Continental Tire the Americas LLC is introducing a new and more fuel-efficient version of its medium-duty steer tire in summer 2010. The HSR2 Eco Plus is the latest addition to the family of steer tires and Continental's answer for achieving fuel savings for the hybrid highway and regional road application.
The HSR2 Eco Plus, when tested with typical loads for this application, showed a 15% improvement in rolling resistance over the current HSR2 regional steer tire. This translates to approximately 3% greater fuel economy. What is hard to believe, according to Continental engineers, is that this tire will achieve greater fuel efficiency in the combined application than a long-haul steer tire.
Why? According to director of radial truck tire technology Roger Stansbie, the HSR2 Eco Plus uses a fuel-efficient compound and has a four-rib tread design, which improves rolling resistance. A long-haul steer tire, such as Continental's HSL2, typically has a five rib design, along with decoupler grooves in the shoulder, to prevent irregular wear often found with all highway driving.
The HSR2 Eco Plus incorporates some other features of Continental's HSR2 regional steer tire, including:
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A protective curb rib for high-scrub applications.
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Patented groove geometry that reduces cracking and tearing.
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The proprietary VAI+ system of visual alignment indicators that also demonstrate the tire's tread depth.
The HSR2 Eco Plus is also one of the few regional application tires to be verified by the US Environmental Protection Agency's SmartWay Transport Partnership as a low-rolling-resistance truck tire.
The HSR2 Eco Plus is produced at Continental's Mt Vernon IL tire plant and will be available from Continental commercial vehicle tire dealers in size 275/80/R22.5.
Visit www.continental-truck-com to learn more.