tire type

You can determine your tire type by looking at the tire’s designation on the sidewall of your tire. The following describes the differences between the tire type designations:

P-Metric: A uniform designation of tire sizes in metric measurements. A typical P-Metric tire is P205/70R14 93S.

European Metric: This system was a conversion of the numeric system from inches to millimeters. The aspect ratio appears in the size designation in most cases where it is other than 82. A typical European Metric tire is 185/70R14 88S

LT-Metric: This system is used for light truck tires, and it mirrors the P-Metric system used for passenger tires. A typical LT-Metric tire is LT245/75R16 120R.

LT High Flotation: This type is for light truck tires with lower sidewalls and wider treads that yield better traction on surfaces such as sand and soft soil found in watery, off-road situations. A typical tire is 31X10.50R15 LT LRC

4wd tyres

4wd tyres come in a variety of different sizes and tread patterns and sometimes are made for very specific uses. Most standard 4wd vehicles will come with a Highway Terrain (HT) or All Terrain (AT) 4wd tyre. The HT tread pattern is usually a less aggressive tread design than the AT with the HT tyres designed to be used mainly on-road. The HT tyres have little ability to handle much in the way dirt or mud as the HT tread design is more shallow and less aggressive than the All terrain and Mud terrain tyres. All Terrain tyres are able to handle more dirt and mud in between its tread, and provide more grip and drivability, because of extra depth and aggression in the design of the tyres tread pattern. Whilst being more aggressive than the HT the AT is still designed to be used on-road without any adverse effects. Mud Terrain (MT) tyres are 4wd tyres made primarily to be used for serious off-road driving, they have a very aggressive, deep tread design, made to handle large amounts of dirt and mud. These tyres are very knobbly and when used on-road can create a noisy, uncomfortable ride at high speeds. Most drivers using Mud Terrain tyres understand the limitations of these tyres and they are perfectly safe to be used on-road but inexperienced drivers should take care to understand the handling characteristics of these aggressive tyres when used at high speed.

source: http://www.tyrescentral.com.au/4wd-tyres.html