There are several trends in the design of modern car tires, which will probably determine the future directions of tire development. New solutions usually appear first either in sports, or on concept vehicles, by mastering the technology and lowering the manufacturing costs to the level, acceptable to the average user, gradually go into mass production. They mainly concern the issues of comfort and traffic safety, important for the driver and difficult for the designer. The simultaneous fulfillment of the resulting therefrom, it is because often contradictory requirements are practically impossible and it usually comes down to making engineering compromises. What's more, studies show, that in different markets, customers attach different importance to the different characteristics of tires, such, like for example. grip on dry and wet surfaces, service life, purchase and operating costs, impact on fuel consumption, driving comfort, braking distance, the stability and controllability of the movement and the ease of driving a car. Still it seems, that some innovations in tires will soon become commonplace.

Virtually all major producers (Continental, Dunlop, Goodyear, Michelin, Pirelli) they already offer tires that enable further driving despite damage. Special inserts in the form of rings, on which the tire rests after the air escapes and / or a suitable method of mounting the bead on the rim and reinforced side walls allow, in the event of a puncture, first of all to maintain control of the vehicle, secondly, it is safe, albeit at a lower speed, drive to the nearest service station. A spare wheel turns out to be unnecessary, does not take up valuable space in the trunk, and the driver does not have to replace it himself. Some solutions require the addition of a pressure loss signaling system, because despite the breakdown, a less experienced user may not feel the change in the car's behavior at all. Sensors located next to the wheels transmit this information via radio to the receiver, to provide it in the form of a light or sound message. Similar systems seem to be victorious over half-way solutions, in the type of containers with an adhesive and sealant, which allow the elimination of the spare wheel, but requiring inflating the damaged tire in field conditions, not to mention the so-called. access wheels.
The desire to reduce fuel consumption and reduce the emission of toxic substances into the atmosphere has resulted in the interest of designers in tires with reduced rolling resistance. Modification of the composition of the rubber mixture, consisting, inter alia,. on the replacement of soot by silica and the use of aramid fibers, leads to a reduction of the resulting losses by approx. 5%. For now, such tires are installed mainly in economical versions of serial cars (the so-called. 3-Liter-Car), due to a much higher price than traditional ones.
Careful selection of tire materials also allows for shorter braking distances. This parameter, which is important for driving safety, is improved due to e.g.. introducing into the rubber mixture in the right ratio of sulfur and plastics. Likewise, a reduction in the noise level can be achieved both by appropriately setting the proportions of the components, as well as computer analysis of sounds generated during movement by treads of various shapes.
Continental Teves is working on the inclusion of tires in the chain of sensors that collect information about the forces acting on the contact between the wheel and the road, then used by ABS systems, ASR i ESP. For this purpose, a powdered substance with a specificity was added to the rubber compound forming the sidewalls of the tire- 4 magnetic properties. Tire circumferential and transverse deformations as a result of longitudinal forces (during braking and acceleration) and side (when cornering) cause changes in the generated magnetic field, then recorded by sensors located in the chassis. The time difference between the signals they send serves as a parameter that controls the electronic devices, supervising the maintenance of a safe track. According to the originators, such a "direct" solution provides more accurate and complete data than the previously used wheel speed sensors, vehicle acceleration, pressure in the brake lines and the speed of rotation of the crankshaft.
A technical curiosity is the tires for vintage cars, produced in small series, and intended for collectors and owners of oldtimers, available in unusual sizes and with an unprecedented tread pattern. Although such tires are only a margin of the market, and they find buyers.