Tyre size guide
Knowing your tyre size before you buy a new or part worn tyre is important. The most efficient way to make sure you know this is of course to go outside and check the tyre that is on your car. Assuming that this tyre was correctly fitted in the first place, this will tell you everything you need to know as the tyre’s size will be imprinted clearly on the sidewall. Alternatively you can look in the handbook for your vehicle.
| Black Circles Cheap Tyres |
Car Tyres come in various sizes, and the sizes are shown in a combination of numbers and letters something like this: 195/65 V R 15 79. This number and letter code breaks down like this:
195 – The tyre section width in millimetres.
65 – The aspect ratio in percentage (i.e. the height of the tyre sidewall divided by the width of the tyre).
V – This is the speed rating.
R – This denotes the tyre’s construction – in this case Radial.
15 – This is the diameter of the rim given in inches.
79 – This is the load index
The speed rating can sometimes appear at the end of the code instead of in the middle in which case you’d see something like: 195/65 R 15 91 H. You may also occasionally come across a tyre that doesn’t have an aspect ratio shown, in this case the second number after the / will be missing.
The Speed rating on a tyre must match or exceed the speed of the car. So, if your car can achieve 120 mph then you would want a speed rating that matches or exceeds this figure.
The different letters are denoted thus:
S 180 km/h or 112 mph
T 190 km/h or 118 mph
U 200 km/h or 125 mph
H 210 km/h or 130 mph
V 240 km/h or 149 mph
W(ZR) 270 km/h or 168 mph
Y(ZR) 300 km/h or 186 mph
ZR Above 240 km/h or 149 mph
So with the example we’ve used above, this tyre would be suitable for a car with a maximum speed of 149mph or less, but not for a car of a speed of 200mph or above.
look for tyres in Glasgow on the homepage