Tyre load index and speed rating chart (kg, km/h, mph)

Full tyre load index chart in kg (60 to 125), speed ratings L to Y in km/h and mph, plus XL, C van tyres and the UK rules on fitting them.

What the 91V on the sidewall means

The load index is the number after the size and the speed rating is the letter after that. On a 205/55 R16 91V, 91 means each tyre can carry 615 kg and V means it's rated to 240 km/h (149 mph).

Neither one is a weight or a speed you can read straight off. They're codes. You look them up. The tables below come from UN ECE Regulation 30, the tyre standard behind the E-mark; its load table stops at 120, so indices 121 to 125 come from Pirelli's UK load index table, which matches Regulation 30 everywhere the two overlap.

Two numbers, two tables. Learn where to look and the rest is arithmetic.

Load index chart in kg

Each figure is the maximum load for one tyre, in kilograms, at the pressure the maker specifies for that load.

Multiplying by four gives a rough total, but it's the axle figures on the vehicle's plate that govern, not your sum. More on that below.

Speed rating chart, L to Y

H sits between U and V, out of alphabetical order. It catches out new starters every time.

ZR and (Y)

Regulation 30 lets a radial tyre good for more than 240 km/h but no more than 300 km/h show ZR in place of R in the size, so you'll see 225/40 ZR18 92Y as well as 225/40 R18 92Y. For tyres rated above 300 km/h, ZR is compulsory and the load index and speed symbol go in brackets, as in (95Y). On a ZR tyre, still read the speed symbol after the load index. That letter is the actual rating.

The UK rules on load and speed

Nobody in the UK law books says "match the sticker in the door shut" in so many words. The rules come at it from two directions.

Type approval. The GB-retained version of Regulation (EU) No 458/2011, Annex II, says the tyres a car is approved on must have a load capacity of at least half the technically permissible maximum mass of the most heavily loaded axle. Every tyre the vehicle is normally fitted with must carry a speed symbol compatible with the vehicle's maximum design speed. That approved spec is the minimum to work from, and it's what the handbook gives.

Use on the road. Regulation 27(1)(a) of the Construction and Use Regulations makes it an offence to use a tyre that is unsuitable for the use the vehicle is being put to, or for the types of tyre on its other wheels. An under-rated tyre on a loaded van is the textbook case.

The MOT. On an ordinary car (class 4), the MOT inspection manual does not ask the tester to check load index or speed rating; those checks are written for class 5 and class 7 vehicles. Passing the MOT on a 91T where the car calls for 91V doesn't make it right. Tell the customer, and tell them their insurer may want to know.

The winter tyre exception

Annex II allows a car that normally runs on summer tyres to be fitted with snow tyres (M+S or three-peak mountain snowflake marked) carrying a lower speed symbol. The snow tyre must be rated above the vehicle's maximum design speed or at least 160 km/h (Q). If it's below the car's top speed, a speed warning label has to be displayed prominently and permanently where the driver can see it. Fit the sticker on the dashboard when you fit the tyres.

XL, reinforced and C van tyres

XL or REINFORCED. Regulation 30 requires a reinforced tyre to be marked "REINFORCED" or "EXTRA LOAD"; XL is the abbreviation you'll see most. It carries more load than a standard tyre in the same size, and Michelin's own example is the size we keep coming back to: 205/55 R16 91V as standard, 205/55 R16 94V XL. As Michelin puts it, a tyre with reinforced or special load markings should always be replaced with an equivalent specification. If the car came on XL, it goes back on XL.

C tyres. C after the rim size means a commercial van tyre. These are generally approved under UN ECE Regulation 54, the commercial-vehicle tyre standard, rather than Regulation 30. Van C tyres usually show two load indices, as in 215/65 R16C 109/107T. The first is the load per tyre fitted single, the second when fitted as a twin pair; Michelin's van tyre size guide (in Polish) explains it the same way with 225/65 R16C 112/110R. On a single-rear-wheel van only the first number matters. Never swap a C tyre for a car tyre of the same size; the car tyre will be well short on load.

Three counter-side examples

Now the axle check. Say a hatchback's plate gives the front axle a maximum of 1,100 kg. Half of that is 550 kg. Index 87 is 545 kg, so it's short by 5 kg. Index 88 gives 560 kg and clears it. Five kilos sounds like nothing, but the rule is a floor, not a guide.

A load index and speed symbol never change as a tyre wears. On a part-worn they're as important as on a new tyre; the part-worn regulations insist both are moulded into the sidewall before you can sell it. See how to read a tyre size for where they sit in the full marking, and how to read a tyre date code for the age check. Measure the tread against the tread depth chart too.

DuroBay is a free app for tyre shops that keeps stock and reads the size and markings off the sidewall, and the load index and speed symbol can go in each tyre's notes.