Hercules unveils Terra Trac AT II

FINDLAY, Ohio (July 1, 2013) — Hercules Tire & Rubber Co. is launching the Terra Trac AT II, a premium all-terrain light truck/SUV tire that replaces its 10-year-old Terra Trac AT.

The Terra Trac AT II offers a quiet, stable ride and a 60,000-mile limited warranty with road-hazard protection, the company said.

"We're going to completely replace the Terra Trac AT with a new Terra Trac AT II," Josh Simpson, vice president of marketing for Hercules, told Tire Business. "The reason we're doing that is the Terra Trac AT has been serving the market—and serving the market well—over the last, right around 10 years, and as you know, technology changes, tires change, consumers' needs change, and we saw a true need to upgrade or make a better tire to meet our customers' needs."

Hercules said the Terra Trac AT II is available in 46 SUV and LT SKUs, bringing Hercules' coverage of the premium, all-terrain replacement segment to nearly 90 percent. Besides having the limited mileage warranty, all sizes come with the private brand marketer's 30-day "Trust Our Ride" test drive policy.

"One of the major things that we've done, from a consumer standpoint, is we've increased our mileage warranty to 60,000 miles, and that's not only on the SUV sizes but on the light truck sizes also…," Mr. Simpson said,

The new tire has an improved tread design "to maximize the pitch sequence, so ultimately what's resulted is a quieter tire," Mr. Simpson said. "It still has the performance of an all-terrain tire, but has a quieter ride."

It also uses "AT-C"—an all-terrain compound that is "basically formulated to deliver enhanced wet traction and prolonged tread wear, he said, and the Terra Trac AT II has been enhanced with silica, something its predecessor Terra Trac AT did not have.

The Terra Trac AT II has 29-percent more sipes, which Mr. Simpson said "are very important in adverse weather conditions."

Other features of the Terra Trac AT II are:

Even wear-resistance and longevity that is delivered by beveled and rounded tread blocks;

A built-up buttress and deeper siping; and

Greater stability from tied tread blocks, EKG siping and a mold profile shape that creates a more stable contact patch.

"Consumers want—expect, really—high performance with great value. The Hercules Terra Trac AT II gives our dealers an edge by enabling them to offer exactly that: a quality tire that offers enormous value and delivers security, longevity, control, quiet and stability," Mr. Simpson said.

While Hercules is aiming the tire specifically at the all-terrain segment, he said it's fits well in the replacement market because "a lot of these tires don't see any off-road action, yet they are an all-terrain tire. Most of them remain on the road.

"So we are going after that replacement market for the pick-up trucks, the SUV, (and) the light truck segment…"

The tires are available in 15- to 20-inch rim diameters and, according to a company spokeswoman, are made in the U.S.

Consumers can use the tire finder on Hercules' website to find the right Terra Trac AT II for their vehicle and the dealer locator to find the nearest Hercules Tire dealer.