In a series of back-to-back events in mid-May, Continental Tire the Americas introduced the latest products in its next generation of construction tires: the HSC1 and HDC1.
The tiremaker rolled out the new products to key fleet customers, tire dealers and trade media at CTA’s Proving Grounds in Uvalde, Texas, some 85 miles west of San Antonio. The HSC1 and HDC1 are the latest additions to the “new generation” of the tiremaker’s Commercial Vehicle Tire (CVT) division construction lineup, which also includes the recently introduced HTC1, HTL1 and HSU2+ tires.
The Uvalde event featured several demonstrations pertaining to certain tires: a sidewall durability demonstration for the HSU2+; belt durability test for the HSC1; and stone retention and traction performance demonstrations for the HDC1. The 5,000-acre facility, which was purchased in the 1960s, offers 30 different test tracks and ample – very ample – space to create new testing areas, according to Curtis Decker, manager of product development for CTA’s CVT division.
Attendees also were able to tour the tiremaker’s Untamed Innovation Tour 2 trailer, which was recently redesigned and will visit about 150 fleets this year.
According to Roger Stansbie, director of truck tire technology, the new tires feature a newly developed, long-chain polymer compound designed to prevent deep tears, in addition to a 4-ply belt with reinforced second and third layers to withstand highly concentrated pressure and prevent fatigue fractures. The belt construction also offers “enhanced traction characteristics through the stiffness of the tire’s overall structure,” Stansbie said.
Other key features of the new construction lineup include a special contour shape with steeper sidewalls, which provides greater stability and minimized sidewall flexing, even under high loads, as well as an improved bead core design for durability and extended life. Stansbie explained the bead improvement is made possible by a tear-resistant compound at the steel cord edge; an 18% increase in chafer cord density; an optimized chafer angle for improved stiffness across the tire’s body ply; and an extruded sidewall, turn-up cover and rim strip.
In addition to these new technologies, each tire also offers individual performance benefits that are fine-tuned to their respective applications.
The HSC1 (heavy steer construction) offers wider tread and shoulder ribs to improve wear and increase performance, while the tire’s tread pattern and contour provide reduced stone retention and improved impact resistance. Stansbie said the HSC1 has a wider, deeper tread than its predecessor, resulting in a 13.8% increase in wear volume. The new tire, which replaces the original HSC, is available in sizes 11R22.5 and 11R24.5 for load range H, with 12 additional sizes scheduled for introduction later this summer.
The HDC1 (heavy drive construction), which replaces the HDC, offers an extra-deep 32/32nds tread pattern and a compound that is formulated to provide greater original mileage, Stansbie said. Compared to the HDC’s 30/32nds tread depth, the new tire offers a 9.5% higher wear volume. In addition, the HDC1’s altered tread block angle provides a 50% reduction of trapped stone retention – a feature that was demonstrated during the Uvalde event. The tire is available in sizes 11R22.5 and 11R24.5 in load range H.
“The addition of the HSC1 and HDC1 has completed our portfolio of truck tires that are ideal for coal or waste hauling, logging, construction and other on/off highway service,” said Clif Armstrong, director of commercial truck tire marketing for CTA. “Last year we introduced our new trailer tires for this segment, the HTC1 and HTL1. So with the steer and drive products launched at Uvalde, Continental now offers a new generation truck tire for every wheel position in construction and severe duty trucking.”
Featured in the sidewall durability demonstration was the previously released HSU2+ (heavy steer urban), designed for waste haulers, construction and other on/off highway service. In addition to a deep rib tread design for added life and high removal miles, the tire offers a wide contact patch for improved wet traction and a cut and tear resistant compound for excellent wear in high scrub applications. The HSU2+ also features Conti’s VAI+ visual alignment indicator, which alerts users of mechanical wear conditions while also indicating the tire’s removal stage, Stansbie said.
Reaching the Market
In light of the quickly rebounding commercial tire segment and the introduction of several new products, it’s helpful to understand how CTA’s CVT division approaches the market. The tiremaker divides the market into three segments: goods – highway regional tires; people – coach, regional and urban tires; and construction – regional, on/off-road and off-road tires. The regional lineup focuses on mileage, retreadability and reduced fuel consumption, while the on/off- and off-road tires are designed for high mileage, high traction and resistance to tearing.
One important question for both dealers and fleets is that of availability and fill rate issues, which Armstrong, along with Tom Fanning, director of NAFTA replacement truck tire sales, addressed candidly with attendees.
Fanning noted that from 2006 to 2009, U.S. tire demand alone declined by 8.3 million tires. “All manufacturers took capacity out of the global market during that time,” he said. “The recovery experienced so far is unprecedented and no one was fully prepared for it.”
For 2011, predicted tire demand is up 28% vs. 2010, which saw an increase of between 34% and 36% compared to 2009, Fanning noted.
“After the recession, tire demand grew rapidly. No one can gear up that quickly,” said Armstrong, adding that Continental closed a commercial tire plant in Germany in 2006 as demand diminished.
“The construction segment is more difficult to forecast because it is much more regionalized than goods transport,” he continued. “This segment hasn’t rebounded as much as the commercial market in general – construction is not back to pre-2006 levels yet.”
According to Armstrong, commercial tire demand is projected to hit 16.6 million units for 2011 and construction tires make up 15% of that.
In order to ramp up production of all tires, Continental recently announced it will invest $224 million in a massive expansion project that will add 438,000 square feet to its manufacturing facility in Mt. Vernon, Ill., which produces over 95% of commercial tires sold in the U.S. While that expansion will add 4 million consumer tires to the plant’s annual output, a separate investment will increase its medium truck capacity by 15%, for an annual output of 3.15 million truck tires.
Also aimed at boosting CTA’s competitiveness in the market, the tiremaker has begun creating and producing its own line of like-for-like precure treads and launching a retreading business across North and South America. ContiLifeCycle, announced in April, currently includes six retreaders in Mexico, with nine more contracts in the works, Armstrong said.
He noted that CTA will offer ContiLifeCycle retreads in the new HSC1 and HDC1 patterns in a matter of months.
To see more photos from the Uvalde event, click here.
