Journalists of AutoPortal understood the intricacies of the manufacturing technology of non-puncture tires.

A tire puncture at high speed can lead to an accident, and at low speed - to an unforeseen and unpleasant delay on the way. This can be avoided by the so-called "puncture-free" tires, another name for which is RunFlat ("driving on a flat tire").

"Puncture-free" tires are in the tire line of many manufacturers:

• BF Goodrich - SSS (Self-Supporting Structure) series,

• Bridgestone - RFT series (RunFlatTire),

• Continental - SSR (Self Supporting Runflat), CSR (Conti Support Ring),

• Dunlop - DSST (Dunlop Self-Supporting Technology),

• Firestone - RFT (Run Flat Tire),

• goodyear-ROF,

• Kumho - XRP,

• Michelin-ZP (Zero Pressure),

• Nokian - RF (Run Flat),

• Pirelli - RFT (Run Flat Technology),

• Yokohama - RF (Run Flat).

"Puncture-free" tires will allow you to get to the nearest tire shop (if it is not further than 80 km) at speeds up to 80 km/h. Today, there are three types of technologies that allow a car to move after a tire puncture:

• self sealing tires

• tires with reinforced sidewalls,

• support systems.

Self-sealing tires

The simplest puncture protection. In such tires, an additional layer of sealant is placed inside the tread, which “tightens” the hole formed during the puncture.

Continental offers NailGard and GenSeal self-sealing systems. At the same time, the cost of a tire with a sealant can be only 100-150 UAH. more expensive than a similar tire without a sealing system.

Advantages of self-sealing tires

• Low cost (10-20% more expensive than a "regular" tire).

• Maintainability.

Cons of self-sealing tires

• Self-sealing is not possible if the sidewall is damaged or if there are large cuts.

• On wet roads or in cold weather, sealing is less effective.

Tires with reinforced sidewalls

Possible mileage on a "punched" tire is 80-250 km, depending on the manufacturer of rubber and vehicle loading. The presence of a puncture in such tires can go unnoticed, so the presence of a tire pressure monitoring system is mandatory.

For the first time such tires appeared in 1992 (Run-Flat series from Goodyear). Today, tires with reinforced sidewalls offer the most well-known manufacturers: BF Goodrich, Bridgestone, Dunlop, Michelin, Pirelli.

Tires with reinforced sidewalls are installed on premium cars and on armored models. The cost of such tires is 30-100% higher than the cost of "regular" tires. For example, Goodyear F1 GS-D3 run flat will cost 2200 UAH. The BRIDGESTONE DUELER HL 400 tire will cost 1624 UAH, and with the puncture-free BRIDGESTONE DUELER HL 400 Run Flat it will cost 2860 UAH.

Advantages of tires with reinforced sidewalls

• Not afraid of serious damage (including damage to the sidewall).

• Mounted on a regular rim.

Cons of tires with reinforced sidewalls

• Requires a tire pressure monitoring system and adapted suspension.

• Non-repairable. Only Goodyear (ROF and EMT tire series) and Dunlop (DSST series) allow repair of the tread part of such tires.

• Heavier and less comfortable.

Additional support systems

The principle of operation of such systems is to install a stiffening element inside the tires themselves, which takes on the load when the tire pressure drops. A metal or plastic hoop is used as a stiffening element. In addition, specific rims are required for mounting such tires.

To date, tires with an insert ring are manufactured by Michelin (PAX series) and Continental (CSR series). Such tires are installed mainly on armored vehicles.

