Tire cord composite and pneumatic tire

In a textile cord comprised of plies of cabled yarns, the improvement which comprises a cord composite comprised of a plurality of dissimilar plies of individual yarns helically cabled together, having one to six plies of aramid yarn characterized by having a modulus, at one percent elongation and at a twist of about one turn per inch, in the range of about 250 to about 600 grams per denier and one to twelve plies individually selected from polyester and/or nylon yarns characterized by having a modulus, at one percent elongation and at a twist of about one turn per inch, in the range of about 20 to about 100 grams per denier, where said yarns are cabled by twisting together helically about one another to form a cord having a twist of cabled yarns, or plies, in the range of about two to about 16 turns per inch, where said aramid yarn has a residual twist in its ply in the range of about one to about six turns per inch opposite the cord twist and said polyester or nylon yarn has a residual twist in its ply in the range of about 0 to about 0.5 turns per inch opposite the cord twist, so that (A) at an initial cord elongation, under an initial longitudinal tensile stress, the primary load bearing ply is the polyester or nylon as such yarn stretches while said aramid yarn extends without appreciable stretch, and (B) after additional elongation of the cord, under appreciable additional longitudinal tensile stress, the primary load bearing yarn is the aramid as it reaches substantially full extension.