marekatlanta71
30.04.04, 15:18
Goodyear's latest major U.S. product intro brings along, according to them, a
new brand, Assurance. Of course it isn't a new brand, it's a new tire model
name, like Tiempo, Aquatred, or Eagle, and Goodyear is still the brand. But
Goodyear knows more about advanced design and building of purpose-built tires
than it does about building brands, and this, um, thing, is an interesting one
for its apparently fairly innovative construction.
The Assurance with "TripleTred Technology" is in effect an all-weather or all
condition tire, incorporating "three unique tread zones for superior traction
in any kind of weather." Whether you think radially, or across the tire patch,
or maybe both, there is an ice zone (center), a dry zone (outside including
reinforced shoulders), and a wet zone (between center and outside zones).
But it's not just different tread patterns that separate function, in effect,
because there are three distinct and different rubber compounds incorporated,
as well. Goodyear plays down the most innovative thing about the tire, the
three compounds that go into the three distinct and specialized tread
patterns. Maybe that's because you can carve and easily depict distinctive
(and painstakingly created, computer-aided) tread patterns, but different
compounds are a bit exotic for most tire-buyers to grok. This is a difficult
manufacturing process, too.
The new tires have a 30 day no-risk trial offered. And they do drive very well
under all conditions, including hard dry driving.
