Drive and trailer tyres developed especially for Australia on show in Brisbane
May 16, 2013
Japanese tyre giant Bridgestone has launched its range of low-rolling resistance tyres developed especially for the open road in Australia.
The “Ecopia” drive and trailer range has been available for several years in Japan, Europe and the United States. But it was only officially released in Australia at the Brisbane Truck Show.
Bridgestone says it couldn’t just bring one of the existing tyres into Australia because of different operating conditions and wear rates.
Hence what the company describes as exhaustive testing in the Bridgestone lab in Japan and on the road in Australia, with the cooperation of some of Australia’s leading linehaul fleets, including Thompson’s Transport in Victoria.
The result is a low-rolling resistance tyre with only slightly faster wear but achieving linehaul fuel savings of up to 6 percent, Bridgestone says.
“These have been real, repeatable results that we have seen time and time again across many weeks and months,” Bridgestone manager Claudio Sodano says.
This is on the back of 20 percent lower-rolling resistance compared with Bridgestone’s premium M722 and R295 products.
“A fleet that spends $23 million on fuel and $2.3 million on tyres per year could save up to $1 million a year based on the total fuel and tyre cost of using Bridgestone Ecopia drive and trailer tyres,” Bridgestone Australia Managing Director Andrew Moffatt says.
“The benefits continue when the Ecopia casings are used with Bandag low-rolling resistance retreads.”
Bridgestone argues that rolling resistance accounts for around 10 percent of a fleet’s total spending.
That is because fuel accounts for almost a third of costs, and rolling resistance accounts for about a third of that fuel use.
Ecopia tyres have conventional compounds in the tread. Bridgestone says the big difference lies in the chemistry within the Ecopia casing.
In a conventional tyre’s compound, carbon molecules inside the tyre clump together, causing friction and generating heat which leads to energy loss.
However the compound used in the sidewalls of the Ecopia M749 (drive) and R109 (trailer) features technology that keeps the carbon molecules dispersed, minimising energy loss and friction.
Bridgestone says the price premium for Ecopia tyres will be about 10 percent.
