Cooper Unveils the Zeon 2XS
Bridgestone Introduces Dynamic-Damping In-Wheel Motor Drive System
Michelin has Tyre Management Tagged

Cooper Unveils the Zeon 2XS

Cooper Tire has launched its latest advancement in ultra high performance tyres, the Cooper Zeon 2XS. The new tyre, which as the name implies, has been designed to take performance and handling "to excess", is the first in a new family of Zeon performance tyres. the company says it has aggressive plans to launch several additional performance lines for passenger car and 4x4 applications.

Utilising a racing inspired tread compound, the Zeon 2XS was benchmarked against Cooper-Avon's race division technology. The tyre offers a number of technologically advanced features, from the construction and tread compound to its dramatic, tapered tread design. The end result, says Cooper, is a tyre with outstanding handling performance in wet and dry driving conditions. Cooper's new Zeon 2XS is ideal for consumers looking for performance tyres without compromise - handling, aggressive looks, grip and reliability of original equipment at an affordable price.

The W rated tyre, which is being produced at Cooper's plant in Melksham as well as in the USA, is available in 29 sizes, ranging from 152 to 18" diameters.

Also new from Cooper is the Zeon XST, a performance tyre for pick-ups and SUVs, which features a spiral-wound nylon overwrap, a directional tread pattern and an optimised tyre profile. The H rated Zeon XST is currently available in nine 18" and 20" sizes. 22" and 23" sizes are planned to be introduced in the fourth quarter of 2003, with 24" sizes scheduled for launch in the new year.

Bridgestone Introduces Dynamic-Damping In-Wheel Motor Drive System

Bridgestone Corporation has developed a dynamic-damping in-wheel motor drive system. The company uses the motors themselves to offset vibration, which improves handling, safety and comfort in electric vehicles. Bridgestone's dynamic-damping system overcomes the disadvantages of existing in-wheel motor drive systems that have limited the applicability of those systems. Installing the drive motors inside the wheels allows for controlling each wheel individually. That supports excellent handling. It also eliminates the need for the differential and drive shaft and therefore allows for unprecedented freedom in designing vehicles. Designers can allocate more space to the driver and passengers without increasing the overall size and weight of the vehicle.

A stubborn drawback of in-wheel drive motors has been the weight that they add to each wheel. That affects comfort and road-holding performance adversely, and it has limited the applicability of in-wheel motor systems in electric vehicles. Bridgestone's new technology overcomes this drawback of in-wheel drive systems by using the motors to absorb vibration. The motors themselves function as vibration dampers. Their own vibration offsets the vibration from the road and tyres. That allows for better traction and a more-comfortable ride than are possible with other in-wheel drive systems or with other kinds of electric drive.

Bridgestone says it will continue refining its dynamic-damping in-wheel motor drive system to develop a commercially viable version of the system.

Michelin has Tyre Management Tagged

Following the success of an initial pilot programme at Reading Buses, Michelin is preparing to roll out a new, electronic tyre management system for coach and bus fleets across London and the South East. The state-of-the-art system known as SmartFleet is fully internet enabled and has been developed in conjunction with Smartronics.

SmartFleet involves fitting each vehicle with a radio frequency data tag, which records the identity of the vehicle and the tyre details together with a copy of the last inspection. tyres are also fitted with their own individual data tag, allowing the history and performance of the tyre to be closely monitored throughout its lifetime, even after the tyre has been Remixed or indeed switched to another vehicle.

Once the tags have been fitted, a hand-held device with a mobile-phone style display is used to read the tags and the latest measurements are taken using electronic tread depth and pressure monitoring equipment. The results are then backed-up on the individual tyre and vehicle tags for reference at the next inspection. This information is also transmitted via the handheld unit onto a dedicated Michelin server, which contains a history of tyre and vehicle fitment details. This database can then be used to generate an automated summary for each fleet inspection for the account manager or service provider. Equally, the same database is used to conduct more detailed analysis and reporting of tyre performance across the fleet.