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Where the (Silica-Polymer Compound) Rubber Meets the Road
Look at any car rendering and you'll see the tires get the least attention. The treads are hidden by fancy fenders, and the thin black ellipses offering the barest suggestion of rubber are there only to provide an outline for a flashy rim design. Yet tires require design too, and Japanese manufacturer Falken has come up with a breakthrough by mucking around with them on the materials level.
Falken has struck upon a blend of silica/polymer/rubber to create a new compound that doesn't heat up as much, during rolling, as the conventional stuff. This means less rolling resistance and improved mileage. The properties of the material also cause it to provide a larger point of contact with the asphalt than a same-sized tire made of conventional material, which means Falken's offers better grip.
The designers have also redesigned the tread pattern to better evacuate water when driving in the rain, and added their "Special Eyes" feature to the treads: See those little dots in the pattern? As the tire wears away, the dots turn from round to square, letting you know it's time to rotate them. Eventually the square disappears altogether, meaning it's time for a new set.
The tire, called the ZIEX ZE914, is scheduled to be launched in Europe this Spring. They're mum on North American plans, with Falken's U.S./Canada website offering no mention of the tire, but more details on the tire are here.
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Comments
"Silica effectively improves wet grip. When someone wants 15,000 miles out of a sport touring tyre, you’re not going to be able to use a very soft compound there. You’re going to have to have a medium to hard compound which isn’t going to be that good in the wet.
Silica improves a harder compound’s ability to work in the wet. It’s all about temperature. A hard compound might not really work between 10 degrees and 90 degrees, say, and if it’s raining it might never get to that 10 degrees. Silica brings the effective operating temperature down to zero or one degree, so it will work in the wet. Silica also extends the tyre’s performance at the top end of the range by reducing the effects of overheating.
The only trouble with silica is that it’s very expensive and very difficult to process. Some companies used to put a tiny amount in their tyres and then advertise them as ‘silica’ tyres. A lot of Avon compounds are stacked full of it, so we call ours Super Rich Silica Compound just to get across to people that it’s not just a gimmick."