2006 Mercedes C-Class Owner's Manual - Page 335

Operation Tires and wheels Traction Force exerted by the vehicle on the road via the tires. The amount of grip provided. Tread The portion of a tire that comes into contact with the road. Treadwear indicators Narrow bands, sometimes called "wear bars" that show across the tread of a tire when only 1/16 in (1.6 mm) of tread remains. Uniform Tire Quality Grading Standards A tire information system that provides consumers with ratings for a tire's traction, temperature and treadwear. Ratings are determined by tire manufacturers using government testing procedures. The ratings are molded into the sidewall of the tire. Vehicle capacity weight Rated cargo and luggage load plus 68 kilograms (150 lbs) times the vehicle's designated seating capacity. Vehicle maximum load on the tire Load on an individual tire that is determined by distributing to each axle its share of the maximum loaded vehicle weight and dividing it by two. 334