What Goes Around--Emerging Trends In The Tire Industry
Of all of the many parts that go into making a vehicle, probably the most underrated are the tires. Although drivers don't think much about tires, this round piece of rubber is the only thing between them and the road. Because of this, tires contribute greatly to most of the things a driver finds important in their driving experience, such as safety, a smooth ride, and fuel efficiency.
About the only similarities between the earliest tires and those of today is that they are made of rubber and they are round. Throughout the evolution of the vehicle, tires have been an important part of research and development to make them even better than the ones before. This research and development has always led to interesting and useful new changes in the industry and current trends are no different as 2018 shows some very interesting ideas being developed.
- Contact Area Information Sensing (CAIS) - This emerging technology uses a sensor mounted on the inside wall of the tire which can detect road conditions contacting the tire and relay this information to the driver through a screen on the dashboard. CAIS technology is even being developed that can go a step further and communicate how the tires on other nearby vehicles are interacting with the road.
- Discolor Tires - Tires tend to be a part of a vehicle that are not maintained as well as they should and are sometimes allowed to wear down to a point of being unsafe. This is primarily due to the fact that unless the driver gets down and looks closely at the tires it can be hard to tell how much they are wearing down. This problem has been addressed by baking a layer of colored rubber into the tire during manufacturing. When the tire wears down to an unsafe tread level, the normally black tire turns bright orange. This leaves drivers with no excuse for not knowing the tires are worn out.
- New Materials - Rubber has traditionally been the only material that works well for tires. This has placed an enormous burden on rain forests where rubber trees are harvested. This has led to research to find alternate substances to use. Two promising candidates are guayule, which is a shrub found in the deserts of the southwest United States, and Russian dandelion roots. Both of these plants produce a substance similar to rubber but still require more development before they become economically feasible.
As vehicles become fancier and more expensive, drivers will demand a smoother ride, a safer ride, and a lower gas consumption ride. The tire industry will continue making that happen. If you are looking to purchase new tires for your car, hire a mechanic to help with your tires, or to discover when your community will see these emerging tire innovations, contact a local tire company like C & A MOBILE TIRE SHOP.
