The Yokohama Rubber Co. has begun operating a new indoor ice circle test facility at its Tire Test Center of Hokkaido (TTCH). The company said the new facility is dedicated to testing winter tires’ turning performance on an icy surface and is Japan’s largest indoor facility for testing tire turning performance on the ice.
Compared to outdoor test sites, Yokohama said the new indoor facility is unaffected by changing outdoor weather conditions and temperatures, and the ice surface’s condition can be stably maintained. As a result, the company says, the accuracy of test data can be improved, facilitating the efficient development of more advanced technologies.
In addition to the winter tire test facilities at TTCH, Yokohama Rubber also said it conducts winter tire testing at the Yokohama Test Center of Sweden (YTCS). TTCH handles testing of Yokohama tires sold in various markets around the world, and YTCS conducts additional tests to confirm the suitability and performance of tires to be sold in Europe.
