MILAN, Italy (Dec. 18, 2015) — Pirelli Tyre S.p.A. recently tested an ultra-high-performance tire made with rubber derived from guayule, culminating a two-year research and development initiative Pirelli embarked on with Italian materials supplier Versalis.
Pirelli said in general the test tires “demonstrated the same performance as the equivalent tires made with synthetic polymers from oil-derived products” in a variety of extreme usage simulations, including wet road surfaces. Pirelli did not disclose which tire line/tread pattern it used for the tests.
Fabrizio Sanvito, project management and technical benchmark at Pirelli, said, “The track testing phase of our guayale rubber tires has been more than positive. The choice of a high-performance car to carry out these tests was dictated by the need to place the biggest possible demands on the tires and extract the most meaningful results.