This year has seen Continental expand its range of summer car tyres even further with the portfolio now featuring more than 210 new items as new sizes for sports cars, mid-range and luxury-class cars, minis and subcompacts become available. These options were all on show at Cologne. However, Continental weren’t only displaying what they had in store for summer, as a wide selection of their products for much colder times were similarly being promoted at the first edition of The Tire Cologne.
Continental Show All-Season Options
The first product in the summer category concerned the SportContact 6, which is one of the initial offerings that has moved forward in offering new dimensions. A super sports tyre in its range for the high-performance sector has an edge over its predecessor, in terms of handling, steering precision and high-speed capability. To put this tyre‘s superior performance onto the road, Continental‘s development engineers have reformulated the chemical composition of the tread strip, redesigned the tread pattern, and revamped its construction.
There are almost 80 sizes available for 18 to 23-inch rims, with widths from 225 to 335 millimetres and aspect ratios between 45 and 25 percent and is approved for speeds of up to 350 km/h.
For mid-range and luxury-class cars, the PremiumContact 6 bridges the gap between a sedan tyre with high ride comfort and an option for sporty models. It unites ride quality, precision steering response, maximum safety and good environmental properties in a single product.
To this end, the development engineers have come up with new compounds, a new design that borrows from Continental’s high-tech SportContact 6, and a tread pattern that offers a comfortable ride. The outcome is a product that delivers improvements in handling performance, rolling resistance, mileage and ride quality of up to 15 percent compared to its predecessor.
The PremiumContact 6 is manufactured in around 120 sizes for rims from 16 to 22 inches to fit passenger cars and SUVs. The current range covers widths between 205 and 325 mm with aspect ratios between 65 and 30 percent and approvals for speeds of between 210 km/h and 300 km/h.
Offering shorter braking distances on wet and dry roads with low rolling resistance has always been considered a tough challenge for manufacturers, but Continental has endeavoured to develop a product which fulfils these characteristics with ease the ContiEcoContact 5.
To achieve this, the developers introduced changes in all aspects of the product. The result is not only shorter braking distances on wet roads but also a 20 percent drop in rolling resistance and 12 percent more mileage. The ContiEcoContact 5 is manufactured for a wide variety of cars with 13 to 20-inch rims, coming in widths from 165 to 245 millimetres and with approvals for speeds of up to 300 km/h.
Besides the ContiEcoContact 5, Continental demonstrated their product for compact to mid-range models for all year use in the AllSeasonContact, which comprises of an innovative blend of tread design, compound, tyre contour and construction. This combination attempts to bring a improvement in the weaknesses previously demonstrated by products intended for all-year use in terms of their winter and wet-weather performance.
At the same time this tyre also offers the best fuel efficiency in the premium all-season tyre segment. Delivering a good balance between the various characteristics, this all-rounder with directional tread is the latest addition to a long series of products in the Summer and WinterContact family. The AllSeasonContact is available in 33 sizes for 14 to 18-inch rims and approved for speeds of up to 240 km/h.
At this stage, it’s possible to wonder how there was enough room on the stand for their winter options, but visitors to The Tire Cologne were given the opportunity to find out more about the solutions the manufacturer could offer for this season.
A winter product manufactured specifically for sports cars and high-powered models, the WinterContact TS 860 S was intended for dynamic driving. It features good performance in terms of braking distances and handling on dry roads as well as handling properties on snow.
When the product was being developed, the focus was above all on short braking distances and precision handling in the dry, as well as on handling properties on snow. This winter specialist achieves its short braking distances by means of its “braking band” – a wide rib running through the center of the tread, offering a large surface with which to build up grip.
Stiff, broad shoulder blocks deliver enhanced grip for a precision steering response, while the many tread grooves and traction sipes in the tread blocks make for good interlocking with snow, enabling sporty driving even on typical wintry roads.
For the replacement sector, Continental has prepared a compound that delivers flexibility even in winter. The specific and different needs of automakers such as Audi Sport GmbH, BMW M Gmbh, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche are met with customized rubber compounds in each case.
The WinterContact TS 860 S is available in 14 sizes for 18 to 21-inch rims and approved for speeds of up to 270 km/h – including versions with XL marking indicating higher load capacity and/or a rim protection rib.
Closely related to the WinterContact TS 860 S, the WinterContact TS860 the winter specialist for more compact and smaller vehicles. Compared to its predecessor, it delivers progress in all safety-relevant properties. When braking on wet wintry roads, for example, it performs five percent better than the ContiWinterContact TS 850.
Braking distances are four percent shorter on ice and there are improvements in snow handling, grip on snow and ride quality as well. Mileage and rolling resistance are similar to those of the previous model.
This cold-weather professional mainly owes its capabilities to three technical innovations: Liquid Layer Drainage cuts braking distances on icy roads, while SnowCurve+ technology makes for safe cornering on snow-covered roads.
Besides all of this, the products’s Cool Chili compound assures good braking performance. The WinterContact TS 860 is currently available in 66 sizes for 13 to 17-inch rims and approved for speeds of up to 240 km/h – including numerous versions with XL marking indicating higher load capacity and /or a rim protection rib.
