EU Tyre Labels – The Mystery Of D And G
An odd title, you may think, but despite the new EU tyre labels grades for rolling resistance and wet braking going from A to G, consumer tyres will never score a D for either category, or a G for wet braking. What does this mean for consumers? Well, if you are looking at two tyres, one scoring a C for wet braking and the other an E, you may believe that the tyre with the C grade massively outperforms the other. And you may be wrong. A low C grade could in fact be closer to a high E grade tyre than to a high C grade tyre as there is no D.
Why have they done this? Apparently it is to avoid having a category for ‘average’ tyres. I’m not sure why this is necessary since the similar EU energy label on whitegoods features a true D grade, but this hasn’t led to any issues of ‘average’ dishwashers or fridges! It also doesn’t seem fair on the E grade tyres that look worse than they actually are, and as we know, in reality there are many more aspects to tyre performance as these three categories, and price is always an issue, so there is no reason to avoid E grade tyres per se.
While this system is unfair to E grade tyres, it also seems designed to improve the appearance of tyres that achieve an F grade in wet braking. As there isn’t really a G grade for wet braking, it’s existence on the labels seems only to improve the saleability of F graded car tyres. With the addition of the G grade, the F graded tyres are no longer in the lowest grade possible. Except they are! What do you think? Does it seem as if they are trying to pull the wool over our eyes, or can you understand their reasons?