Load Rating
Tyre Load Ratings for Road Cars
On the sidewall of your tyres you'll find a series of numbers and letters that denote the tyre's specification. They'll look similar in format to this: 195 / 55 R17 90 W.
The number at the end (90 in this example) is the tyre's load rating index. It is used to determine the maximum load your tyres can safely support, including vehicle weight, passengers, luggage and towage.
A load rating table is used to work out this maximum weight in kilograms.
| Load Index | Max Weight Kg |
|---|---|
| 62 | 265 |
| 63 | 272 |
| 64 | 280 |
| 65 | 290 |
| 66 | 300 |
| 67 | 307 |
| 68 | 315 |
| 69 | 325 |
| 70 | 335 |
| 71 | 345 |
| 72 | 355 |
| 73 | 365 |
| 74 | 375 |
| 75 | 387 |
| 76 | 400 |
| 77 | 412 |
| 78 | 425 |
| 79 | 437 |
| 80 | 450 |
| 81 | 462 |
| 82 | 475 |
| 83 | 487 |
| 84 | 500 |
| 85 | 515 |
| 86 | 530 |
| 87 | 545 |
| 88 | 560 |
| 89 | 580 |
| 90 | 600 |
| 91 | 615 |
| 92 | 630 |
| 93 | 650 |
| 94 | 670 |
| 95 | 690 |
| 96 | 710 |
| 97 | 730 |
| 98 | 750 |
| 99 | 775 |
| 100 | 800 |
| 101 | 825 |
| 102 | 850 |
| 103 | 875 |
| 104 | 900 |
| 105 | 925 |
| 106 | 950 |
| 107 | 975 |
| 108 | 1000 |
| 109 | 1030 |
As you can see from the table, our example tyre with a load rating of 90 can support a maximum weight of 600kg.
Car manufacturers decide which tyre specifications are to be used on their models. They base their decision on the weight of the vehicle and expected load usage. Your vehicle handbook will provide this information so you can choose the right tyres for your vehicle with the correct tyre load rating.
Important: For your safety and peace of mind you must run tyres with the correct load rating for your vehicle. Tyres with a higher load rating are fine to run, but tyres with a lower load rating are potentially dangerous to use on your vehicle, and may invalidate your insurance.
