Conti Produces One-Off OE Tyres for Concept Cars

Concept vehicles are a main attraction at International Motor Shows, and Continental is working to ensure the tyres gracing a number of these attention grabbers at the Frankfurt show will inspire the imagination. According to Conti, the tyres on these concept cars are an integral part of the look and feel of a vehicle, therefore the company has a specialist team of designers working on eye-catching designs.

The Continental design team’s task is to give standard tyres a unique look to complement the manufacturers’ concept car. This varies depending on the vehicle’s style and audience. Sports car tyres require aggressive tread patterns that give an impression of speed. These also often feature colour to highlight the tread or the tyre sidewalls. For SUVs, the manufacturer expects prominent tread blocks for maximum off-road traction – the smaller the wheel arch and the broader the tyre, the more prominent the sidewall design. If more space is available for the tyre, focusing upon the tread design is a greater priority.

It takes between three and five months to develop a new special production tyre. The manufacturer’s brief is taken and then the workshop creates prototypes of various design ideas by hand. In the past Continental has created special tyres for BMW, Ford, Jaguar, Lincoln, Mercedes-Benz, Vauxhall, Smart, Volvo and Volkswagen, and the tyremaker reports that this year’s IAA will again showcase concept vehicles sporting Continental’s elaborately designed, hand-made tyres.