2007 Mercedes E-Class Owner's Manual - Page 363

Operation Tires and wheels Tire speed rating Part of tire designation; indicates the speed range for which a tire is approved. Total load limit Rated cargo and luggage load plus 68 kilograms (150 lb) times the vehicle's designated seating capacity. 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 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. Rotating tires Warning! G Rotate front and rear wheels only if the tires are of the same dimension. If your vehicle is equipped with mixed-size tires (different tire dimensions front vs. rear), tire rotation is not possible. Tire rotation can be performed on vehicles with tires of the same dimension all around. If your vehicle is equipped with tires of the same dimension all around, tires can be rotated, observing a front-to-rear rotation pattern that will maintain the intended rotation (spinning) direction of the tire ( page 336). In some cases, such as when your vehicle is equipped with mixed-size tires (different tire dimension front vs. rear), tire rotation is not possible. 362