Cooper 2 Excess - Tire Review Magazine

Cooper 2 Excess

Cooper Tire never made much noise about its performance efforts in the past. But where it had only stuck its proverbial toe in the high performance waters here and there, Cooper has now leapt fully into the pool.

product against competitive UHP tires.

Cooper officials readily admit they are behind in the market, but are confident that they have the resources needed to make a big splash. "An UHP tire wasn’t a stretch for us technologically," says Carl Casalbore, vice president of retail sales and high performance tire development. "Right now, we’re playing catch up with the competition, but I assure you that in two years we will be a leader, if not the leader."

Since 1993, Cooper Tire has invested some $50 million in upgrading its technology, including the addition of a new research and development center and mold manufacturing facility in Findlay, new design and virtual testing software systems, and the test center in Texas, according to Dick Stephens, president.

"We have been very quiet about our technology," Stephens says. "We set some very aggressive goals and we’ve come a long, long way in the last year."

The new UHP emphasis is part of Cooper’s overall goal of having new products account for 25% of its overall sales each year, he says.

"The profitability of UHP is undeniable, and over the last 10 years, Cooper has worked to become a technology leader in the industry," Stephens says.

Fast Track Development

"We undertook our UHP initiative a year ago, and did two and a half years of work in under 12 months," says Casalbore of the effort to create the Zeon line. Cooper’s plan is to develop UHP products that are on par with "tier one products," he says, but at competitive pricing levels, "not against tier one lines – tires you can make money on."

With new Zeon 2XS and the realignment of some existing products, Cooper has covered most performance segments, Casalbore says. Cooper will soon roll out other Zeon lines, including the Zeon ZPT, an H-rated M+S tire for the "price sensitive" 15- to 18-inch tuner segment; the Zeon XST for the sport truck segment; and a new "max performance" product and a competition tire in 2004. In addition, Cooper realigned its OE replacement Lifeliner products, such as the H- and V-rated Lifeliner Touring SLE and the W-rated Sport SLE, to fill portions of the performance product screen.

Dealers put the Zeon 2XS through its paces on wet and dry autocross courses and on a wet braking course, comparing it to other brands. Mark Jackson, performance marketing manager, says the goal was to show that the tire was on par with the competition.

Also on hand was former IRL racer Johnny Unser, who was recently signed by Cooper to serve as "performance tire advisor." Unser worked with Cooper to put the finishing touches on the Zeon 2XS. "What they have here is a tire that stands with the big names brands eye to eye – and this is a ground-up, out-of-the-gate performance tire," he says. "It makes no excuses. I’m impressed."

The W-rated Zeon 2XS is available in 29 sizes – 195/55R15 through 275/35R18 ®“ with 19- and 20-inch sizes coming soon. The UTQG 280 AA-A tire features a directional tread pattern with twin center channels and angled, tapered sweeping grooves that help clear water while maintaining high tread-to-void ratio.

The solid center rib between the channels helps handling and responsiveness, says Cooper, while twin steel belts and a spiral nylon overwrap help durability, handling and high-speed stability. The tread compound includes a "chemically coupled" silica and carbon black mix to enhance wet traction and tread wear.

You May Also Like

Continental’s ContiConnect Lite to allow digital tire management for OTR tires

Continental said ContiConnect Lite helps fleet managers monitor the condition of their tires via bluetooth.

ContiConnect-Lite-OTR

Continental launched ContiConnect Lite, a new version of its digital tire management app, which the company said creates a bridge between tire sensors and professional tire management and offers a free-of-charge gateway to selected ContiConnect features. Continental said it can also now be used on tires with an integrated Gen2 sensor. Since this year, Continental has been delivering its off-the-road (OTR) radial tires with a bluetooth-enabled sensor. In addition to OTR tires, Continental said it also offers digital tire management to its truck tire customers.

Hana Technologies signs license agreement with Michelin for RFID tire tags

Since its inception, Hana Technologies has spearheaded the manufacturing of over 150 million RFID tire tags.

Handshake agreement
Continental debuts new sustainably-focused U.S. headquarters in South Carolina

The building’s 840 solar panels are capable of offsetting up to 25% of its total energy consumption.

Front-of-Continental-Americas-HQ-1400
Yokohama Rubber reveals 2024 motorsports activity plan

Yokohama said participation in motorsports activities is crucial to its efforts to strengthen the Advan and GeoLandar brands.

Yokohama-Nitrocross
Tesla Model 3 TPMS service

Resetting and programming TPMS sensors for a Tesla is a lot like any other vehicle, and the challenge is still the same: keeping the light off.

bendpakEVgarageTPMS-1400

Other Posts

TIA’s Advanced Farm Tire Service training to take place in June

The training class for technicians in the agricultural and farm tire industries is set to take place June 11-14.

TIA_training-
Three spark plug service and replacement tips

How to avoid and overcome roadblocks that may come up during the removal or installation of spark plugs.

Continental-sparkplug
Maxxis-sponsored athletes make podium, overall top 10 at Mint 400

Maxxis athletes Michael McFayden, Ethan Ebert and Trey Gibbs had podium finishes at the Mint 400 on Maxxis RAZR XT tires.

2024-mint400-maxxis
Sun Auto Tire reveals winner of Ford Bronco Sport giveaway

Lowell Anderson entered the giveaway at his local Sun Auto Tire & Service store while receiving a routine oil change.

Sun-Auto-Bronco-giveaway