Mercedes-Benz 300 TD 123 T 1983, Owner'S Manual

Page: 96 / 101

C onsum er In fo rm a tio n
T his has be en p re p a re d as re q u ire d o f
all m a n u fa c tu re rs o f p a s s e n g e r cars
u n d e r T itle 49, C o de o f U. S. Federal
R e g u la tio n s, Part 575 p u rs u a n t to th e
‘ ‘ N ational T raffic and M o to r V eh icle
S afe ty A c t o f 1966” .
Uniform Tire Q uality G rading
R elevant tire gra d e in fo rm a tio n on tire
fla n k s .
A ll p a s s e n g e r ca r tire s m u s t c o n fo rm
to fe d e ra l s a fe ty re q u ire m e n ts in
a d d itio n to th e s e g ra de s.
T re a d w e a r
The tre a d w e a r gra de is a co m p a ra tiv e
ra tin g ba sed on th e w e a r rate o f th e
tire w h e n te s te d u n d e r c o n tro lle d
c o n d itio n s on a s p e c ifie d g o v e rn m e n t
te s t c o u rs e . F or exam ple, a tire
g ra d e d 150 w o u ld w e a r on e and a half
(
11
/
2
) tim e s as w e ll on th e g o v e rn m e n t
c o u rs e as a tire g ra d e d 100. The
relative p e rfo rm a n c e o f tire s d e p e n d s
u p o n th e actu al c o n d itio n s o f th e ir
use, ho w e ver, and m ay d e p a rt s ig n ifi­
c a n tly fro m th e n o rm due to v a ria tio n s
in d riv in g h a bits, s e rv ic e p ra c tic e s
and d iffe re n c e s in roa d c h a ra c te ris ­
tic s and clim ate.
T ra c tio n ‘ ‘A ” , “ B ” , “ C ”
The tra c tio n g ra d e s, fro m h ig h e s t to
lo w e s t, are “ A ” , “ B ” and “ C " and
th e y re p re s e n t th e t ir e ’s a b ility to s to p
on w e t p a ve m e n t as m e a su re d un d e r
c o n tro lle d c o n d itio n s on s p e c ifie d
g o v e rn m e n t te s t s u rfa c e s o f a sp ha lt
and c o n c re te . A tire m a rk e t “ C ” may
have p o o r tra c tio n p e rfo rm a n c e .
W a rn in g : The tra c tio n g ra d e assig n e d
to th is tire is ba sed on b ra k in g
(s tra ig h ta h e a d ) tra c tio n te s ts and
d o e s n o t in c lu d e c o rn e rin g (tu rn in g )
tra c tio n .
T e m p e ra tu re “ A ” , ‘ ‘ B ” , “ C "
The te m p e ra tu re g ra d e s o f “ A ” (the
h ig h e s t). “ B ” and ‘ ‘C ” re p re s e n tin g
th e t ir e ’s re s is ta n c e to th e ge n e ra tio n
o f heat and its a b ility to d is s ip a te heat
w h e n te s te d u n d e r c o n tro lle d c o n d i­
tio n s on a s p e c ifie d in d o o r la b o ra to ry
te s t w h ee l. S u sta in e d high te m p e ra ­
tu re can cau se th e m aterial o f the tire
to d e g e n e ra te and re d u c e tire life, and
e x c e s s iv e te m p e ra tu re can lead to
s u d d e n tire failure. The gra de “ C ”
c o rre s p o n d s to a level o f p e rfo rm ­
ance w h ic h all p a s s e n g e r ca r tire s
m u s t m e e t u n d e r th e Federal M o to r
V e h icle S afe ty S ta n d a rd No. 109.
G ra d e s ” B ” and “ A ” re p re s e n t h ig h e r
levels o f p e rfo rm a n c e on th e la b o ra ­
to ry te s t w h e e l tha n th e m in im um
re q u ire d by law. W a rn in g : The te m ­
p e ra tu re gra de fo r th is tire is e s ta b ­
lish e d fo r a tire th a t is p ro p e rly
in fla te d and n o t o ve rlo a d e d . E x c e s ­
sive s p e e d , u n d e rin fla tio n , o r e x c e s ­
sive lo ad ing , e ith e r s e p a ra te ly o r in
c o m b in a tio n , can ca u se heat b u ild u p
and p o s s ib le tire failure.
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