Super Singles Included in Latest Generation Goodyear Mixed Service Range

The new generation of mixed service tyres from Goodyear Dunlop Europe has been launched, and these products – the Omitrac MSS II steer tyre and MSD II drive tyre – enter the market along with the manufacturer’s claim that they will help operators save money in several ways. Amongst other qualities, Goodyear states the MSD II offers a 17 per cent greater mileage potential while both tyres offer good rolling resistance levels.

These first two products in a new generation of mixed service tyres both incorporate Goodyear’s Max Technology concept, which the tyre maker explains as a combination of the “latest compound materials with revolutionary design to enhance overall performance.” In the MSS II and MSD II these compound materials are described as including a high-tear resistant and ageing resistant tread compound and a specific undertread compound. Dedicated belt materials and an ‘ultra-tensile’ casing material were also employed, Goodyear adds.

Both tyres are available with Goodyear’s DuraSeal Technology. This layer of yellow sealant is designed to stop deflation should an object up to 6mm in diameter penetrates the tread. To demonstrate the technology’s effectiveness, a member of the Goodyear Innovation Center Luxembourg team shot nails into a DuraSeal Technology equipped MSD II with a nail gun. After a few seconds the DuraSeal performed as expected and the tyre remained inflated.

DuraSeal Technology has been available in the US for some years, and more recently in Europe. Speaking about consumer response to the technology here, ***** Marco Albert said “interest is going up quite steeply, even though it’s obviously not a massive percentage of the total. Users that are very interested are the ones that really have lots of issues with downtime. For example, someone with a fleet of 20 vehicles and has around 100 punctures a year can reduce their downtime by at least 90 per cent.

In Europe the DuraSeal Technology option costs about 15 per cent more than a standard tyre, and it is only available on mixed service tyres. “We will keep it in Europe at the moment and for the next few years only for mixed service tyres, but our US colleagues started it half a year ago with an on-road trailer tyre with this concept,” Albert commented. “What we will do in Europe is wait for feedback from that operation before we move into other segments. We actually have had a lot of questions from OEMs to move it to on-road.

In an industry first for mixed service tyres, Goodyear is also producing the MSD II super single drive tyres. The super single variant is available in sizes 385/55R22.5 and 495/45R22.5. The MSD II super single was developed in conjunction with Mercedes and Renault Trucks, and Goodyear states it offers “considerable” weight savings.

Traction and grip is also said to have improved over the predecessor MSS/MSD combination. According to Goodyear, the MSS II/MSD II combination delivers six per cent better off-road traction; comparative testing witnessed at the Goodyear proving facility in Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg demonstrated the new tyres’ superior traction, and a visual inspection of tyre tread afterwards revealed the superior self-cleaning qualities of the MSS II/MSD II pair’s tread. Goodyear adds that wet-surface performance has also been enhanced: wet road braking is three per cent better and wet circle tests demonstrate that the tyre combination provide two per cent more grip when driving on wet roads.

Both tyres already fulfil EU regulation 661 requirements for rolling resistance and noise. The MSS II range is currently available in sizes 315/80R22.5 and 13R22.5, while the MSD II – in addition to the two aforementioned super single sizes – is also available in sizes 315/80R22.5 and 13R22.5.