{"id":19171,"date":"2026-10-05T18:10:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T18:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.polaire.eu\/conseils\/tire-size-and-specifications\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T18:10:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T18:10:13","slug":"tire-size-and-specifications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.polaire.eu\/en\/tips\/tire-size-and-specifications\/","title":{"rendered":"Tire Size and Specifications"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What do <strong>the numbers and letters <\/strong>on a tire mean? It&#8217;s important to know this so you can choose the <strong>right tires<\/strong> for your vehicle\u2014and the right snow chains, too!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The size marked on the sidewall of your tire indicates its main characteristics. There are six<strong> pieces of information<\/strong> on your tire; let\u2019s use the diagram below as an example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">First of all, 205 is the<strong> width<\/strong> of your tire in millimeters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The number 45 represents the <strong>ratio <\/strong>(expressed as a percentage) of<strong> the tire&#8217;s sidewall height to its width<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The letter R provides information about the <strong>tire&#8217;s structure<\/strong>; in this case, it indicates that it is a radial tire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finally, the number 16 represents the <strong>inner diameter of the rim<\/strong> (in inches), the number 91 represents the<strong> load<\/strong> index, and V represents the<strong> speed<\/strong> rating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"538\" src=\"https:\/\/www.polaire.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/indicateurs-de-mesure-du-pneu-1024x538.png\" alt=\"Diff\u00e9rents indicateurs : indice de vitesse, diam\u00e8tre, largeur\" class=\"wp-image-6777\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.polaire.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/indicateurs-de-mesure-du-pneu-1024x538.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.polaire.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/indicateurs-de-mesure-du-pneu-300x158.png 300w, https:\/\/www.polaire.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/indicateurs-de-mesure-du-pneu-768x403.png 768w, https:\/\/www.polaire.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/indicateurs-de-mesure-du-pneu.png 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Please note: Even if a tire chain fits your tire size, it may <strong>not<\/strong> be <strong>compatible with your vehicle<\/strong>. To put your mind at ease, know that Polaire works closely with vehicle manufacturers to ensure that only products compatible with your vehicle are approved\u2014regardless of the conditions in which they\u2019re used!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the website <a href=\"https:\/\/www.polaire.eu\/en\/\">www.polaire.eu<\/a>, you can search for snow chains by entering <strong>your vehicle&#8217;s make<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Manufacturers do not specify the dimensions of American tires in the same way as they do in Europe. In North America, they use the \u201cP-metric system,\u201d which allows information such as P225\/60 R16 97T to be read on the tire sidewall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The \u201cP,\u201d which stands for \u201cPassengers,\u201d indicates that the tire is suitable for vehicles that carry passengers, such as passenger cars, small vans, small pickup trucks, and SUVs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If, instead of \u201cP,\u201d you see \u201cLT\u201d for \u201cLight Truck,\u201d that means the tire is designed for pickup trucks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What do the numbers and letters on a tire mean? It&#8217;s important to know this so you can choose the right tires for your vehicle\u2014and the right snow chains, too! The size marked on the sidewall of your tire indicates its main characteristics. There are six pieces of information on your tire; let\u2019s use the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6779,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[404],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tips"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Tire Size: Understanding Its Specifications<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn how to read a tire size and find out what its main specifications mean so you can choose the right tire for your vehicle.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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