Bridgestone advances OE approvals with “tailoring approach”

Tokyo – Bridgestone Corp expects to complete around 100 OE fitments this year, the Japanese tire manufacturer announced 23 Aug.

The company said it has already gained more than 45 fitments on over 15 models since the start of 2018, with over 60 additional fitments scheduled by the yearend.

Models featuring Bridgestone as OE fitment include Ferrari Portofino, Porsche Cayenne, Mercedes A-Class and C-Class as well as Audi A1, A6, A7 and Q2.

Bridgestone attributed its progress to a “tailoring approach”, which involves close cooperation with OEMs “to create tire fitments fine-tuned to their specific demands.”

Depending on OEM demands, Bridgestone said it can develop advanced tread patterns, for instance, to provide: tighter cornering abilities by strengthening the sidewalls; or using nano-silica-mixing technology to minimise wear and extend tire life.

For example, it said, where Lexus and Mercedes wanted to offer security in the event of a blowout or punctured tire, the company accommodated incorporated run-flat technology (RFT) into its Turanza T005.

For the Ferrari Portofino, Bridgestone integrated RFT in its Potenza S007, which is designed to blend high G cornering with high-speed durability.

And for Porsche, which required dry-handling targets for the new generation of its Cayenne range, Bridgestone created “a unique sporty high silica compound” that delivered on these unique targets for dry-weather performance.

The Porsche range features 21-inch Bridgestone Dueler H/P Sport tire which the tire maker claims to be also "best-in-class" for wet handling.

“This tire even set the lap record on Bridgestone’s European proving ground wet handling test track,” said Mark Tejedor, VP of Original Equipment at Bridgestone EMEA.