Menu

Season markings on tyres

As a rule, a tyre’s sidewall always shows which season, weather or road surface it is meant for. Interestingly, many motorists still believe that the M+S (M&S) marking means a tyre is a winter one, which is not true.

Serhii Maslov Section: Tyre markings Updated: First published:
All-season tyre marking

As a rule, a tyre carries information about the season and/or weather conditions it is meant for. Here is what some of the markings (symbols) that show a tyre’s season specialisation mean:

M+S (M&S) - tread lugs. This marking does not, under any circumstances, mean the tyre is a winter one, even though it stands for Mud and Snow. In fact, this abbreviation only means that the tyre’s tread is designed for driving off tarmac, or on tarmac covered in a slushy mix of mud and snow. It says absolutely nothing about the tyre’s rubber compound (which is exactly where the main difference between winter and summer tyres lies). The M&S marking is printed on winter, all-season and off-road summer tyres.

winter tyre marking

AS (All Season), Any Season, All Season, R+W (Road + Winter), AW (Any Weather), A.G.T. (All Grip Traction) - variants of the all-season tyre marking. As a reminder, an all-season tyre is absolutely not meant for use in severe cold and/or warm weather - only at around-zero temperatures.

Rain, Aqua, Water, Aquatred, Aquacontact, or a drawing of an umbrella mean the tyre provides improved water dispersal from the contact patch and, correspondingly, a reduced tendency to aquaplane - the so-called rain tyre.

A snowflake drawn on the tyre’s sidewall, or the word Winter, indicates a winter tyre.

More on this topic

What is aquaplaning?Tyre makers and sellers never stop frightening motorists with every means available with that scary word - aquaplaning. And in the fight to save you from it, they will not spare a penny. What are run-flat tyres?Tyres made using the technology called RunFlat have sidewalls strong and stiff enough to carry the car’s weight even once the pressure inside the tyre has dropped to match the outside air. Cross-ply and radial tyresWhat is the difference between cross-ply tyres and radial tyres? Uneven tread wear on a tyreA proper check of part-worn tyres before you buy will help you work out how evenly the tread has worn across its full width. How worn is the tyre?Most often it is the remaining tread that is considered the most important parameter of a part-worn tyre, but how informative is that measurement really? Running in winter tyresDo you need to run in new tyres, and how do you do it properly? Tyre makers strongly recommend extreme caution on the road for the first 500-700 km on new tyres.