Michelin North America reports the Michelin Premier A/S tire with new EverGrip Technology is now available. Unveiled earlier this year at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, the tire features an evolving tread design and high-traction rubber compound to deliver optimum levels of wet grip providing enhanced safety even as the tires wear down.
Even when worn, the Michelin Premier A/S tire still stops shorter on wet roads than the leading competitors’ new tires, the company says. The Michelin Premier A/S has a combination of hidden grooves in the shoulder that emerge as the tire wears down, expanding rain grooves around the center that widen over time to continue to evacuate water and a rubber compound that continues to deliver enhanced wet grip performance.
“The Michelin Premier A/S tire with EverGrip gives consumers a new choice in safety for their automobiles,” says Scott Clark, chief operating officer of Michelin’s passenger and light truck tire division. “While other tires lose significant wet grip over time, the Michelin Premier A/S tire with EverGrip has breakthrough technology that prolongs wet traction over time, giving drivers greater peace of mind and improved control.”
The Michelin Premier A/S tire uses three main elements to provide this traction over time:
* High-traction rubber compound: The tire features a proprietary rubber compound with extreme amounts of silica and sunflower oil. The silica provides the bonding strength and adherence to keep the treads on the road for optimum traction in wet conditions. The sunflower oil allows the tire to grip on wet roads at lower temperatures. These ingredients are mixed through an exacting process that ensures a consistent material contacting the road both when new and worn.
* Expanding rain grooves: In most tires, as the rain grooves lose depth, the amount of water they can funnel away from the tire is diminished. Michelin Premier A/S with EverGrip has rain grooves positioned around the circumference of the tire with a unique geometric shape that gets wider as the tread wears. This helps maintain the amount of water that the tire can channel away even as these rain grooves lose depth.
* Emerging grooves: Initially hidden when the tire is new, Michelin Premier A/S with EverGrip has another set of grooves along the tire’s shoulder that emerge as the tire becomes worn. More than 150 hidden grooves emerge to provide additional help in channeling water away and maintaining wet traction as miles are logged.
These three elements work together to give the Michelin Premier A/S tire with EverGrip traction in a range of conditions year round. It offers short stopping distances, hydroplaning resistance and increased grip when new and worn.
The Michelin Premier A/S tire with EverGrip is initially available in 32 sizes (185/65R15 to 245/45R18) fitting a range of passenger cars including the Cadillac CTS, Ford Fusion, Nissan Altima and Toyota Camry among others. Michelin will offer a limited 60,000-mile warranty.
See also "Michelin: Ours worn is better than theirs new" and "New wet traction tech on Michelin Premier A/S."
