One of the most important parameters for driving safety, heavily dependent on the tires, is the braking distance. It is accepted, that for a mid-range dry car, rough asphalt distance 40 m needed to slow down from 100 km / h to zero is a good result. Perhaps soon it will become feasible to shorten it by 25%, thanks to new solutions in the tire industry. The first step in this direction was the replacement of carbon black in the rubber mixture with silica, which improved especially grip on wet roads.
Continental sells the PremiumContact tire. It is intended for middle and upper segment cars. When driving at a constant speed, under normal load, the width of its contact surface with the surface is relatively small, in order to maintain proper grip on wet surfaces and to keep rolling resistance low. However, during braking, when the pressure on the front wheels increases sharply (about over 30%), the width of the trace also grows (about over 10 Mm), and thus the active contact surface of the tire with the road. It also improves the ability to transmit lateral forces. The designers used patterns taken from nature; the paw of a jumping cat behaves similarly (the width of the sole of the foot narrower while running, wider when landing after a jump). This so-called. bionic contour, that is, a cross-section with a variable shape, allows, according to tests conducted by Continental specialists, to shorten the braking distance by approx. 10%. Its creators ensure that, that the remaining parameters of the tire will not deteriorate. ContiPremiumContact is available in 13 sizes and 23 variants, what will cover 3/4 European market for tires with speed indexes H,V and W.
Achieving the intended level 25% it is possible thanks to additional modifications to the ABS system, consisting of, among others. on the inclusion of the tire in the sensor system, collecting information about the forces acting on its contact with the road on the basis of deformation of the tire sidewall, wider use of the so-called. brake assistants and electronic correctors as well as properly selected vehicle mass distribution and its changes.