A vehicle wheel tire having a symmetrical five rib tread construction with adjacent tread ribs comprising the tread separated by circumferential grooves. The intermediate tread grooves have an axial width wider than an axial width of the shoulder grooves and a center rib has an axial width wider than the axial widths of the intermediate ribs and the shoulder ribs. The axial width of the center rib, intermediate ribs, and shoulder ribs are within a prescribed preferred range of a total tread axial width and the axial width of each intermediate groove is within a prescribed preferred range of total tread axial width.