It can be essential that your car is fitted with the correct tires for your driving purposes. It can be difficult to know what tire type is required for your car, but there are a few ways in which you might find out. Understanding the speed ratings can certainly be an extremely useful point for any car owner to learn. After all, driving with the wrong tires fitted to your vehicle can have a serious effect on the tires themselves, and even your car as a whole.

It is always a good idea to find out the speed rating for your vehicle before you invest in new tires. After all, having the correct tires could impact everything from your driving skills, to your ability to obtain a cheap car insurance policy. Although tire type may seem relatively insignificant, it can, in fact, prove to be hugely important. Read on to find out about how the tire speed rating system works.

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Speed ratings are actually found on the sidewall of the tire in basically what you will come to know as the service description.  The letter following the two or even three digit numerical load index will actually dictate exactly what type of tire and what speed you can drive your car up to.

The table looks something like this:

S: 112 mph
T: 118 mph
H: 130 mph
V: 149 mph
W: 168 mph
Y: 186 mph

These are just a few of the letters that you can look for.  Generally speaking, the tires that are going to come on your cars and trucks are going to be ‘s’ or ‘t’ and race cars are generally going to have the other letters.  It all just depends.