1 Apr 2016
London - The arrival of the first ever runflat designed specifically for the replacement tire market promises a new opportunity for the product to break out from its niche-market status
When they were launched over a decade ago, runflat tires seemed an attractive offering – enabling cars to run safely for many miles on a puncture. This capability, moreover, could eliminate the need to carry a spare tire – reducing weight and offering new design possibilities for vehicle manufacturers.
Problems with ride comfort, rolling resistance and replacement costs, though, meant runfats never really took off and were generally consigned to some fairly niche segments of the market.
The DriveGuard tire was launched by Bridgestone in Europe earlier this year, following what companies officials said was a successful introduction in North America over a year ago, with around 1 million units sold.
Runflats are likely to feature prominently on many tire makers’ stands at the Reifen 2016 trade show in Essen, Germany, and it will be interesting to see what further innovations and offerings that to overcome the cost and technical issues that held back the uptake of runflats.
In the next issue of ERJ, we will be looking at these developments and for our report would welcome your views on runflats and what future if any you see for them in the market.
Email your views on this topic to the editor Patrick Raleighxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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