This Is How Much Better Tires and a Few Decades Make a Difference

Take this from Wheels.ca from a few years back:

All these advances have come through extensive modeling of tires and road conditions on super computers. Computer modeling has answered the “what if” questions for engineers — “what if” we added this chemical; “what if” we changed the belts; “what if” the molecule of rubber were shaped differently. Finding such answers with prototype tires took too much money and too much testing time. Now tire engineers work at the nanometer level (one billionth).

Tire companies are altering how the various chemical elements in the tire link together, to make the product last longer, or be stickier, or both. Some tires use multiple tread compounds across the face of the tire, each for a specific weather condition. Goodyear’s TripleTred uses three.

Materials in the tires have evolved, growing both stronger and lighter; the weight of the tire has come down and the strength has gone up. Steel belts have replaced fabric cord. Less weight in the tire means better fuel economy and sharper handling. Goodyear makes extensive use of Kevlar in tires, as it’s stronger and lighter than steel, and is starting to make use of carbon-fibre. Lower tire weight has made lower profile tires possible.