Michelin Americas Truck Tires unveiled the latest tire in its X One wide-based single tire line at the 2008 Great American Trucking Show today.
The Michelin X One XDN2 on-highway drive tire will be available to end-users in two sizes by the end of the year.
"This tire takes the traditional compromise between traction, long life and fuel efficiency, and throws it out the window," says Marc Laferriere, vice president of marketing. "By utilizing two different Michelin Durable Technologies (MDT), the X One XDN2 tire delivers significantly increased tire life and exceptional, uncompromised traction, complementing the significant fuel efficiency gains of a Michelin X One wide single tire."
The X One XDN2 tire delivers fuel efficiency levels approaching Michelin's most fuel efficient truck tire, the X One XDA, according to the company. The use of one tire instead of two on the dual position reduces the number of flexing sidewalls from four to two, which lowers rolling resistance. (Michelin says that compared to the X One's dual XDN2 counterpart, the wide-based tire has 15% less rolling resistance.)
More than a quarter of a mile of steel cord is wrapped circumferentially around every X One tire from sidewall to sidewall, made possible by Michelin's Infini-Coil Technology.
The XDN2 tread pattern is designed with Matrix Siping Technology, defined as corrugated grooves in the tread block that provide a zigzag appearance. These wavy grooves lock the tread block as it moves through the contact patch, providing both tread block rigidity and traction, while resisting the tread scrubbing normally associated with deep-treaded, heavily-siped tires. The tire's open shoulder tread design also aids traction.
Michelin will introduce the X One XDN2 in two sizes:
* 445/50R22.5 in November (it is equivalent to size 275/80R22.5), and
* 455/55R22.5 in December (it is equivalent to size 11R22.5).
The X One XDN2 will replace the Michelin X One XDA-HT Plus tire.
