EU vs Korean vs Japan label: Since the introduction of tire labels by Japan in 2010, the European Union & Korea has followed suit in 2012 while brazil started theirs in 2016. The label was introduce with the intention that consumers are able to distinguish the performances of the tires through the label and make a concise decision. This makes perfect sense as you can not really test the tires and return them back if you are not satisfied with it.
As the label methodology of all the labels are the same, they can be easily inter exchangeable. For example a wet label A in Europe would meant a label 1 in Korea while also an a in Japan. See table below showing the grading of EU, Korean and Japan labels.
| Rolling Resistance Coefficient (N/kN) | EU | Korea | Japan |
| RRC ≤ 6,5 | A | 1 | AAA |
| 6,6 ≤ RRC ≤ 7,7 | B | 2 | AA |
| 7,8 ≤ RRC ≤ 9,0 | C | 3 | A |
| 9,1 ≤ RRC ≤ 10,5 | D | 4 | B |
| RRC ≥ 10,6 | E | 5 | C |
| Wet grip index, G | EU | Korea | Japan |
| 1,55 ≤ G | A | 1 | a |
| 1,40 ≤ G ≤ 1,54 | B | 2 | b |
| 1,25 ≤ G ≤ 1,39 | C | 3 | c |
| 1,10 ≤ G ≤ 1,24 | D | 4 | d |
| G ≤ 1,09 | E | 5 |
Few things to take note when comparing the labels. The EU labels contain a noise category which was excluded in both the Korean & Japan labels. While Japan label do not contain a category where the wet grip index in G ≤ 1,09. Apart from these two items the rest of the labels are essentially the same.
As the Korea & Japan market host quite a big bunch of the Asia specific tire lines, it is possible to compare the wet braking & rolling resistance performance of the top premium brands. We have done so via our post when were looking to compare the tires from the comfort segments.
Overall the tire labels are a good source of information to rank your prospective tires based on wet braking & rolling resistance. However, we should not overly rely on it too much as performance such as wear, aquaplaning, dry & handling criteria are not shown in the labels.