Michelin seeks max rolling-resistance standards in US

ERJ staff report (TB)

Washington DC -- A maximum rolling-resistance standard should be added to the proposed tyre fuel-efficiency rating rule, according to Michelin North America Inc.

“A maximum rolling-resistance standard would unequivocally remove the worst rolling-resistance tyres from the market and would complement and further promote the intent of the tyre fuel-efficiency consumer information program,” said Michelin, the only tyre manufacturer to file comments separately on the pending National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) standard. “A standard would reward those tyre manufacturers who aggressively seek lower rolling resistance characteristics for their tyres.”

Michelin, which considers itself in the vanguard of research into lower tyre rolling resistance, has for years advocated a maximum rolling resistance standard. The Rubber Manufacturers Association's (RMA) comments to NHTSA on the tyre fuel-efficiency rule contained nothing about a maximum rolling-resistance standard.

In other aspects of the proposed rule, Michelin was more or less in agreement with the RMA. Like the association, Michelin opposed NHTSA's proposal to allow only certain aspects of the ISO 28580 test for measuring rolling resistance. “The favored NHTSA methods are not available in all other countries,” the Greenville, South Carolina-based tyre maker said.

Michelin also addressed the possibility of confusion between tyre fuel efficiency and Uniform Tire Quality Grading ratings, as well as problems within UTQG itself. The tyre maker opposed placing the date of manufacture on paper labels for tyre fuel-efficiency ratings, because it would require redesign of the labels every week and replicate information already molded into the tyres' sidewalls, the company said. It also supported extending the tyre fuel-efficiency labeling requirement to original equipment tyres as well as replacement tyres.

From Tire Business (A Crain publication)

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