What does the XL marking mean?
When buying tires, many car owners prioritize durability. Indeed, considering the road quality in some regions, durability can be considered a more important characteristic than a short braking distance on a wet surface. But how to find durable tires? Are there any markings that indicate a special tire structure? Many people mistakenly believe that it is the XL marking. Today we will talk about why this marking does not indicate durability and what to pay attention to in order to choose the most durable tires.
The XL marking, contrary to the understanding of the majority of car owners, means not durability, but increased load-carrying capacity. Moreover, this marking only means that the standard load index for this tire is increased by 3 points, or by 75 kg. In fact, if you use standard tires with a standard load, then switching to tires with the XL marking makes no sense, but if you drive with maximum loading, then the total load-carrying capacity of the tires in 300 kg will not hurt. Durability has nothing to do with it, because durability is the ability of the carcass to withstand impacts and all kinds of pinching. As a rule, this is achieved by special protective components and technologies. At the same time, the load-carrying capacity of tires is not always achieved by increasing the thickness of the tire carcass.
What to pay attention to when choosing durable tires?
First of all, on the technologies declared by the manufacturer. In some cases, it is worth simply trusting the information in the advertisement, because the manufacturer understands the demand for durability of tires and makes special models for this, with special technologies. At the same time, not all technologies have regulatory markings and special symbols.
If the tires have a DOT marking, as you know it may not be and there's nothing scary or illegal about it. So, if it is present, then the tire should also have a composition of layers on the sidewall, namely their number. If in the "Sidewall ply" line you see "1 polyester", it means that there is one layer of carcass in the sidewall. If durability is the most important factor for you, try to find a tire with two or three carcasses. But remember that in this case, you can significantly lose in comfort. As a rule, tires of Asian brands are famous for this. In particular, Bridgestone often equips its tires with a double carcass.