马牌轮胎在科隆展示全天候商品
今年，马牌轮胎扩大其夏季轮胎系列，目前该系列已有超过210多种新产品，满足跑车、中档和豪华轿车、迷你轿车和小型车的新轮胎尺寸。上述产品都在科隆展出。马牌轮胎不仅在第一届的科隆国际轮胎展推广它们的夏季商品，同时也展出适用于气候较冷的各式产品。
夏季系列的第一款商品是SportContact 6轮胎，也是其中一款推出新尺寸的最初产品。它是一款高性能超级跑车轮胎，这款轮胎的操控性、转向和速度都优于前身。为了将这款卓越性能轮胎推向市场，马牌轮胎的研发工程师重新配置胶条的化学成分，设计胎面花纹并改善其结构。
它推出从18至23寸轮钢多达80个尺寸，宽度为225至335毫米，扁平率介于45%至25%，最高速度可达350公里/小时。
至于中档和豪华轿车，PremiumContact 6弥补了介于舒服轿车和跑车之间的差距。该单一产品结合了乘坐品质、精确的转向反应、最大的安全性和舒适性。
为此，研发工程师提出全新化合物，这是一种取自马牌轮牌高科技的新设计，其胎面花纹提供舒适的乘坐体验。该产品的结果无论在操控性能、滚动阻力和乘坐品质，都比前身提升了15%。
PremiumContact 6推出约120种介于16至22寸的规格，适用于轿车和运动型多用途车。目前的范围涵盖205至325毫米宽度，扁平率介于65%至30%，最高速度可达210公里/小时至300公里/小时。
制造商面临的挑战是如何在潮湿和干燥的道路上，提供较低的滚动阻力。然而，马牌轮胎一直致力于开发一种能够轻松满足这些特性的产品ContiEcoContact 5。
为实现这一目标，开发人员全面改善产品。最后的结果是不仅在潮湿道路上缩短了刹车距离，同时也降低滚动阻力20％以及增加12%里程数。 ContiEcoContact 5适用于各种轮钢介于13至20寸的车款，其宽度为165至245毫米，最高速度可达300公里/小时。
除了ContiEcoContact 5，马牌轮胎也展示适用于小型到中档车款的全季轮胎AllSeasonContact。该产品采用创新的胎面设计、复合材料、轮胎轮廓和结构。这种组合试图改善以前全季产品在冬季或潮湿气候的弱点。
同时，这款轮胎在所有的季节都能提供最佳燃油效率。这款富有定向花纹的轮胎在各种特性车款都能取得良好平衡，是Summer和WinterContact家族的新成员。 AllSeasonContact有33种尺寸，从14至18寸，最高速度可达240公里/小时。
这时候，人们可能会想他们的展示台是否还有空间来展示冬天轮胎。然而，科隆国际轮胎展的观众却有机会了解马牌的冬天轮胎。
WinterContact TS 860 S是专门为跑车和高功率车款的动态驾驶而设计。它在干燥路面的操控和雪地刹车距离方面表现良好。
在开发该产品时，首要关注是较短的刹车距离，以及在干燥和雪地上的操控性。冬天轮胎专家透过“制动带” ，一条穿过胎面部位的肋条型花纹， 实现较短的刹车距离，提供面积较大的抓地力。坚固与宽胎肩提供强大的抓地力，以及给予精确的转向反应。同时，胎面花纹和沟槽让轮胎可以伏贴着雪地，即使在典型的冬天路况也能实现跑车运动型驾驶风格。
对于替换领域，马牌轮所采用的复合物即时在冬天也充满灵活性。这些特别定制的橡胶复合物可以满足汽车制造商的特别需求，包括奥迪Sport GmbH、宝马M Gmbh、
梅赛德斯-AMG等。WinterContact TS 860 S提供14种尺寸，适用于18至21寸的轮钢，最高时速可达270公里/小时，包括XL识别标志，表明承载能力更高和/或拥有一个轮钢保护肋。
WinterContact TS860与WinterContact TS 860 S有着密切关系，都是冬天轮胎，适用于更精巧和更小型的车辆。与其前身相比，它们在所有与安全相关的特性方面都取得了进步。例如，在寒冷冬季道路上刹车时，它的表现比ContiWinterContact TS 850提升了5％。
冰上的刹车距离缩短了4％，其雪地操控和抓地力，以及乘坐质量方面也有所改善。里程数和滚动阻力则与之前的款型相似。
此寒冷天气专业轮胎主要有三项技术创新：液体排水系统可以减少冰雪路面上的刹车距离，而SnowCurve +技术则可以在积雪覆盖的道路上安全转弯。
除此之外，产品的Cool Chili复合材料确保良好的刹车性能。 WinterContact TS 860目前有66种尺寸可供选择，适用于13至17寸的轮辋，最高速度可达240公里/小时， 包括多种款型，XL标记表示具有更高负载能力和/或拥有一个轮钢保护肋。
