New Conti Eco Gen 5 tyre line for trucks
Continental has presented the fifth-generation Conti Eco tyre line for freight transportation. The new product is geared squarely to the needs of customers in the transport sector and a dynamic regulatory environment, which means it also meets all the requirements of the EU Taxonomy for fleets.
The completely newly developed truck tyres from Continental allow haulage companies to significantly reduce their fuel consumption and CO2 emissions in both regional and long-distance operations, and to cut costs.
With the new generation of the Conti Eco, the tyre manufacturer’s development experts were able to resolve the conflicting goals of optimised rolling resistance and high mileage.
The tyres are available across Europe in numerous sizes 3– in Conti Eco HS 5 form for the tractor unit’s steer axle and Conti Eco HD 5 form for the drive axle.
With the new, fifth-generation Conti Eco, Continental says it is reducing its number of tyre lines for freight transportation.
“Our new tyre builds on its successful predecessors – the Conti EcoPlus Gen3+ for long-distance haulage and the Conti EcoRegional Gen3+ for regional transport,” explains Hinnerk Kaiser, who is responsible for the development of truck and bus tyres at Continental.
“The new Conti Eco brings together the best qualities of the Conti EcoPlus and Conti EcoRegional, and elevates them to a new level.”
This is made possible by optimised rolling resistance and higher mileage capability – classically conflicting goals in the world of tyre development.
“In the past, if a tyre ran particularly smoothly and therefore needed less drive energy, that might come at the expense of robustness and durability,” points out Kaiser.
Now the tyre developers at Continental concentrate on mileage-neutral measures to improve rolling resistance across all components – in the construction of the casing, the treads and the design of the overall contour and tread.
The treads, with their two-layer construction (cap base) and innovative compounds, enable a high mileage and considerable robustness while also optimising rolling resistance. The road contact compound (cap) allows the developers to focus on mileage and robustness.
At the steer axle, a thicker under-tread reduces rolling resistance – but it also enables tread compounds with a focus on extending mileage. At the drive axle, the optimised shoulder design with innovative sipe form in the tread shoulder area plays a key role in promoting even tyre wear – which also has a positive effect on mileage.
In the casing, several compound components and a new bead geometry are tailored to optimise rolling resistance. These measures combine to produce an up to 12 per cent improvement in rolling resistance and an up to 10 per cent increase in mileage over the two predecessor products, according to Continental.