Why doesn't my tire have a UTQG rating?
Source: NHTSA UTQG tire ratings, last updated November 9, 2026 (UTC).
The exemption list below is the current text of 49 CFR 575.104 (eCFR), checked November 2, 2026. The counts are computed from the committed NHTSA ratings file, verified November 9, 2026 (UTC). Open the ratings table. What the grades mean.
Which tires the rule does not cover
Paragraph (c)(1), as checked November 2, 2026, reads:
This section applies to new pneumatic tires for use on passenger cars. However, this section does not apply to deep tread, winter-type snow tires, space-saver or temporary use spare tires, tires with nominal rim diameters of 12 inches or less, or to limited production tires as defined in paragraph (c)(2) of this section.
That wording matches paragraph (c)(1) adopted in the May 24, 1999 final rule (64 FR 27921). The same notice says the earlier exclusion was tires with nominal rim diameters of 10 to 12 inches. The current rule uses “12 inches or less,” and this page follows the current text.
| Tire | Where the rule says so | What the current text says |
|---|---|---|
| Deep tread, winter-type snow tires | 49 CFR 575.104(c)(1) | Named. The section does not apply. |
| Space-saver or temporary use spare tires | 49 CFR 575.104(c)(1) | Named. The section does not apply. The sentence does not name every spare. |
| Nominal rim diameter of 12 inches or less | 49 CFR 575.104(c)(1) | Named. This is the 1999 wording. The earlier exclusion described in 64 FR 27921 was 10 to 12 inches. |
| Limited-production tires | 49 CFR 575.104(c)(1) and (c)(2) | Named in (c)(1) and defined in (c)(2). The yearly limits are in the next table. The ratings file has no field that marks a tire as limited production. |
| Light-truck tires | 49 CFR 575.104(a), (b), and (c)(1) | Not named in the (c)(1) list. The section applies to new pneumatic tires for passenger cars. A light-truck tire is outside the section for that reason. |
| Criterion, as applicable | Limit |
|---|---|
| The manufacturer's yearly domestic production or importation of tires of the same design and size | Does not exceed 15,000 tires |
| When the tire is marketed under a brand name, the brand-name owner's yearly domestic purchase or importation of tires of the same design and size | Does not exceed 15,000 tires |
| That size as a recommended size on a new motor vehicle produced in or imported into the United States in the previous calendar year | The size was not listed for a vehicle produced or imported in quantities greater than 10,000 |
| The manufacturer's, and any brand-name owner's, yearly total of tires that meet the three limits above | Does not exceed 35,000 tires |
(c)(2) says the tire must meet all of those criteria, as applicable. The same paragraph says tire design is the combination of general structural characteristics, materials, and tread pattern, but does include cosmetic, identifying or other minor variations among tires.
Winter tires, all-season tires, and all-terrain tires
NHTSA has said the winter exception is a deep tread and tread design that makes year-round use on a passenger car inadvisable. All-season tires are not that exception (NHTSA interpretation, 1986, citing 44 FR 30140, May 24, 1979).
All-terrain is not named in 49 CFR 575.104(c)(1). A passenger-car tire sold as all-terrain can still be a tire the section covers. A light-truck all-terrain tire is outside the section because it is not a passenger-car tire, not because the words “all-terrain” appear in the rule. The ratings file has no category field. A line name that contains “A/T” is counted on the known-errors page as a name fragment, not as a light-truck label.
Light-truck tires, and how to read an LT size
49 CFR 575.104 says “passenger cars.” It does not use the 49 CFR 571.139 definition of “passenger car tire,” which also covers some tires for multipurpose passenger vehicles and trucks with a GVWR of 10,000 pounds or less. Those two sections are not the same list. The UTQG section, checked November 2, 2026, applies to new pneumatic tires for use on passenger cars, with the (c)(1) exceptions above.
