Patent ID: 8826950

Claim:
A pneumatic tire comprising a tread portion provided with an asymmetrical tread pattern comprising a pair of crown circumferential grooves disposed one on each side of the tire equator to define a crown rib therebetween, a central narrow circumferential groove being narrower and shallower than the crown circumferential grooves and disposed on the crown rib to subdivide the crown rib into a crown-rib outside portion and a crown-rib inside portion, cooling slots disposed on the crown-rib outside portion so as to extend from the adjacent crown circumferential groove toward the tire equator and terminate within the crown-rib outside portion, cooling slots disposed on the crown-rib inside portion so as to extend from the adjacent crown circumferential groove toward the tire equator and terminate within the crown-rib inside portion, cooling holes disposed in a ground contacting surface of the crown-rib outside portion, and cooling holes disposed in a ground contacting surface of the crown-rib inside portion, wherein when measured at the ground contacting surface, the cooling slots disposed in the crown-rib inside portion have an axial length, and the cooling slots disposed in the crown-rib outside portion have an axial length less than the axial length of the cooling slots disposed in the crown-rib inside portion.