I'm looking on 'my tyres' website for some new tyres for my Yaris t-sport and see there are several types of the following tyre, identical apart from the final codes. They are:
Bridgestone Potenza - 185/55 R15 82V DZ
Bridgestone Potenza - 185/55 R15 82V AZ
Bridgestone Potenza - 185/55 R15 81V BW, AZ
I know the 'V' is the speed rating but what about the codes after that??
Full Version: Bridgestone Potenza Tyre Markings
1st of all I wouldn't go for the 185/55x15's.. I would go for 195/50x15... Why??
They are a little wider so you get more rubber on the road resulting in better grip..
They have more or less the same rolling radius as the standard size so won't affect the gearing or the speedo..
They will be cheaper... they are more popular and as such they make more so production costs are lower.
185 = width in mm
55 = profile (in this case 55% of the width)
15 = Rim diameter
82 = Load index (the number refers to a maximum weight)
V = Speed rateing
BW, AZ, BZ etc etc etc = Bridgestone being a complete and utter nightmare
These letters relate to a specific fitment for certain cars, eg.. AZ could be suited for a BMW and BZ for a Mazda etc, I personally have given up trying to remember what car(s) each of these letters refers to, If I was searching for say a 205/55x15 Goodyear I would get a choice of 2.. GSD3's and NCT5's.. (these will come in different speed ratings too) again if I searched for Continental I may get 3 different tyres... Michelin I would get 2 or 3.... the same thing with most brands.. except Bridgestone... I would get a choice of about 20, of this 20 there could be 7 different tread patterns (ER30, ER300, RE040, RE050, RE720, S-03...and thats just the potenza range, they also have the Turanza range, B-series and Duellar range) of these tread patterns there will also be the other letters... re040AZ, re040BZ etc etc... get the idea yet? NIGHTMARE!! LOL.
Ihave replied to your PM with what I would go for, both of these makes are availble in 195/50x15's and 185/55x15's.
They are a little wider so you get more rubber on the road resulting in better grip..
They have more or less the same rolling radius as the standard size so won't affect the gearing or the speedo..
They will be cheaper... they are more popular and as such they make more so production costs are lower.
185 = width in mm
55 = profile (in this case 55% of the width)
15 = Rim diameter
82 = Load index (the number refers to a maximum weight)
V = Speed rateing
BW, AZ, BZ etc etc etc = Bridgestone being a complete and utter nightmare
These letters relate to a specific fitment for certain cars, eg.. AZ could be suited for a BMW and BZ for a Mazda etc, I personally have given up trying to remember what car(s) each of these letters refers to, If I was searching for say a 205/55x15 Goodyear I would get a choice of 2.. GSD3's and NCT5's.. (these will come in different speed ratings too) again if I searched for Continental I may get 3 different tyres... Michelin I would get 2 or 3.... the same thing with most brands.. except Bridgestone... I would get a choice of about 20, of this 20 there could be 7 different tread patterns (ER30, ER300, RE040, RE050, RE720, S-03...and thats just the potenza range, they also have the Turanza range, B-series and Duellar range) of these tread patterns there will also be the other letters... re040AZ, re040BZ etc etc... get the idea yet?
NIGHTMARE!! LOL.Ihave replied to your PM with what I would go for, both of these makes are availble in 195/50x15's and 185/55x15's.
Thanks for the response. How is the fitment different for different makes of car? I would have thought a 185/55/15 was exactly that but is the bead different for different cars?
As far as I know, mostly it's the rubber compound that has variations, it's all to do with suspension setups and grip.
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