What do the numbers on the tyre sidewall mean?

You must have often noticed numbers and alphabets on the side wall of your tyres, what do these numbers mean? What do the alphabets stand for and how will they help you making the right tyre choice for your machine? We at CarDekho help you decipher this simple numbering

Different tyres will have different alpha-numeric combinations depending on their make and purpose. We will focus on everyday use tyres which are seen on most cars.

Suppose the numbers on the tyre read 165/ 65R14 79T. This will be interpreted as

• 165 – this is width of the tyre in millimeters
• 65 – This is height of the tyre side wall and is described in aspect ratio. It represents the height as 65% of the tyre width.
• R – Indicates the construction of the tyre. In this case radial construction
• 14 – This is the inner diameter of the tyre in inches. This is also your wheel size.
• 79 – This is the load capacity of the tyre. There is a set rating that gives the load capacity of the tyre
• T – This is the speed symbol indicating the maximum speed for the tyre at full load. There is a rating chart for the maximum speed that a tyre should be subjected to.  If your car tyre has a ‘V’ rating it means it can handle speeds of upto 240kmph, while a ‘U’ rating indicated it can handle speeds of maximum 200kmph.

To know more in detail about the different type of tyres check out the link below

https://www.cardekho.com/tyre-types-guide/different-types-of-tyres.htm

For your assistance, here is the tyre code chart