Wet Grip Labelling on all new tyres

3 July 2012

Wet grip capability is an important element of the new European-wide tyre labelling protocol which is becoming available to all users from this month. The European Tyre Labelling Regulation (EC/1222/2009) introduces labelling requirements with regard to the display of information on the fuel efficiency, wet grip and external rolling noise of tyres. Its aim is to increase the safety and the environmental and economic efficiency of road transport by promoting fuel-efficient and safe tyres with low noise levels. This regulation allows end-users to make more informed choices when purchasing tyres by considering this information along with other factors normally considered during the purchasing decision process.

The goal is to improve the safety, the economic and environmental efficiency of road transport by promoting fuel-efficient and safe tyres with low noise levels. This Regulation allows end-users to make more informed choices when purchasing tyres by considering this information along with other factors normally considered during the purchasing decision process.

A top-ranked A-grade tyre could out-perform the lowest-ranked G-grade tyre by 30% for safety and 7.5% for fuel efficiency. This translates to a vehicle stopping three to four car lengths shorter from 50mph and a fuel cost saving of around £100 every year for the average motorist.

Wet Grip class is displayed on one of the three sections of the label. It refers to the safety performance of tyres: it reflects the capacity of a tyre to brake on a wet road. There are other parameters which are relevant for safety (e.g. road holding ability, directional control, deceleration ability on wet and dry surfaces at higher speed and aquaplaning behaviour) but wet grip was chosen as the most representative situation of reduced adherence in Europe

Even though the results* may vary according to the vehicles and weather conditions, in case of full braking, the difference between class G and A for a full set of tyres can be a 30% shorter braking distance (for example for a car driving 80 km/h, this may represent a shorter braking distance of 18m)**.

Further information is available from Michelin and Continental.