Question: I’m shopping for new car tires and noticed that many have the letters T/A on them. What does T/A stand for on car tires?
Answer: Glad you hear you’re staying on top of tire shopping! It’s something that can be so easy to put off.
With BFGoodrich tires, T/A is nothing more than a name brand or series of tires. All of BFGoodrich’s tires for light trucks, SUVs and CUVs have the T/A brand, but there’s only one tire for passenger vehicles that have the T/A brand: the BFGoodrich Radial T/A.
What does T/A stand for on tires?
BFGoodrich does not mention what T/A stands for, but people have surmised that it stands for “Trans Am”, which is a historical reference to the Trans-Am Series, a famous American racing series where BFGoodrich was the series’ spec radial racing tire supplier in 1998.
Others have said it stands for “Traction Advantage.” This designation highlights the tire’s capability to provide improved traction and stability across various driving conditions.
Either way, T/A is not a tire designation that guarantees a level of performance, such as the M+S (Mud and Snow) designation on all-season tires. Typically, you’ll find these standardized information across all tires:
- Tire size designation (e.g. P205/55R16)
- Load and pressure markings (e.g. Max load, max pressure)
- Load rating, speed rating (e.g. 92V)
- UTQG rating (e.g. treadwear, traction, temperature)
- M+S and snowflake symbol
T/A is not a standard data point used across the tire industry, so you won’t see it on other tire brands.
Is the T/A only on truck tires?
Most of BFGoodrich’s tires that have the T/A designation are classified as “Light Truck/SUV/CUV” tires, including:
- All-Terrain T/A KO3
- HD-Terrain T/A KT
- Trail-Terrain T/A
- All-Terrain T/A KO2
- Mud-Terrain T/A KM3
- Mud-Terrain T/A KM2
- Krawler T/A KX
- Commercial T/A All Season 2
- Advantage T/A Sport LT
Their performance range only has two tires, but none of them have the T/A ending:
- g-Force COMP-2 A/S PLUS
- g-Force Rival S
Their side-by-side vehicle (SSV) and utility task vehicle (UTV) range has one tire, the Mud-Terrain T/A KM3 UTV, which has the T/A designation.
Finally, for passenger cars, BFGoodrich has the Advantage Control and the Radial T/A.
Are T/A tires good tires?
Tires from BFGoodrich that have the T/A brand can be designated as all-season tires but do not have the M+S designation, such as the Krawler T/A KX, which BFGoodrich calls the “world’s best rock-crawling tire.”
T/A tires can also be for commercial use, such as the Commercial T/A All Season 2. This is an all-season tire that has the M+S designation, meaning it can drive on roads with wintertime restrictions.
Finally, T/A tires like the Trail-Terrain T/A are all-weather tires with both the three-peak mountain snowflake symbol as well as the M+S symbol.
Xuyun Zeng is a content strategist with a wide-ranging content background including tech, journalism, cars and health care. After graduating with highest honors in journalism, Xuyun led a newspaper to win eight awards, helped start an award-winning film industry podcast and has written over a hundred articles about cars repair, state laws and insurance. Prior to joining Jerry, Xuyun worked as a freelance SEO consultant with a mission to create the best content that will help readers and grow organic traffic.
Ashley Eneriz is an editor and finance writer with over 15 years of experience in a wide range of financial topics, including car loans and insurance. In editing for Jerry, Ashley aims to make all car material reader-friendly for both the new driver and car enthusiast alike. Prior to joining Jerry, Ashley was the financial deputy editor for ConsumerAffairs. Her work is featured on Forbes, Yahoo, MSN, The Hartford and more.