Specialized magazines, forums, car clubs, international associations often form the rating of summer car tires, especially in February-March, when, according to the law, it is necessary to change winter tires more suitable for the season. Preliminary, independent test drives, competitions, controls over the product line are carried out in order to determine the existing problems in the field of manufacturing and marketing of products, as well as to outline a list of entrepreneurs who are able to find the most profitable solution in the current situation. All foreign and domestic auto industry is aimed at creating safe and comfortable rubber, and this is what all innovative technologies, experiments with production scale new tire. Market competition stimulates leadership large companies continuously develop, upgrade tires. Successful companies are on everyone's lips, because the authority of the innovator is already deserved, and besides, such a terrible word as “rating” hangs over everyone. The leaderboard is based on different parameters, most often tires are distributed to domestic and foreign models, and they are also formed according to quality classes and innovations, it is also taken into account price policy, the more there is a wide variation in the cost of goods, the price of rubber varies from 2,000 to 15,000 rubles.

Summer tires

There are brands that most often occupy leading positions in the rankings, mainly tires from large corporations that have their own research laboratories, regularly innovate and conduct test drives, but also special resources inform consumers about class B products , C, which is credited with versatility and affordability.

Premium Summer Tire Rating

Class B universal rubber rating

Rating of summer passenger tires of economy class

Which tires have the strongest sidewalls? Which tires hold the best impact? I present to you the eight most reliable models of winter tires.

How to determine the strongest tires?

Autoreview experts will help us answer this question, they conduct tire tests as part of shock test: put a curb with a height of 94 mm. At an angle of 45 degrees run over with one wheel. After a successful passage, increase the speed by 5 km / h.

Raise the speed until the end-to-end breakdown of the sidewall. After that, the tire starts to deflate. Such an experiment allows us to simulate the situation when a wheel hits a hole with a sharp edge or a stone, brick or piece of sharp ice hits.

Of the nineteen models of the 2016 Supertest, I offer you the top 8 strongest tires, divided into three groups. Tires with the weakest impact resistance received a breakdown at a speed of 40 km / h. Now look at the winners...

Good tires with strong sidewalls

These tires managed to break through at a speed of 50 km / h, they are better than most of the other participants:

• (Wi31), silent tires with good performance on asphalt.
• - the frame was specially reinforced for Russian conditions, and they are produced in Russia. Of the benefits: grip on snow and wet asphalt.
• - Tires with good performance on asphalt.
• Japanese are good on ice and easy to handle on snow.

Very strong winter tires

In this group, tires, the sidewall of which is stronger middle group, but falls short of the leaders:

• - inexpensive tires with high hydroplaning resistance,
• - passable "Velcro" with good grip on the snow.

These tires managed to break through at a speed of 55 km / h. Pirelli - the only non-studded tires in this collection.

The strongest tires

There are two tire models that allowed for even more speed.

Russian motorists, when buying rubber, are increasingly asking the question: “how long can these tires withstand domestic roads?”. This material will give an answer to the topic, “what tires to buy for the summer for bad roads?” and in general, “what critical tire damage does poor-quality road surface cause and how to avoid them?”.

The main reasons for this situation are that Russian roads far from ideal, especially when it comes to non-megacities and major highways. Most of the regional roads, to put it mildly, “not the most best quality»». Every car owner wants to protect their car tires from external damage, especially when it comes to new expensive tires.

Types of damage

All tire damage can be divided into two categories:

• "bump" (aka "valbuka", "hernia");
• side cut.

Cone

A bump is a delamination of the side of the tire with a rupture of the tire carcass itself or without it. This is due to the fact that the side of the tire overheats as a result of the high rate of deformation of a particular section of the tread at the time of impact. How to avoid such trouble?

What does a bump on rubber look like?

First of all, it is necessary to keep the tire pressure recommended by the manufacturer. This information can be found either in the instruction manual for your vehicle, either in the opening of the driver's door, or on inside fuel tank hatch. It is there that the pressure for a certain degree of loading the machine will be indicated.

Ambient temperature can change tire pressure. So, with its decrease, the pressure in the wheel also decreases. This happens as a result of an increase in the density of air inside the tire. Accordingly, as the air temperature increases, so does the pressure. It is recommended to initially increase the pressure in the tire by 10-15%, which will increase its endurance.

