General Motors Corp. engineers have been working with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. to boost fuel economy on the Chevrolet Cruze Eco compact car.
According to GM, the result is the original equipment Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max.
Chuck Lantz, GM tire development engineer, and his team worked with Goodyear to produce "an industry benchmark tire that boosts fuel efficiency by three miles per gallon on the Chevy Cruze Eco."
(Goodyear supplies more OE tires to GM in the United States than any other tire manufacturer, according to Modern Tire Dealer statistics.)
"This tire is way beyond anything in its category," says Lantz. "The Cruze Eco tires make use of special polymers built into the tread compound to reduce rolling resistance, which means less energy is required to keep the tire moving."
And thanks to those high-tech polymers, there were no tradeoffs in areas such as tire-braking traction and all-weather handling.
"As far as the ride goes, these tires are as smooth as any tire on the road today," he adds.
The tires represent one of many fuel-saving technologies that help the Cruze Eco average 42 miles per gallon on the highway. For more information on the Cruze Eco and other Chevrolet models, visit www.chevrolet.com.
