PARIS (Oct. 6, 2014) — Group Michelin intends to adapt its “Evergrip” tread-regenerating design technology for European conditions “in the years ahead,” the company disclosed at the Mondial de l'Automobile 2014 last week.
Unveiled in the U.S. in January in the Premier A/S tire, the technology is claimed to deliver consistent wet traction as the tire becomes worn.
The Premier A/S combines a rubber compound designed for enhanced wet grip, hidden grooves that emerge as the tire wears down and expanding rain grooves that widen over time, Michelin said at the time.
Michelin did not provide more specifics as to when and in what form the technology would be adapted for use in Europe.
Michelin also is using the Paris Auto Show, which runs Oct. 4-19, to highlight its Alpin 5 winter tire and Latitude Sport 3 premium SUV tire.
The Alpin 5 uses Michelin's fourth-generation sunflower-oil-based “Helio” rubber compounding technology and a deeply grooved directional tread design with a 17-percent higher void ratio than previous generations of the winter line.
The Latitude Sport 3 is being offered in 18- through 21-inch rim diameter sizes for premium SUVs such as the Porsche Macan or BMW X5, Michelin said. The tire maker claims the new tire cuts stopping distance on wet pavement by up to 8 feet vs. previous generations of the line.
Michelin also is highlighting a tall and narrow concept tire — size 145/70R17 — that's being used on Renault S.A.'s EOLAB lightweight plug-in hybrid prototype, which the French car maker claims can achieve 282 mpg while emitting just 22g/km of CO2.
The French tire maker also said at the show that it's conducting a research initiative to monitor the driving habits of 2,800 motorists in real time. Deployed across Europe, the road-use laboratory will gather data on how motorists with different driving habits use their vehicles every day. The findings will then be used to support product innovation by the tire maker.