SidewallRef

Tire speed rating chart

Every published speed symbol, in speed order, with kilometres and miles per hour. Free to read, always.

A speed symbol is the maximum speed the tire is rated for when it is correctly inflated, undamaged, in sound condition, and carrying no more than the load its load index allows. It is a rating, not a recommendation, and it never overrides the speed limit where you are driving.

Symbols
30
Sources
8
Stated gaps
3

Three things this table is usually read wrong

  1. It is not alphabetical. H is 210 km/h and sits between U (200) and V (240). Sorting by letter puts H down with G and J and produces a wrong answer.
  2. ZR is not in it. ZR is not a speed symbol. It sits inside the size (255/40ZR18), not in the service description, and marks a tire built for sustained use above 240 km/h. When a ZR tire also prints a service description, the letter in that service description is the rating: 255/40ZR18 95Y is a 300 km/h tire. A ZR size with no service description carries no published ceiling on this table, and the tire manufacturer is the only authority on its maximum.
  3. Brackets mean above, not about. Brackets around the speed symbol, as in 285/35ZR19 (99Y), mean the tire was tested ABOVE that symbol's speed, not at it. The brackets sometimes wrap the whole service description and sometimes only the letter; the meaning is the same either way. Brackets are not a rounding mark and not decoration, and reading (Y) as Y understates the tire.

The table, in speed order

Kilometres per hour are the published value. Miles per hour are derived: miles per hour = kilometres per hour x 0.621371192237, rounded to the nearest mile per hour.

Speed symbols in ascending speed order
Symbolkm/hmphSourcesNotes
A1533
A21063
A31593
A420123
A525163
A630193
A735223
A840253
B50313
C60373
D65403
E70433
F80503
G90563
J100623There is no I in the sequence. It is skipped to keep it from being read as a 1.
K110683
L120758
M130818Common on temporary spare tires.
N140878Common on temporary spare tires.
P150938The speed symbol P has nothing to do with the P that prefixes a P-metric size. Same letter, different position on the sidewall, different meaning.
Q160998
R1701068The speed symbol R has nothing to do with the R that marks radial construction in a size. 225/65R17 is a radial; 225/65R17 100R is a radial with a 170 km/h speed symbol.
S1801128
T1901188
U2001248
H2101308Out of alphabetical order on purpose. H was once the top rating; the letters above it were added later and H was left where it was.
V2401498Before the service description was introduced, V on its own meant above 210 km/h with no ceiling. In a modern service description it means 240 km/h exactly.
W2701688
Y3001867
(Y)above 300above 1865Open ended. The tire was tested above 300 km/h and no ceiling is published in the marking. Where a maximum exists, the tire manufacturer states it.
ZRabove 240above 1496Not a speed symbol. A construction marking inside the size. Listed here only because people look for it in this table.

The same symbols, alphabetically

For looking up a letter you have just read off a sidewall. This order is NOT speed order - compare the two columns and see how far H moves.

Common questions

Why is H between U and V instead of in alphabetical order?
H was once the highest speed rating there was. When faster tires arrived the industry added letters above it rather than renumbering every tire in circulation, so H stayed where it was and V, W and Y were put above it. Reading the table alphabetically gives the wrong answer, which is why it is printed in speed order here.
What does ZR mean on a tire?
ZR is not a speed symbol. It sits inside the size, as in 255/40ZR18, and marks a tire built for sustained use above 240 km/h. If the tire also has a W or Y in its service description, that letter is the rating: 255/40ZR18 95Y is a 300 km/h tire.
What is the difference between Y and (Y)?
Y means the tire is rated at 300 km/h (186 mph). (Y), with the brackets, means it was tested above 300 km/h, with no ceiling published in the marking itself. The brackets are meaningful, not decorative, and reading (Y) as Y understates the tire.
Can I fit a tire with a lower speed rating?
The rating is about heat management under sustained load, not only about top speed, and the vehicle manufacturer specified the rating it did for a reason. Follow the vehicle placard and the law where you drive. This site reproduces the table; it does not approve a substitution.
Is a higher speed rating better?
It is a different construction, not a better one. Higher rated tires generally have stiffer sidewalls and compounds tuned for heat, which can mean a firmer ride and, on some designs, shorter tread life. Meeting the vehicle's requirement is the goal, not exceeding it.

Where these figures come from

Computed on this page, not looked up. Each figure and the arithmetic behind it:

  • Miles per hour miles per hour = kilometres per hour x 0.621371192237, rounded to the nearest mile per hour

Published values here were read from 8 independent sources:

These are independent publishers, not independent measurements. Each one reproduces a table originally set by a standards body, so agreement between them shows a value was transcribed correctly, not that the underlying table is right. Where a figure is safety relevant, check it against the tire manufacturer's own data before relying on it.

Symbol P, miles per hour: 94 mph (SR-CJTIRE) against 93 mph (SR-TIREGUIDE). 150 km/h converts to 93.21 mph. CJ Tire rounds up; the six other tables here that print an mph column round to nearest. Every source agrees the defined value is 150 km/h, so this site stores 150 km/h and derives 93 mph.

Symbol Q, miles per hour: 100 mph (SR-CJTIRE) against 99 mph (SR-TIREGUIDE). 160 km/h converts to 99.42 mph. Same rounding difference as symbol P, and the same resolution: the km/h figure is what the symbol is defined by, and the six other mph columns print 99.

Symbol Y, kilometres per hour: not printed (the cell reads N/A) (SR-CJTIRE) against 300 km/h (SR-AMESWEB). CJ Tire's chart leaves the km/h cell for Y blank while printing 186 mph next to it. Seven other tables print 300 km/h, and 186 mph is the conversion of 300 km/h, so this is a gap in one table rather than a competing figure.

Left out on purpose

  • (W), a tire tested above 270 km/h, is listed by one of the eight sources consulted (CJ Tire) and by none of the other seven. One source is not enough to publish a safety-relevant figure, so it has no row here. The general rule about brackets above still applies to it, and five sources state that rule.
  • Z on its own, without a following R, appears in older tables as a rating above 240 km/h. It is covered as a note under ZR rather than as a row, because the sources describe it as superseded rather than as a current published symbol.
  • Symbols above (Y) are not published. A tire faster than that carries a manufacturer's own statement of its maximum, not a standard symbol.