Press Release
release
Continental Tires Combine Safety with Low Rolling
Resistance
Part of the product range for 25 years
Frankfurt/Hanover, September 2007. Combining safety with low rolling resistance has long been
a challenge for the people who develop tires at Continental. Since 1983, the leading German
tire maker has been producing budget-minded and environmentally friendly tires – for sedans
and smaller cars. At the same time, Continental has remained true to its conviction that
reducing rolling resistance shouldn’t mean sacrificing safety features – a balancing act for the
engineers, but one that has resulted in ever greater advances over the last quarter of a century:
since the early 1980s, the folks from Hanover have been able to reduce rolling resistance by
one-third while significantly improving safety-critical tire properties. After all, 20 percent of a
car’s fuel consumption is due to tire rolling resistance. Reducing this resistance therefore has a
direct impact on fuel consumption, but it mustn’t be achieved at the cost of a tire’s safety.
In 1983, Continental began offering the TS 771 – a tire with good cornering control, short
braking distances and low rolling resistance. As was usual at the time, the "recipe" for the
product, which was developed for compact to luxury-class cars, did not contain silica. The
engineers at Continental achieved the low rolling resistance with a tread surface mixture made
with special carbon blacks that contributed to lower fuel consumption.
Starting in 1987, Continental made the CT 21 summer tires "for cars with top speeds up to 190
km/h (118 mph)." The German automotive magazine, “mot,” praised the tire’s excellent safety
properties in its 5/87 issue. In the "good driving" test in the 4/88 issue, the experts also praised
the tire’s “extremely low rolling resistance.” The basis for this was the use of "vinyl rubber,"
which was completely new at the time.
In the early 1990s, a new material launched a revolution: silica. Silicic acid as a replacement
for carbon blacks in the tread surface mixture simultaneously helped to significantly improve
handling on wet roads, minimize braking distances, and reduce rolling resistance.
…/2
-2This went a long way toward resolving the major conflicting goals in tire development. From
then on, engineers were able to improve driver safety and reduce fuel consumption at the
same time. This innovative mixture was used in the ContiEcoContact for midrange cars as
early as 1992 and was combined with other construction features to deliver 23 percent less
rolling resistance.
In 1998, the ContiEcoContact EP offered further reduced rolling resistance for compact cars.
It featured shorter braking distances on wet and dry roads along with rolling resistance that
was about 20 percent lower than other tires that were not optimized in this area. At the same
time, tire carcasses and production methods were optimized for low fuel consumption and
high driver safety. Along with silica technology, the "cap-and-base" concept was introduced.
The developers at Continental also adapted tire contours – which also help determine rolling
behavior – for low rolling resistance.
It was quickly discovered that a high degree of skill was needed when dealing with silica
technology in order to master the complex mixing methods: the third generation of silica is
now being employed at Continental, and chemists and physicists work together with
mechanical engineers to discover new, even more refined compounds and materials. Proof
that their efforts over the last 25 years have paid off is evident in what is now the fifth
generation of safe tires with low rolling resistance. The current compact-class tire
ContiEcoContact 3, for example, and the ContiPremiumContact 2 for midrange cars and
above, are both products that combine high safety standards with low rolling resistance.
Bearing this success in mind, Dr. Holger Lange, a tire developer at Continental, views the
future with great optimism. "We believe that it is completely realistic to expect rolling
resistance to be reduced by nearly half over the next 30 years," Dr. Lange said. This could
mean about 10 percent lower fuel consumption thanks solely to new tires.
In developing new tires, the engineers at Continental place the focus on safety. "Short
braking distances, good handling for control of the vehicle even in adverse conditions, and
safe wet-weather performance have to be combined for this with the equally desirable low
rolling resistance," Dr. Lange explained. "This is the only way to meet and sometimes even
exceed the expectations of consumers and carmakers."
…/3
-3A modern tire is a high-tech construction that needs to achieve the best balance of features
as a whole. If one focuses entirely on a single point during development, all other features
automatically suffer. For example, tires that display good braking properties on wet roads but
low mileage performance will not be popular with either consumers or partners in the original
equipment market. Top safety, comfort and mileage performance and low rolling resistance
are interwoven – together with good design – in a highly complex development process, in
order to develop tires that are both safe and environmentally compatible. State-of-the-art
production facilities and materials contribute to this. In addition, Continental invests in basic
research in close partnership with universities and suppliers in order to continue to produce
safe and environmentally friendly products.
The Continental Corporation is a leading automotive supplier of brake systems, chassis components,
vehicle electronics, tires and technical elastomers. In 2006 the corporation realized sales of EUR14.9
billion. At present it has a worldwide workforce of around 89,000.
Continental’s tire divisions are an official sponsor of UEFA EURO 2008™, which will be held in Austria
and Switzerland in June 2008. Further information on this is available at www.ContiSoccerWorld.de,
www.contifanworld.com and www.conti-online.com.
Alexander Lührs
Head of PR - Passenger & Light Truck Tires
Continental AG
Büttnerstr. 25
30165 Hanover
Phone: +49 511 938-2615
Fax: +49 511 938-2455
E-Mail: alexander.luehrs@conti.de
Klaus Engelhart
Press Officer
Continental AG
Büttnerstr. 25
30165 Hanover
Phone: +49 511 938-2285
Fax: +49 511 938-2455
E-Mail: klaus.engelhart@conti.de
Corporate image and media library at: www.conti-online.com