2007 Saab 9-3 Owner's Manual - Page 245

Car care NOTICE Wide wheels and tires with side walls that are too low can: • be damaged in potholes, etc. • cause springs, shock absorbers and wheel bearings and body mountings to be overloaded. • affect the function of the Electronic Stability Program (ESP® ). The speed and load limits of the tires must not be exceeded; see page 250. Wheels larger than 17" must not be fitted on the Saab 9-3 for reasons above. The permissible offset is 1.61 inch (41 mm). 245 Uniform Tire Quality Grading WARNING Mixing tires could cause you to lose control while driving. If you mix tires of different sizes or types (radial and biasbelted tires), the vehicle may not handle properly, and you could have a crash. Using tires of different sizes may also cause damage to your vehicle. Be sure to use the same size and type tires on all wheels. It's all right to drive with your compact spare temporarily, it was developed for use on your vehicle. See "Compact spare" on page 254. Quality grades can be found where applicable on the tire sidewall between tread shoulder and maximum section width. For example: Treadwear 200 Traction AA Temperature A The following information relates to the system developed by the United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which grades tires by treadwear, traction and temperature performance. (This applies only to vehicles sold in the United States.) The grades are molded on the sidewalls of most passenger car tires. The Uniform Tire Quality Grading system does not apply to deep tread, winter-type snow tires, space-saver or temporary use spare tires, tires with nominal rim diameters of 10 to 12 inches (25 to 30 cm), or to some limited-production tires. While the tires available on General Motors passenger cars and light trucks may vary with respect to these grades, they must also conform to federal safety requirements and additional General Motors Tire Performance Criteria (TPC) standards. WARNING If you use bias-ply tires on your vehicle, the wheel rim flanges could develop cracks after many miles of driving. A tire and/or wheel could fail suddenly, causing a crash. Use only radial-ply tires with the wheels on your vehicle.