Every tyre you fit to your vehicle or see on the road, boasts a culmination of features and designs traits, that communicate important safety information and support consistent performance. Some of these are practical and directly impact the driving experience while others are informative - with the sidewall being the area where most information about tyre size and optimal use is found.
But look closely and you’ll see some other details - including markers on the inside of the tread blocks, and coloured lines around the outside of brand new tyres.
In this blog, we’re sharing what these lines are for and what they mean =-- if anything!
What Are Tyre Wear Indicators?
One example of a coloured marking on your tyre is the tread wear indicator. This is a simple way of ascertaining how close the tyre tread is to being illegally worn - I.e., once the tyre tread is level with the indicator, it means tyres have reached their legal minimum limit.
Some tyre brands, specifically premium brands, have also started exploring and releasing more innovative methods of tread wear indicators. Michelin, for example, has developed a numbered system whereby the numbers shown represent how worn the tread is. If the driver can see 1, 2, and 3 then their tyres are in excellent condition - but as these numbers disappear, so too does their tyre tread condition.
These indicators are important examples of printing on the outside of a tyre, used to communicate how safe the tyre is.
What Does a White or Coloured Stripe Mean?
If you look at tyres and see a white or coloured stripe around the outside of the tyre, the chances are that these tyres are brand new.
How do we know that? Well, it’s because the stripes are added to the outside of brand new and unused tread, as a means of identifying different types of tyre and different model batches during manufacturing. Think of it as a barcode that lets the manufacturer know where a tyre sits within its broader collection, and allows them to track inventory. These coloured lines are soon dulled and eventually eradicated through regular use and driving, and crucially do not contribute towards the functional use of tyres for drivers.
What Other Markings Should Drivers Look For?
All tyres are covered with information as to their tyre type, size, load rating and more. Most of the information that drivers need to know can be found on the sidewall, with different tyre brands all boasting their own unique use of symbols, lines, equations and even colours.
The best way to interpret every piece of information printed on your tyres is to navigate to that tyre brand or manufacturer’s own tyre guide. However, for the most part, coloured and white lines are simply a part of the production process that lets manufacturers in particular know where each tyre sits within its collection and inventory.
Want to know what the other markings on your tyres might mean? Check out our Tyres.co.uk Knowledge Hub blogs and articles on tyre size calculations, load and speed ratings, and more.
