{"id":8,"date":"2026-08-17T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/search.shortpixel.com\/?p=8"},"modified":"2026-08-17T10:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T10:00:00","slug":"understanding-tyre-labels-before-you-buy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/search.shortpixel.com\/?p=8","title":{"rendered":"Understanding Tyre Labels Before You Buy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tyres are the only part of a car that actually touches the road, yet many drivers pick them based on price alone. The label on a new tyre contains useful information that can help you make a better choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Reading the size code<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A code like 205\/55 R16 91V tells you a lot. The 205 is the width in millimetres, 55 is the sidewall height as a percentage of the width, R means radial construction and 16 is the wheel diameter in inches. The 91 is the load index and V is the speed rating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fuel efficiency and wet grip<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In many regions, tyres carry ratings for rolling resistance and wet braking. Lower rolling resistance means the car uses less energy to move. Wet grip is arguably the more important figure: the difference between the best and worst rating can mean several car lengths when braking hard on a rainy road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Noise<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The external noise rating, shown in decibels, matters if you spend a lot of time on motorways. A quieter tyre makes long journeys more pleasant and reduces road noise for people living near busy streets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Check the date<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Every tyre has a four-digit date code on its sidewall showing the week and year of manufacture. Rubber ages even when a tyre is not used, so avoid buying tyres that have been sitting in a warehouse for many years, and replace old tyres even if the tread still looks fine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tyres are the only part of a car that actually touches the road, yet many drivers pick them based on price alone. The label on a new tyre contains useful&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[11,12,10],"class_list":["post-8","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cars","tag-maintenance","tag-safety","tag-tyres"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/search.shortpixel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/search.shortpixel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/search.shortpixel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/search.shortpixel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/search.shortpixel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/search.shortpixel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/search.shortpixel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/search.shortpixel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/search.shortpixel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}