Tyre Labels Explained: What Are They, and What Do They Mean?

When looking at buying car tyres online, you may have come across various different tyre labels and ratings. With so many different letters, colours and choices out there, it can be difficult to know what all the different tyre labels mean, and which tyre you should pick based on their different ratings. To help you pick out the best tyre for your needs and vehicle, we have provided a quick overview of car tyre labels.

What are Car Tyre Labels?

The rating system for car tyre labels is based on three efficiencies: fuel economy, wet grip and noise. Tyre labels are effectively a rating system that lets you know how efficient your tyres are in certain areas.

What Each Car Tyre Label Means

• Fuel efficiency

Car tyre labels range from the letters A to G and use a coloured scale to determine if it is a good or negative rating. The label features a black arrow with a white letter inside that indicates the rating.

If you’re looking for tyres that have the best fuel-economical use, then look out for a green ‘A’ rating on the labels. This one is the best, and they filter down from there. The difference between the best and worst tyre rating can be 7.5%.

When choosing new car tyres, it is important to monitor what the fuel efficiency is for tyres as tyres can account for 20% of a car’s overall fuel consumption. So picking wisely could mean you make significant savings. The more miles you do, the more money a fuel-efficient tyre can save you.

• Wet grip

Similarly to the fuel efficiency rating label, the tyre labels for wet grip range from A to G, and use a coloured scale. The rating is displayed in a black arrow with a white letter inside. 

The most important aspect of having tyres with good grip in wet, rainy weather conditions is that it helps your stopping distance, allowing you to brake quickly, and prevents skidding. The best rating for tyres with excellent wet grip is green with an ‘A’ rating. The rating depicts the stopping distances in wet, rainy weather, and how well the tyres brake. The difference between each letter can be around 2.5 metres stopping distance when braking from 50mph. Therefore, an ‘A’ rated tyre will come to a stop 18 metres before an ‘F’ rated tyre in wet weather.

If you’d like to read more about our helpful tips on driving in wet and rainy weather conditions, please visit our other blog articles.

• Noise

  When it comes to labelling car tyres for noise, there are three ‘sound wave’ bars in which it is categorised. The rating for noise can be either one, two or three black-coloured bars. The overall decibel rating for a car tyre is provided in large white numbers on the car tyre label.

  The external noise rating is defined as follows:

  • One bar: this means that the car tyre is 3db or more below the recommended legislation
  • Two bars: this means that the tyre meets current and future legislation
  • Three bars: this means the tyre does meet current legislation, but that it will fail to meet it in the future

Contact Longbridges Tyres

If you’re interested in buying new tyres from a local and independent dealership then look no further than Longbridge Tyres. You can call our expert and friendly team today on 0121 457 7582, or through filling out our online contact form, and we’ll be in touch.