Tire sizes can be a pretty complicated business for someone who isn’t a car enthusiast. If deciphering tire size charts are a difficulty for you, don’t worry. This article is meant to give you a briefer on understanding tire size lingo. And once you’re done reading this, you will have a grasp of tire sizes explained to you.
On the sides of every tire are a bunch of alphanumeric codes which actually refer to the size and type of tire as well as its intended use. Every value in the code has a meaning.
If you’re looking to get tire sizes explained to you The first letter on the tire size means the type of tire as well as its intended use. For example the letter P means that the tire was built for passenger vehicles. Other values include T(temporary spare), C(commercial),LT(Light truck metric) and ST(special trailer service).
The number that follows the first letters indicates the tire’s section width. The number here indicates the widest point from sidewall to sidewall. For example a P215 means that the tires are meant for a passenger vehicle and have a 215mm width.
After the tire section’s width follows a slash then another number. This new value indicates the height of a tire in a percentage to the width. So if a value indicates P215/65, the tire height is 65% of the tire’s width.
Following tire height is another letter. This refers to the construction of a tire. The most common value is “R” which means that the tire is radial. Other construction types might indicate a “B” for belted tire or “D” for bias ply construction. But these types are pretty rare for passenger vehicles.
After the construction value is another number that represents the dimensions of the rims where the tires will fit. So P215/70R16 means that the tire is meant for rims with the diameter of 16 inches.
Following the rim size is the tire’s performance information. For example P215/70R16 100 indicates that the tire’s approved load on the load index is 1764 pounds. In order to learn what this value represents you have to double check with a load index.
The last value you will have to pay attention to when you’re getting tire sizes explained to you refers to the speed rating. Values range from M,S all the way up to Y. Each letter has a corresponding value that indicates up to what speed was the tire tested.
There you have it. Hopefully after reading this guide, you will no longer need to have tire sizes explained to you by your mechanic.

