Tyre guide

When winter tyres are compulsory

Winter tyres are compulsory from 1 December to 1 March. The rule covers passenger cars (M1), vans up to 3.5 tonnes (N1), trailers of 0.75 to 3.5 tonnes (O2), and L6e and L7e vehicles with a cabin.

Studded tyres are allowed from 15 October to 31 March. In winter road and weather conditions they are also permitted from 1 October to 30 April — that exception follows the actual conditions, not the calendar.

The dates are a minimum, not advice. The driver decides when to change: early December can be dry tarmac and late March can be ice.

Source: Transpordiamet and Riigi Teataja, checked on 19.09.2026.

How deep the tread must be

During the compulsory period a winter tyre must have at least 3.0 mm of tread, a summer tyre at least 1.6 mm.

The Transport Administration's traffic expert advises thinking about a summer tyre at 2 mm already: the legal limit is not the depth at which a tyre still works well, it is the depth below which it may no longer be used.

That is exactly why a used tyre listing here prints the remaining tread in millimetres — without it there is nothing to compare a used tyre's price against.

Source: Transpordiamet, checked on 19.09.2026.

3PMSF, M+S and the ice symbol

Since 1 December 2022 only the three-peak mountain snowflake (3PMSF) counts in Estonia. The older M+S marking on its own is no longer enough: it is the manufacturer's own claim, with no compulsory test behind it.

The ice symbol is a separate marking about braking on ice. A tyre carrying it almost always carries 3PMSF too, so it narrows the choice rather than replacing it.

XL and RF mean reinforced load capacity: the same size carries more, but needs higher pressure. Where the car maker specified XL, an ordinary tyre of the same size is not an equivalent replacement.

How to read 195/65 R15 91T

195 is the width in millimetres. 65 is the profile, the sidewall height as a percentage of the width, so 195 × 0.65 ≈ 127 mm. R is radial construction. 15 is the rim diameter in inches.

91 is the load index and T the speed rating. Neither is a suggestion: both must be at least what the car maker entered in the vehicle documents.

Going up is always fine — a higher-rated tyre fits. Going down is not. That is why the catalog's load index filter is a floor rather than an exact match.

Load index table

The number is how many kilograms one wheel carries at the maximum permitted pressure.

Speed rating table

The letter is the top speed the tyre is designed for at the load its load index allows.

The EU tyre label

The label gives three things: fuel efficiency (rolling resistance), wet grip (braking distance) and external noise in decibels. Classes run A to E, A being best.

We take those classes from the European Commission's EPREL registry, looked up by the tyre's registration number, not from a supplier spreadsheet. When the registry does not know a tyre, no label is shown — we do not guess a class.

The product page links the registry's own label and product information sheet as PDFs. Showing the label in distance selling is required by Regulation (EU) 2020/740, but the practical reason is simpler: without it you cannot compare two tyres.

Tyre pressure

The correct pressure is printed on the car, not on the tyre: on the sticker in the driver's door pillar, inside the fuel flap, or in the manual. The figure moulded into the sidewall is the maximum permitted pressure, not a recommendation.

Most cars have a separate, higher figure for a full load. Check the pressure on cold tyres — after a drive the gauge reads higher.

We deliberately publish no per-model figures here: the same model with a different engine and different rims needs a different pressure, and a wrong number is worse than none.