49 CFR 571.139 S3 defines a light truck (LT) tire as a tire its manufacturer designates as primarily intended for use on lightweight trucks or multipurpose passenger vehicles. S5.5(b) requires the tire size designation listed in the rim publications named in S4.1.1, including the Tire and Rim Association. This site does not copy those publications. In the size text itself, a light-truck size uses an LT prefix, as in LT245/75R16, and some flotation sizes end in LT, as in 31x10.50R15LT. A passenger-car size often uses a P prefix, as in P215/65R16. Those three strings are examples of the text shape, not rows in NHTSA's file. S5.5(d) requires an LT tire to show the letter that designates its load range. On the sidewall that letter is written with the words “load range.”
The ratings file has no category, so this site cannot label a missing line as exempt and cannot label a present row as a light-truck tire. In the committed file verified November 9, 2026 (UTC), 0 source rows have size text that starts with LT.
The examples show the shape of a size. They are not tires in the NHTSA file, and the check does not say a tire is on sale. Reading the text runs in your browser.
A passenger-car tire can still be missing
49 CFR 575.104(d)(1)(i)(A) excepts a tire of a new tire line, manufactured within the first six months of production of that line, from the requirement to mold the grade into the sidewall. A passenger-car tire the section does cover can also be absent from NHTSA's list. Absence is not a grade, and it does not say the tire is unsold. The same is true of a line the file simply does not contain. Lines this file does not contain. How the files are read.
What to use instead of a missing grade
The treadwear explanation buyers are shown is quoted on the UTQG grades page. It says wear in use can depart from the government test course because of driving, service, roads, and climate. Where the tire maker publishes a treadwear warranty, that warranty is the maker's own mileage figure. It is not a UTQG treadwear number. An independent published test is a separate comparison, under the method that test describes. This page does not name a seller or a test.
KO2 and the BFGoodrich lines in this file
“KO2” here means those three characters in the line name, in either letter case. “K02” is the same check with a digit zero instead of the letter O. Both counts are rows in the committed ratings file. Grade rows are what this site shows after exact duplicate grade rows are collapsed. Open this list in the table: KO2.
| Check | Count |
|---|---|
| Source rows whose line name contains KO2 | 0 source rows |
| Grade rows whose line name contains KO2 | 0 grade rows |
| Source rows whose line name contains K02, with a digit zero | 0 source rows |
| Source rows under a BFGoodrich brand string | 27 source rows |
| Grade rows under that brand after letter case is merged | 27 grade rows |
| Tire lines under that brand | 20 tire lines |
| Source rows whose size text starts with LT | 0 source rows |
The committed file stores this brand as “BF Goodrich” on 26 source rows, and “BF GOODRICH” on 1 source row . Letter case is merged on this site as BF Goodrich. The file has no category, so these line names are not labeled passenger or light truck. All BF Goodrich lines. Open this list in the table: BF Goodrich.
| Tire line | Grade rows |
|---|---|
| Advantage Control | 2 |
| Advantage Control HT | 1 |
| Advantage T/A | 1 |
| Advantage T/A Sport | 2 |
| Advantage T/A Sport LT | 3 |
| Elite-Force T/A | 1 |
| g-Force COMP-2 A/S PLUS | 1 |
| g-Force Phenom T/A | 1 |
| g-Force R1 | 1 |
| g-Force Rival | 1 |
| g-Force Rival + | 1 |
| g-Force Rival S | 1 |
| g-Force Sport COMP-2 | 1 |
| Radial T/A | 2 |
| Radial T/A Spec | 1 |
| Rugged Terrain T/A | 1 |
| Rugged Trail T/A | 1 |
| Traction T/A | 1 |
| Trail-Terrain T/A | 3 |
| Trail-Terrain T/A+ | 1 |
- Advantage T/A Sport LT is 3 grade rows, with size text “H rated”, “T rated”, “V rated”. None of that size text starts with LT. The letters LT in the line name are not a category. The file does not have one.
A line that is not in the file is not a grade. The grade guide's note on a missing line.