UTQG Ratings Explained: What 500 A A Actually Tells You

July 10, 2026 · ExtraBrake

On every all-season and summer tire's sidewall (and on every ExtraBrake product page) you'll find a UTQG rating like 500 A A. It's a US-government-mandated grading with three parts — useful, if you know what each one measures.

Treadwear (the number)

Measured against a reference tire rated 100 on a controlled course. A 500-treadwear tire lasted five times longer than the reference in that test. Use it to compare within a brand with confidence, and across brands as a rough guide: a 700-treadwear touring tire will outlast a 300-treadwear performance tire, always. What it doesn't tell you is grip — treadwear and grip generally trade off, which is why track tires rate 200 and lower.

Traction (first letter)

Graded AA, A, B or C, this measures wet braking on government test surfaces. Nearly every quality tire scores A; AA marks the best wet-stoppers, and anything below A on a modern passenger tire is a caution flag.

Temperature (second letter)

A, B or C — the tire's resistance to heat at sustained highway speed. A means it stays safe at over 115 mph sustained; C meets only the legal minimum. Almost everything we stock rates A or B.

How to use UTQG when shopping

Decide your priority first. Commuting and long highway miles: treadwear 500+ with an A traction keeps costs per mile low. Spirited driving: accept 300–400 treadwear for stickier rubber. Then verify the trade-off is real — a tire claiming both 700 treadwear and sporty grip is usually optimistic about one of them. Filter your size on ExtraBrake and open a few product pages; the UTQG line in the specs table makes honest comparison easy.