New Passat Features Self-Sealing Conti Tyres

The new four-door Passat CC, premiered at the Detroit Motor Show, will roll off the production line equipped with self-sealing Continental tyres. Using a technology known as ‘ContiSeal’, the German tyre major’s sealing system enables a vehicle to continue travelling even after a tyre has been punctured with a screw or nail. It is not hampered by the limitations of run-flats; a protective layer on the inside of the tread immediately seals any hole that develops when a screw or nail puncture the tyre, preventing air from escaping.

“The seal works on nearly all leaks caused by objects up to five millimetres in diameter,” says Detlef Zschörner, head of the tyremaker’s Automotive Group Volkswagen / Audi section. “That means they can take care of about 85 per cent of typical flat tyres.” The new Passat CC, which Conti reports is “just as comfortable as it is dynamic”, can deliver up to 300 HP (200 kW), giving it a speed ceiling as high as 155 mph or 250 km/h. Depending on vehicle specification, the ContiSeal tyres destined for the Passat CC are fitted in size 235/45 R17 W or 235/40 R18 W, and are manufactured bearing the ContiSportContact 3 tread design.

Conti says that its ContiSeal technology tyres eliminate the need for a spare tyre but adds that, because motorists sometimes are unaware when a foreign object has penetrated a self-sealing tyre, regular inspections for nails or screws are recommended.

Both the ContiSeal technology and the Passat CC will be given their European debut at the Geneva International Motor Show.