What do the different treadwear and traction ratings mean (ex. 300 AA)? Which are the best to shoot for? Thanks.

Brandon
'95 GS, Auto.
AEM CAI w/ bypass

The treadwear number (160, 240, 300 ect...) tells you how long the tire will last under use...BUT! it is only consistant within a paticular brand. For example one michelin tire with a 200 rating will last twice as long as a michelin tire with a 100 rating, but that doesn't mean it will last twice as long as a yokohama tire with a 200 rating.

You should be actually looking for as LOW as a treadwear rating as possible for performance! The lower the number, the softer the tire compound, the better the grip. Look at the type r integra, those stock tires won't last more than 10K miles because they are high performance.

For the other ratings there are for temperature and traction (for wet conditions) which go from C to A (actually up to AA for traction). Try to get as high as possible, especially in the temperature rating since that means it will resist hard use more. The higher traction rating will perform better in wet conditions.

Todd Scungio
98 RS
15.803 @ 86.48 MPH

VX100 is right. Treadwear is how long your tire will supposedly last. 300 is an average number, my Bridgstone were 480 so that tire would last a very long time. Getting lower treadwear rating doesn't necesarily mean that your getting more traction also. Traction (AA-C) is how good the tire will grip in rain or any condition. Temperature (AA-C) is how well the tire handles heat, the hotter your tyres get they will lose grip. (Heh on my old 14 inch tyres I would always chirp at a stop sign because of heat) :P There are speed rating also: H is like 130 and Z is 150+ Those are the highest and the lowest, heh like I drive that fast it's illegal :P This means that the tyre is made to handle that much speed b4 it start tread separation. (bad thing :( ) You can also use this in a factor to how much grip or quality your tire is. Heh I would still go with H I don't need super grip hehe, I like the slippety slide once in a while.

VX100 is right. Treadwear is how long your tire will supposedly last. 300 is an average number, my Bridgstone were 480 so that tire would last a very long time. Getting lower treadwear rating doesn't necesarily mean that your getting more traction also. Traction (AA-C) is how good the tire will grip in rain or any condition. Temperature (AA-C) is how well the tire handles heat, the hotter your tyres get they will lose grip. (Heh on my old 14 inch tyres I would always chirp at a stop sign because of heat) :P There are speed rating also: H is like 130 and Z is 150+ Those are the highest and the lowest, heh like I drive that fast it's illegal :P This means that the tyre is made to handle that much speed b4 it start tread separation. (bad thing :( ) You can also use this in a factor to how much grip or quality your tire is. Heh I would still go with H I don't need super grip hehe, I like the slippety slide once in a while.