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Continental Tyres manufactures a comprehensive range of premium products and has recently introduced a new radial range of tyres, as Nikki Catchpole finds out.
Pro Performance
speeds of up to 31 mph. Thanks to its high-traction tread pattern, the tyre performs on both surfaced areas and uneven ground.
F
ounded in Hanover in 1871, with nearly 190 locations worldwide for production, research and development in 35 countries, Continental Tyres is a key player in the industrial tyres market. With UK headquarters based in West Drayton, London, it manufactures a comprehensive range of premium products and has recently introduced a new radial range of tyres developed to offer fleet benefits such as good driving comfort, low rolling resistance and high traction capabilities.
Continental industrial tyres are developed to meet a wide range of demands, with design characteristics balanced to suit each individual application. The new range of radial tyres have been specifically designed to meet the bespoke needs of each customer. Part of this range includes the recently introduced Conti RV20 Velocity and new ContiRT20 Performance, designed to take on what is described as ‘the toughest tasks’ and their durability and suitability for their applications make their total cost of ownership low.
ContiRT20 Performance The latest product to emerge from Continental's industrial tyre development department is the ContiRT20 Performance, the successor to the IC80 and ConRad HT, made for forklifts, side loaders and other industrial trucks. This pneumatic radial tyre can handle the heaviest of loads reliably at
44 ShD August 2010
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The RT20 has been described by Continental as ‘particularly well-suited for forklifts and other industrial trucks used in heavy engineering and the building supplies industry’, but it also performs well in the field of materials handling, where it exhibits extreme durability, good comfort and high traction. The requirements specified for the development of the new Conti RT20 Performance were very high. The criteria the tyre had to meet were much tougher than those set for its predecessor. Continental’s tyre designers challenged the boundaries of pneumatic radial tyre development with the new tyre. In several performance criteria, this tyre had to meet higher requirements than those made on previous products. The new tyre managed to achieve up to 30% greater life expectancy. This was achieved using a six part product development process, starting with initially noting down customers’ requirements, followed by a test simulation of the product to measure tyre stability, comfort and traction effectiveness. Product engineers spent time with end users to make sure that the new product met their expectations. As a result, the characteristics of the ContiRT20 Performance are said to meet all customer requirements. The tread depth, for example, was increased to the maximum to ensure the longest possible service life, even under arduous conditions.
Once tested, a computer simulation of the tyre profile was carried out to ensure development was proceeding as required. When a satisfactory result emerged more than 1,300 tyres were then field tested at various suitable companies before the final ContiRT20 was finally launched.
The ContiRT20 has performed well in fleet tests globally. Europe’s largest sawmilling company, Stora Enso Timber AG had the tyre on test. Its fleet manager,
Ernst Tober said: “The reliable ContiRT20 Performance is the right tyre for us, because we cannot afford downtime. Its long lifetime means the cost-benefit analysis works out really well for us. Concrete manufacturer Haba-Beton, based in Teising, Germany has also been trialling the new tyres. Billy
Obereisenbuchner, plant manager, said: “The long lifetime and the durability of the ContiRT20 Performance is great. Breakdown-related downtimes can therefore be pretty much ruled out.”●
www.continental-industrial-
tyres.co.uk
●Good traction, higher wear
One glance at the tread pattern of the ContiRT20 Performance shows the tyre's good traction characteristics. It was important for developers to achieve the highest demands in terms of even wear to maximise tyre life and suspension characteristics to improve driver comfort without compromising on features such as tilting stability or prevention of stone trapping. Knowing the enormous strain to which the tyres would be subjected to in their field of application – transporting loads both in- and outdoors in the wood, steel and cement industry, in shipyards, logistics centres, air- and seaports – testing engineers took this heavy product stress into account and focused on the customer application when developing the tyre. The tread pattern with its wide grooves provides consistently reliable traction, even on rough ground. The tyre is designed to ensure extra low rolling resistance and thus low energy consumption, without neglecting the important aspect of driving comfort. The ContiRT20 uses new optimal relative large tread compound, featuring a large diameter that also gives higher wear and damage resistance meaning longer tyre life and reduced downtime.
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