Hi Everyone,
As Ronald6 mentioned, the numbers are the tyre wear and available grip left with the tyre.
So if the number next to a tyre reads 7, that means that you've used 2/10 of the tyre life and have 7/10 of the tyre grip still available.
Although I have found that I haven't experienced much difference with the wear numbers too much, but I did find that at 10, the tyres slip slightly on acceleration and if you brake too hard. (Longitudinal G Forces)
- Between 9 and 6, the tyres are working at optimum performance
- Between 6 and 4, the tyres will slip ever so slightly in Lateral G Forces (Side to Side), but not feel any different in acceleration or braking.
- From 3 and below, Be extremely careful (Very Low Grip / Easy to Spin)
The Letters next to the tyres are the tyre type:
CH = Comfort Hard
CM = Comfort Medium
CS = Comfort Soft
SH = Sports Hard
SM = Sports Medium
SS = Sports Soft
RH = Racing Hard
RM = Racing Medium
RS = Racing Soft
IN = Intermediate (Medium Wet)
W = Wet Weather Tyres
Then there's Dirt and Snow of which I haven't really used / tested.
The Colour Change isn't as much to do with tyre temperature, it signifies tyre stress.
- Dark Blue = New Tyre (Cold Tyre) - No wear to indicate
- Blue / Light Blue = Little Wear / Optimum Tyre Grip (Warm Tyre)
- White / Orange = Grip degradation (Through turning, braking or acceleration) - This is when the tyre starts wearing and the Tread starts to degrade (e.g. The Number starts to drop)
- Red = No Grip / High Stress (Sliding / Wheel Spin) - Higher tyre wear, Very High Tread degradation (e.g. The Number Drops Faster)
Sorry if this was a long post, I hope this covered what you were after @
BlueShift
EDIT: Changed the "Dark Blue" meaning to make it clearer.
EDIT2: As @
Flaren89 mentioned below, the Gages represent the same as the number. The Lower they are, the worn the tyre, As per the Numbered Example Above. This is just a visual representation of the number as well as incorporating the tyre stress colouring.