Goodyear RHSII Truck Tyre Out-performs Rival in TÜV Tests

Comparison tests between the latest Goodyear Regional RHSII truck steer tyre and an unnamed competitor show that Goodyear’s Regional RHSII has superior performance in the areas of wet braking, rolling resistance and noise. TÜV Süd carried out the tests to provide an independent report on the comparative performance of the new tyre, its predecessor and its main competitor in the European market. The test centre was guarded about the identity of the competitor, with the official copy of the report that Tyres & Accessories has seen describing the product as a: “high-quality tyre of a well-established European manufacturer.”

The goal of the tests was to obtain credible independently-produced data on how the Goodyear Regional RHSII tyre performs in comparison to its main competitor and its predecessor. TÜV Süd Automotive was selected to run the evaluation, using test methods recognized throughout the industry.

Low rolling resistance = fuel economy

This test was carried out in accordance with DIN ISO 1864. The results show the comparative tyre was more than 13 per cent behind Goodyear, whilst the Goodyear Regional RHSII and the Regional RHS it replaces recorded very similar results. According to Goodyear, the tyres on a steer axle contribute about 20 per cent of the overall tyre rolling resistance on a tractor/trailer combination. This means that the RHSII’s reduced rolling resistance performance, combined with that of Goodyear low rolling resistance RHD drive and RHT trailer tyres, effectively improves fuel consumption.

Wet Braking up to 14.9 per cent better

Wet braking tests were carried out on two types of road surface – concrete and asphalt. On concrete, the RHSII was more than 5 per cent better than its predecessor and more than 8 per cent better than the competitor. However, the most impressive difference was on asphalt. Here the difference between the two Goodyear products was nearly 3 per cent but the Regional RHSII was almost 15 per cent better overall.

Rolling Noise

Both Goodyear products were superior but the difference in the results was small and all below 73dB(A). This is a significant achievement compared to the actual legal EC limit of 78 dB(A) and even to the planned noise limit of 76 dB(A).

“Knowing the performance benefits of our product we wanted to find a way that we could credibly communicate this to our customers”, said Pietro Saletta, Marketing Director Truck Tyres Europe. “We commissioned TÜV Süd Automotive to carry out these tests because the automotive market respects the impartiality and the quality of their work.”

The tests were run during October 2006. They were carried out only by TÜV SÜD Automotive personnel at its own engineering centres in Munich-Allach and Munich as well as at the Goodyear Proving Ground at Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg. The vehicles for road testing used were an Iveco Stralis 450 tractor unit and a Mercedes-Benz Actros 1854 rigid truck.