TYRE LABELS EXPLAINED
Tyre labelling is a mandatory requirement which came into force in 2012 requiring every new tyre sold within Europe to be labelled. This piece of EU Legislation requires the performance of specific criteria to be labelled on each tyre.
SO, WHAT DO TYRE LABELS MEAN?
The tyre labelling will display three performance characteristics:
Fuel Efficiency Tyres
Tyre Wet Braking Rating
Tyre Noise Rating
TYRE FUEL EFFICIENCY
Tyre fuel efficiency is important to reduce your driving costs and co2 emissions. This category will be rated from A - the most efficient meaning you'll use the least amount of fuel - to category G, which is the least fuel efficient.
By choosing tyres from category A, you could reduce your fuel consumption by up to 7.5% compared with tyres from category G.
TYRE WET BRAKING RATING
The tyre wet braking rating category is important to your safety as it will affect how quickly you will be able to reach a stop in wet conditions.
Wet braking performance will also be rated from A-G, with A rated tyres providing the shortest braking distance in wet conditions and G rated tyres providing the longest.
Driving on A rated tyres can help you stop the equivalent of around 4 car lengths shorter than driving on category G rated tyres, driving at 50mph.
TYRE NOISE RATING
The tyre noise rating category will demonstrate the external rolling noise made by your tyres, rated in three categories. Three black waves on the label will illustrate that this particular tyre produces the highest amount of sound pollution compared to one black wave – which indicates that the tyres will emit the lowest amount of noise. The sound measurement in decibels will also be provided.
WHY IS TYRE LABELLING IMPORTANT?
These tyre labels will enable you to make a more informed decision when choosing your car tyres, considering safer and more efficient driving. Do note however that tyre manufacturers build more than 50 performance characteristics into a tyre and this tyre labelling only measures 3 characteristics. Important measures such as tyre mileage, dry and wet handling are not covered by the tyre label.
At Merityre Specialists you can search for tyres online and you will be able to compare different tyres by the performance indicators on the EU Tyre Label.
For further information on choosing the right tyres for your vehicle contact your local Merityre Specialists where our trained tyre specialists will be able to offer further guidance.