Theoretically, this will slow down the rate of sidewall deformation upon impact. In practice, of course, there is no 100% guarantee, but the chances of a wheel surviving on a bad road will increase significantly. True, comfort will suffer - the suspension will become stiffer, and the central part of the tread will wear out a little faster. Everyone chooses for himself whether he is ready for such a compromise.

Do not think that tires marked Extra Load (XL) not only help to withstand a large mass, but are also protected from the formation of bumps. This is not true! In addition to the increased load index by weight, this wheel does not differ from the usual one.

So what to buy? Tires with a high profile! The width to height ratio should be greater than 55. For example, 195/65/R15 is a high profile tire, but if 55 or less is written instead of 65, this is a low profile tire. The chances of getting the above damage are lower with a high profile tire. This is due to the fact that during a side impact, its energy is dissipated over a larger area than a low-profile tire, while the rate of sidewall deformation is reduced. It is worth considering this when choosing tires.

We talked about low and high profile tires in detail.

There are also Negative consequences such a choice — controllability will suffer. A car on high wheels becomes softer, as if blurring on the asphalt, it “leads”.

The third recommendation would be to choose tires with a rigid sidewall.. The parameter is subjective, but the fact that a more rigid sidewall contains more layers of rubber or more of the rubber compound itself is indisputable, which resists damage well.

In contrast to this, an increase in the weight of the wheel, which means that comfort will deteriorate, and fuel consumption, will increase. Tire manufacturers have long been trying to solve this problem- reduce the weight of tires with a hard side or increase strength soft tires. There are even some successes.

As a rule, the peak of tire damage as a result of hitting pits occurs in the second half of April-early May, when the majority of drivers are already, and the road services have not yet had time to put the roadway in order after the winter.

Getting into the pit, it quickly and with great force presses the sidewall of the tire to the edge of the pit, cutting the carcass threads or even the sidewall completely. If only the threads are damaged, then this leads to swelling on the sidewall ("hernia"). If the sidewall is cut, the tire loses pressure, and if you do not stop in time, the tire will lose the sidewall completely.

Tires with reinforced sidewall

To reduce the risk of tire damage, consumers pay attention tomodels that have increased sidewall protectionfrom destruction ortires with reinforced sidewall.

Sometimes, in the role of such a proposal, they try to issue tires with an increased load index (denoted as XL, extraload, or reinforced). However, this is just a common misconception, and the increased one does nothing to protect the tire from sidewall rupture or tread damage during operation.

So how do you find tires with strong sidewalls that can reduce the risk of bulges or bursts? into a professional tire center, where you will be prompted by tire models that have technologies in their arsenal that increase sidewall strength.

MICHELIN tires with rigid sidewall

For example Michelin tires Here are two examples of technologies that reduce the risk of tire damage:

double frame;

IRONflex technology.

A double carcass is present in most (tires, and others). This technical solution allows you to more accurately control a car whose center of gravity is higher than that of standard car. In addition, the use of two layers of a textile carcass increases the strength of the sidewall, making the tire stronger and more resistant to negative external influences when it hits pits, crosses tram tracks etc.

IRON Flex Technology applied exclusively and was developed in the Asian technology center of the company.

The first tire in which this technical solution was applied was the tire. IRONflex technology provides increased strength and flexibility to the carcass strands, reducing the risk of herniation or complete tire failure when hitting a foreign object or hitting a road pit. Also plays an important role special durable tire sidewall construction, thanks to which the peak load that occurs at the moment of impact is quickly and evenly distributed over the entire structure of the sidewall.

Attention! All technologies that increase strength are not capable of 100% protection of tires from damage without the participation of the driver. Because high speed, sharp pothole edges, and low tire pressure can bring all the most advanced engineering solutions to naught. Therefore, it is worth slowing down in front of areas with poor coverage, smoothly passing irregularities or bypassing them, and also maintaining it at the level recommended by the manufacturer.