2005 Pontiac Vibe Owner's Manual - Page 292

Buying New Tires To find out what kind and size of tires you need, look at the Tire and Loading Information label. For more information about this label and where to find it, see Loading Your Vehicle on page 4-32. Make sure the replacements are the same size, load capacity, speed rating and construction type (bias, bias-belted or radial) as your original tires. {CAUTION: 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. {CAUTION: Mixing tires could cause you to lose control while driving. If you mix tires of different sizes or types (radial and bias-belted 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 Tire on page 5-86. Uniform Tire Quality Grading Quality grades can be found where applicable on the tire sidewall between tread shoulder and maximum selection width. For example: Treadwear 200 Traction AA Temperature A The following information relates to the system developed by the Unites 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. 5-70