EU Tyre Labels: What Do They Mean?
EU Tyre Labels: What do they mean? (Infographic)
The importance of reliable car tyres can never be overstated. It is these four black rubber circles which keep your vehicle on the road and support the entire structure of the car. Therefore, the responsibility on tyre manufacturers to produce goods of the highest quality is considerable.
Since 2012, tyre manufacturers serving EU countries have also been required to add labels to their products to verify tyre performance in terms of three key categories – fuel efficiency, wet grip and noise emissions. Motorists have a right to know just how good of a tyre they are buying instead of blindly taking a chance on a set of tyres which may look the part but come with fundamental flaws.
Noise level restrictions have tightened in recent years in an attempt to reduce noise pollution from tyres and the EU labelling system grades this on three levels of noise output, ranging from one black soundwave for the quietest to three for the loudest.
Fuel efficiency uses a seven-scale A-to-G rating, like that on household appliances, to indicate a tyre’s rolling resistance. The difference between A-rated and G-rated tyres is stark, with the former saving six litres of fuel over 625km against the latter.
The most important labelling metric, though, is that of wet grip. This rates a tyre’s braking distances and grip on wet roads, with a difference of 18 metres between A-rated and G-rated tyres. To put it in context, that’s roughly the length of four ordinary cars – certainly a large enough distance to potentially prove the difference between stopping safely and being involved in a fatal accident if you need to brake suddenly on a wet road.
The infographic below from First Aid Wheels discusses more about the EU tyre labels and outlines why they are crucial in helping motorists to make an informed purchasing decision.
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