From horse shoes to premium tires

From horse shoes to premium tires

It usually starts with a good story. At Continental, the story is in the company logo – the rearing horse. Before Continental became a tire giant in its more than 100-year history, it made non-slip hoof covers for horses out of rubber. Seen this way, Continental's first "winter tire" was designed for just one horsepower - strictly speaking. Today, after over 60 years of winter tire experience, the tires have to withstand significantly more. How complex and extensive tire development really is was shown during the presentation of the new WinterContact TS 850 P. With extremely interesting details.

Premium is better after all
But before we get too lost in theory, let's first get some impressions from practice. Does a premium tire deliver what it promises? Yes, definitely with the Conti presentation. To get a first impression, a simple test was carried out: accelerate to 50 km/h several times in a row on a closed snowy road and then carry out emergency braking. Identical cars, identical route, only the tires were different. Test candidate one, a low-budget winter tire, test candidate two, the new Conti WinterContact TS 850 P. The result even amazed the hardened journalists: Not only did the low-budget winter tires have significant traction and acceleration problems, the braking distance was on average longer by over a car length (approx. five meters) per emergency braking. Instead of an average of just under 25 meters with the Conti premium winter tires, the low-budget rubber usually needed 30 meters to brake to a standstill. A clear result that is noticeable the first time you press the brake pedal. Here premium can really do more than low budget. Better performance is achieved thanks to the small sipe spacing and more tread blocks and grip edges. Continental speaks of up to five percent better braking performance compared to its predecessor, the TS 830.

Tread depth is crucial
The second test was less surprising. Here a new WinterContact TS 850 P with full tread depth had to compete against a TS 850 P that had been worn down to four millimeters. Again identical vehicles on the same route. This time, however, it was not the braking distance that was measured, but only the traction: how long does the respective tire need to accelerate from a standstill to 20 km/h, measured in seconds. Again on a snowy road. Logically, the new tires were better because they could dig deeper into the snow and get up to speed quicker. The worn tires were noticeably struggling and needed around three seconds longer (7.5 instead of 4.5 seconds) to accelerate to a ridiculous 20 km/h. The large difference in traction was clearly noticeable with every steering maneuver. The tires simply didn't have enough shoulder grip - the steering behavior was imprecise and spongy. In this respect, the minimum tread depth for winter tires is not a chicanery, but a real safety feature - especially for inexperienced drivers.

Expensive development
As a premium tire producer, Continental is also interesting for automobile manufacturers as an original equipment manufacturer. Both sides benefit from the collaboration. On the one hand, the manufacturers, as they receive tailor-made tires that underline the desired driving characteristics of the car. On the other hand, Continental itself, as you can both promote the image of the original equipment manufacturer and secure the after-sales business in the car dealership. But it's a rocky road to original equipment - especially as a tire supplier. The sticking point is not the specific manufacturer requirements, but the schedule. Most of the time, the car models themselves are still in a prototype status that is gradually changing. Tire specifications that were close to the target in the initial stage can be exactly wrong after just a few weeks because the prototype has developed in a different direction. Since a new tire is first designed on the computer, then produced and tested in-house, a lot of time passes before the tire is put into the prototype for the first time. If there were any modifications to the car during this period, the tire developers had to go back to the start. According to the Continental developers, this is a stressful and costly race against time that can take several months per model. In addition, winter tires in particular require more development because the conflicting objectives between dry, wet and snow/ice properties are significantly greater than with summer tires. In order to find the best compromise between all tire capabilities, intensive research is required in the areas of the rubber compound (which accounts for around 50 percent of the performance), the sipe structure and the basic tire structure. Only when all factors form a harmonious whole is the tire ready for original equipment or for the tire trade. It is then up to the customer to decide whether he is willing to spend a few euros more on a high-tech tire or whether he would rather accept a five meter longer braking distance. However, anyone who has had too little braking distance will probably no longer save money on tires.