Have Your Cake and Eat It Too: Compound Technology For Grip And Mileage

Long gone are the days when you had to compromise grip for mileage. Cooper’s latest advancements in tyre technology now allow you to have a tyre with a high traction rating and an 80,000km mileage warranty.

Since the introduction of pneumatic tyres, engineers lived by a simple and immutable law:

• • Soft tyre compounds wear faster and have high rolling resistance, but offer MORE grip, while;

• • Harder tyre compounds wear slower and have lower rolling resistance, but offer LESS grip.

Breaking this law

When tyre engineers began using this miraculous ingredient, Silica, as a filler material, they came to understand that the silica-enhanced compounds lowered rolling resistance, and even ENHANCED grip! You could literally have your cake and eat it too!

By now you may be wondering, how this’s all possible. Well, it all comes down to the materials used to build the tyre or its Compound. The compound is the mix of ingredients that determine a tyre’s grip and wear characteristics. It’s like each tyre has its own magic recipe, getting this formula right is something of an art.

Think about it like this. Plastic comes from the same basic ingredients as tyres, and we all know the quality of plastics differs greatly. They may look the same but they certainly are not. Some are brittle while others are strong and flexible. It’s the same with tyres.

WHAT ARE TYRE COMPOUNDS AND HOW DO THEY WORK?

Cooper Tires use up to 4 times more silica than any other leading brand throughout its range. Although the content of Silica is essential, the real magic lies in how the ingredients are mixed. Many other brands claim to use Silica, but if it’s not Chemically-Coupled Silica, these miraculous benefits are not delivered.

CHEMICALLY-COUPLED SILICA COMPOUNDS

Chemically-coupled silica is a precise formula and the latest generation process. This gives you extra grip, lower rolling resistance and safeguards against cutting, chipping and tearing while maximising longevity.

BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER

In the past decade, tyre engineering has seen two new technologies revolutionise the industry:

1. 1. new ways of cutting sipes and

1. 1. new ways of compounding tyre rubber.

Together, these new technologies have caused a revolution in tyre engineering providing reduced fuel consumption and decreased wear to an extent that would have been thought not only completely impossible but utter fantasy just a decade ago!

Cooper tyres display the latest advancements across both areas. It’s all thanks to Cooper’s high silica compound that allows the rubber to retain its shape and be cut to precision. That’s how Cooper’s unique 3D Micro Gauge^TM Siping can be so small and intricate.

Between the use of chemically-coupled silica and tread design innovations like 3D Micro gauge sipping, you get the best of both worlds with Cooper tyres: GRIP and MILEAGE.

When you’re ready for tyres, check the facts and take a closer look at Cooper’s latest tyre technology.

See the difference Cooper’s latest technology makes to your ability to brake in the wet, evade unexpected obstacles and change lanes in an emergency compared to other leading brands. 

You may also be interested to learn about:

Tread, its design and depth.

Carcass, the way the tyre is built.