Could be the world's safest tyre

Oct 15 2008 Steve Hughes

Could be the world's safest tyre

TYRE giant Goodyear is claiming one of the greatest-ever advances in tyre safety that will reduce the risk of accidents for millions of ordinary motorists.

The new OptiGrip tyre is so-called because it optimises grip even when the tyre is worn, which is one of the major causes of accidents.

In the case of ordinary tyres the grip worsens as the tyre becomes worn because the pattern gradually lessens until the tyre is completely bald and there is then virtually no grip at all.

The greatest danger is when the road surface is wet and a vehicle is subject to aquaplaning, which takes away control of the vehicle from the driver.

However, the OptiGrip tyre overcomes this by maintaining grip even when worn because of what the company calls SmartWear Technology.

This means that as the surface tread of the tyre wears down, new compounds and grooves appear to maintain wet grip and aquaplaning performance at a high level.

The tyre has been independently tested by the German organisation TÜV SÜD Automotive, which concludes that it shows better straight-line aquaplaning resistance after 12,500 miles than some new competitors' tyres and that it achieves a 20 per cent shorter braking distance on wet roads after 18,000 miles.

After 6,000 miles it was found to be five per cent better than its two main competitors, after 12,000 miles it was seven per cent better and after 18,000 miles the tyres enable identical vehicles to stop 20 per cent shorter than its two leading competitors.

The tyre is available in 16 different sizes and costs from £95 per tyre.