OWL means "Oulined White Lettering" meaning there is nice white letters in
the side of the tire.

The Continental tires that I have here all say REINFORCED on their side wall
and do not have P on the sizing.  Mine are 185R14 with no P at all.

David Marshall

Fast Forward Automotive Inc.
4356 Quesnel-Hixon Road
Quesnel BC Canada  V2J 6Z3

http://www.fastforward.ca    mailto:sales@fastforward.ca
Phone: (250) 992 7775        FAX: (250) 992 1160

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-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com]On Behalf
Of Maggie Dew
Sent: March 15, 2005 6:46 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: 15" wheel/tire report - caution

OK, I have a question.  Have been following this thread on reinforced
sidewalls, etc. and Ron's comment about sidewall ply rating:
    "sidewall ply RATING = may differ from the ACTUAL number of plies.
(Depending on the technology = used, fewer plies can go further now than
they did 25 years ago when the = standards were written.) You have to go
by the rating, not the actual number of = plies. If the tire is listed
as "load range C," "load range D", 6PR, 8 PR, or "sidewall reinforced,"
it will generally meet VW spec. . ."

So, I went on Bridgestone's website to see what my tires are rated - I
have Dueler A/T with UNI-T, P205/75R15  97S - and the "load range"
column is blank.  The "sidewall rating" says OWL although there is no
legend telling me what the heck that means.  So - do I or don't I have
reinforced sidewalls on those 15" wheels?

Maggie

'85 Westaru "Anne Bonney"