Page 14 - CTB N20 - 2017-04

COMPANY NEWS
in the tread, which in turn reduces heat build-up and therefore wear. Like the X Multi T2, it benefits from a tread area which is 6mm wider than its predecessor, the XFA Energy Anti-Splash. This has the effect of optimising the tread’s contact patch with the road surface and slowing the wear rate even further.
A new rubber compound and the inclusion of Delta sipes in the tread pattern ensure the X Multi F delivers maximum safety in a variety of weather conditions. The Delta sipes improve braking and cornering grip in winter conditions and on slippery road surfaces. In addition, the sipes
are aligned with the direction of rotation to establish an even wear pattern in the early life of the tyre, which helps to further improve tyre life.
The X Multi F is graded B for rolling resistance under the EU tyre labelling scheme, allowing operators to be confident that they are using one of the most fuel-efficient tyres in its class.
Available X Multi D drive tyre dimensions
Michelin X Multi D 295/60 R 22.5 Michelin X Multi D 315/60 R 22.5 Michelin X Multi D 315/70 R 22.5
The Case for Michelin X Multi
delivered.
The Michelin X Multi is a range of tyres that not only claims to perform but can evidence that it can perform safely when its competitors start to wane. According to Michelin its Michelin X Multi offers up to 20 per cent more mileage than the previous Michelin X Multiway 3D Series. One of the main keys in creating the differential is in the adoption of technologies designed to improve tyre performance. Considerable investment in R&D has resulted in the development of what Michelin call Tower Pump sipes that pump
pre-mixing technology creates a much more even dispersion of Carbon Black reinforcers in the compounding, thus generating better and more manageable technical performance in the rubber.
Regenion is Michelin’s tread regeneration technology, which, is the clever use of moulding to create new tread grooves as the tyre wears down. It still sounds like something out of science fiction when written like that. But the reality is that you cannot regenerate a 9mm tread depth when the tread is down to 5mm. What the
When a fleet manager makes a buying decision there are many factors that come into play, not the least of which is how is he going to pay for the purchase that he has decided to make. Sometimes the choice can be simply based on the ticket price. However, for larger fleet operators, and for the market leaders in tyre provision there has been an ongoing trend towards the whole life package. This is old news. Michelin have been selling the cost per kilometre tyre package for well over a decade. You spread the costs of your tyre across its whole life, through its first life, regroove, retread, regroove and retread to obtain, in a properly managed fleet, the lowest cost per kilometre possible.
Competition has followed and similar packages are available from the main tyre manufacturers, and increasingly from tier two manufacturers and even from some retreaders who are buying into the whole life concept as a way of heading off market pressures.
So, in the premium market, whole life costs are now the norm in making a purchase decision. There now need to be other added values
to the tyre to help inform the decision to buy. Michelin has developed a view on this and has created a tyre range that addresses some of the latest decision-making influences.
Of all the factors that influence the buying decision in addition to cpk, safety is one of the greatest and perhaps at the same time most under-rated area of interest. The fleet operator has to have the safety of his vehicles, the drivers and of the goods that are transported. There also needs to be an understanding that meeting a delivery window can be critical for most fleets today. From high street supermarkets to engineering and manufacturing, commerce depends upon just in time logistics. Storage space is often at a premium, so goods needed have to be delivered as they are needed. To do this the transporters have to have safe and reliable vehicles. In tyre terms that means tyres that perform not only in terms of longevity but in terms of traction and grip, throughout the speed range, across climates and road conditions. Tyres have to be reliable and offer a level of safety that guarantees the goods get
away water on wet surfaces. The casing construction also includes the latest technology. Powercoil technology on the 70- Series tyres allows the tyre to be lighter with no loss of strength. The use of the Infinicoil technology enhances the construction of the 70 -Series tyres and helps reduce rolling resistance. The new range also, through tread technologies and a moulded anti- noise barrier, reduce road noise, something that is becoming increasingly important in many urban areas.
Michelin’s Regenion technology has real pay offs in a tyre’s later life, and the development of Carbion
Regenion technology does is create the possibility of narrow sipes to, as the tyre wears, open up and create a new volume of lateral and longitudinal grooves in the tyre. That is not to decry from the technology in any way. Rather it, hopefully makes the operation clearer.
Thus, a Michelin Regenion tyre worn down to 5mm, when its “new” read appears, will, at that stage, irrespective of comparisons with new against new tyres, will, and does offer an extended tyre life with a higher than normal performance right down to the point of replacement.
14 Commercial Tyre Business