M + S tyre markings are effectively meaningless - Continental

ERJ staff report (DS)

Hannover, Germany -- Continental AG has said some tyres bearing the M+S marking ("mud and snow“), are not really suitable for winter. The reason: The directive for M+S marking does not define any tyre properties and is therefore essentially meaningless.

The standard fitting of cars in the USA with so-called all-season tyres means even summer tyres produced cheaply in the Far East are given this marking even though they are not suitable for winter roads.

The rules for the M + S label are defined in article 2.2 of Annex II to Directive 92/23/EC adopted by the Council in March 1992.

The Austrian automobile, motorcycle and touring club ÖAMTC recently carried out road tests with summer tires marked as M+S tires. “The braking distance from 50km/h on a snowy road was more than double the braking distance with a proper winter tire,” said ÖAMTC tire expert Friedrich Eppel. “During the test, when the car with the winter tires had already come to a standstill, the car with the poor quality tires was still travelling at a residual speed of around 38 km/h,” he warned.

The test car with the incorrect tyres took more than twice as long for the “sprint” from 0 to 30 km/h in the snow. Moving off at traffic lights or even on a hill becomes a matter of luck rather than normality. He concluded by saying that you should only purchase winter tyres with expert advice, and not just by looking at the price:

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Press release from Conti