EU tire labeling / Efficiency classes

With regulation number 1222/2009, the European Union introduced the EU tire labeling, which is of binding and identical nature for all EU member states. This applies to tires for cars, light and heavy vans that were produced after 01.07.2012.
The tires are classified in the EU tire label based on three performance characteristics: fuel efficiency (letters from A to G), wet adhesion (letters from A to G) and external noise emissions (decibels).

The following EU tires are not affected by labeling: coated tires, professional off-road tires, racing tires, tires equipped with integrated functions to improve traction, such as nail tires (spikes), T-type spare tires, special tires for mounting on vehicles registered before 1 October 1990, tires with a maximum permitted speed index of 80 km/h, tires with rims with a nominal diameter smaller than or equal to 254 mm or larger than or equal to 635 mm.
With this regulation, the EU wants to promote economic and environmental efficiency in road traffic and to increase road safety while also offering consumers more transparency with regard to the product, also as an active decision-making tool.
Specialists discuss the fact that the EU tire label reflects too few product characteristics. The tires have many more product characteristics, important and relevant for safety, such as water slippage, taxi stability, service life, braking characteristics on dry and wet roads, behavior in winter conditions, etc.
Tire manufacturers draw attention to the fact that the results of the tests carried out by different institutions and specialized journals are still a very important means of information for the end user. These normally prove not only the three product characteristics that are registered on the EU tire label, but also up to 11 other product characteristics that are relevant to safety.