The European tyre label: what is on it and what is not

Haven’t you noticed how the conversation in a tyre shop has changed? Once the sales assistant praised a tyre with “quality for ever” and “it handles everything”, and now he jabs a finger at the sticker on the tread: “Look, class A! The best tyre!” A killer argument. Trouble is, class A on the label is a grade for one parameter of the tyre, measured by a standard method, and not a grade for the tyre as a whole. Let’s work out what it really says.

What does a tyre label show?

The first European label appeared on 1 November 2012 (Regulation (EC) No 1222/2009) with scales from A to G. Since 1 May 2021 Regulation (EU) 2020/740 on the labelling of tyres with respect to fuel efficiency and other parameters has been in force, and the sticker has become simpler:

• fuel efficiency (that is, rolling resistance): classes from A to E;
• wet grip: also from A to E;
• external noise: a number in decibels and a class A, B or C;
• the mountain with three peaks and a snowflake, and the ice mark: only for tyres that have passed the relevant tests;
• the QR code: a link to the Europe-wide EPREL database.

The regulation itself states that tyres, mainly through rolling resistance, account for 20-30% of a car’s fuel consumption, and the European Commission estimates the difference between adjacent fuel efficiency classes at 80 litres of fuel on average over the life of the tyres. The difference between adjacent wet grip classes, by the same estimate, can mean an extra 3-6 metres of braking distance, which is roughly the length of the car standing in front of you at the traffic lights.

Noise is a separate story. Class A means the tyre is at least 3 decibels quieter than the limit for its width. But this is external noise, the kind pedestrians hear. Nobody rates the drone inside the cabin (the resonance of the air inside the tyre) on the label, and a “quiet” class A tyre will be quiet above all for pedestrians.

In Ukraine the same sticker is often seen on tyres brought in from the EU, and online shops usually copy its classes into their product pages.

Who assigns the classes, and can you trust them?

An independent laboratory? A state commission? No: the classes on the label are set and declared by the tyre supplier itself, that is, the maker or the importer. It does not measure them as it pleases, though: it follows the common methods of UNECE Regulation No. 117. Wet grip, for example, is worked out relative to a reference tyre (it is a comparative index, not metres of braking distance). The regulation does not require an independent check of every model, and market surveillance authorities, as the European Commission admitted in its 2026 report, do not check tyres everywhere, and do so only rarely. Among the models that were checked, in some places half or even more did not match what was declared (admittedly, the suspicious ones get checked first).

Does that mean the label is just advertising? No. Almost every tyre in the EU has public classes measured by a single method, and the supplier answers to the supervisory authorities for a false sticker, which a test made to order cannot boast of. But it is the supplier’s own declaration, not a guarantee. And whether the classes of cheap tyres from little-known brands deserve the same trust, read in a separate article.

And here is what sellers keep quiet about: the class is assigned not to a model in general but to a specific size, and the same model in one tyre size may have class A for wet grip and in another B or C. So check the label for your own size, not the advertising leaflet.

The snowflake, ice and the QR code

The mountain with three peaks and a snowflake (3PMSF) means the tyre passed the standard test on packed snow and did no worse than the minimum set. For what this mark gives you compared with the old M+S, read in the article on winter marks on a tyre.

The ice mark goes on tyres for a genuinely severe winter, which have passed a braking test on solid ice to ISO 19447. The regulation itself says the buyer must be warned that on a wet road and in warmer weather such tyres may behave worse, and for most of Ukraine with its thaws that is a reason to think before buying a “northern” tyre for the sake of the mark. And one more thing. Studded tyres have no label at all: the regulation does not directly cover them, so the absence of a sticker is not a sign of a fake.

The QR code leads to the European Product Registry for Energy Labelling (EPREL), where you will find the same label and the tyre’s information sheet (supplier, size, load index and speed rating, classes). It is handy when you need to check whether the seller has “drawn” the classes in the advert himself. Just do not get the two confused: the week and the year in that sheet are the start of production of the model in that size, not the date your own tyre was made (only the DOT code on the sidewall knows that date).

What will the label not tell you?

And now about what is not on the sticker (which, frankly, is most of what a driver feels):

• braking and handling on dry asphalt (they are not measured here at all);
• how far the tyre beats the minimum on snow and ice: the marks work on a “pass or fail” principle;
• resistance to aquaplaning (braking on a wet road and a tyre “floating” on a layer of water are different physics, and it is the second that rain tyres are designed against);
• wear and mileage: the wear method for passenger-car tyres was agreed only recently, there is still none for mileage, and they have so far only been promised for the label;
• the behaviour of a worn tyre: all the classes apply to a new one, and as the tread wears, wet grip gets worse.

This is where tyre tests come in handy, though not without reservations. A mechanic I know grumbles that customers now arrive with the classes printed out, yet still do not ask about tyre pressure and the date of manufacture.

To sum up: the label is a useful hint from the supplier itself, but not a verdict on the tyre. Use it to compare tyres of the same size, do not economise on the wet grip class, and set the fuel efficiency class against your own mileage: that one is your call. And remember: no letter A will shorten the braking distance of a driver who does not keep a safe distance.

Everything about tyre markings