Have you ever wondered what all the letters and numbers on the sidewall of your tire mean? The numbers may not seem like much but they can tell you a lot more than just the size of your tire.You’ve probably seen all the letters and numbers on the sidewall of your tire and wondered, “what do they mean?” The numbers may not seem like much but they are actually pretty helpful. This seemingly complex code can tell you more than just the size of your tire. Here are a few tips to help you understand what it all means.
The letter at the beginning of the tire size tells us the class of tire we are dealing with. There is P for passenger car, LT for light truck, or no letter at all, which indicates a Euro metric tire.
The first three-digit number is the width of the tire measured in millimeters from one sidewall to the other. In this example, the tire is 215 millimeters wide.
The two-digit number after the slash is the tire’s aspect ratio. This is a comparison of the tire’s height versus width, which gives us the height of the sidewall. A number of 65 means the height of the sidewall is 65% of the width of the tire. The higher the aspect ratio, the bigger the tire’s sidewall will be.
The R in this example stands for radial construction. Most tires today are built using radial construction. For more information on tire construction comparisons click here.
The last two-digit number specifies the size of the wheel the tire is built to fit. This is measured in inches. The tire example provided is made to fit a 15-inch wheel.