticky' as some others.
If any BRs would like to report on their sidewall markings, this thread could become a quick reference.
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LeZebre
Looking at the site it says that the standard tyre wear RATE is 100, and a tyre that wears twice as fast as this has a 200 wear rating. On that basis I believe your tyres have a 3 x 'normal' wear rate, and so they are probably relatively soft and biased more towards traction than life. Probably not a long-lasting tyre then!
Regards
John S
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I think you'll find traction on new radial tyres is always A - but not 100% sure.
Goodyear Eagle F1 - treadwear = 200.
Don't take this as a gospel indicator of how long the tyre will last though. My previous tyres were Uniroyal 440s, treadwear 160. Going by the numbers the Goodyears should last 25% longer than the Uniroyals. In reality however the Uniroyals seemed to be lasting forever (I was keen to replace them - they were very poor in the wet), and the Goodyears are wearing quicker, but should still give me a very reasonable 35k from the set.
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Cyd
Same comment - reading the site indicates that higher numbers = greater wear rates, so the Uniroyals should wear less than the Goodyears. I'd agree about Uniroyals - I had a set on a 318 that ran to 50k miles!
Regards
John S
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Thanks JohnS for your observation, which as you say is based on a reading of the Australian site.
I find that their statement A treadwear rating of 200 indicates the tread wear rate of the test tyre was 2 times that of the standard tyre is misleading at best.
Toyo's Canadian guys explain the markings more clearly:
"Choosing a higher UTQG Rating for treadwear means longer tire life yet the traction is usually lower as the treadwear rating goes up.
In turn tires with better traction ratings have lower treadwear ratings due to the tread compound required for better handling characteristics."
So Cyd's Goodyear F1s - lowish 200 - ought not to last as long as my Yokohama A539s - highish 300 - (but he should have better dynamics in some situations).
I still think it would be quite useful if Backroomers could contribute the ratings for their current tyres (thanks Cyd!!!), as this information is not easily available, and it would then be possible to compare different tyre brands all on the same page.
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Here are a couple more for comparison,
Michelin Pilot HX:- Traction A, Treadwear 140
Pirelli P6000:- Traction A, Treadwear 180
Both Z speed rating (no idea if the different speed rating versions of the same tyre are the same compound of rubber)
Chris.
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LeZebre
The Ausralian site is quite clear - 'A treadwear rating of 200 indicates the tread wear rate of the test tyre was 2 times that of the standard tyre' - and indicates that higher numbers indicate FASTER wear. Wear RATE is the speed at which it wears.
The Canadian site states completely the opposite - a 'higher UTQG ratingmeans longer tread life'.
Given that I've never seen a tyre with a <100 rating, I believe the Australian site isn't confusing, it's plain wrong.
Regards
John S
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A higher number means a longer lasting tyre. A tyre with a 200 rating would last twice as long (on the test) as one with a rating of 100 - ie a lower wear rate. The scale is 'normalised' to give exact proportion.
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Can't argue with that John, probably a result of too much sun and locally grown wine!! (lucky geezers)
LZ
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All the web sites I've looked at regarding treadwear say that a higher number indicates a longer lasting tyre, but my Continental Premium Contacts have a rating of 280, but at 11000 miles they have an average of 3.5mm remaining. I think I'll be lucky to get 15000miles.
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