Pirelli responds to harsh winters with ‘01’ additions

In the July 2011 edition of ‘Truck’, Pirelli’s in-house magazine for the commercial vehicle sector, the Italian tyre maker comments that the winter of 2010-11 was one of the most severe in recent memory. The UK experienced snowfalls as early as November, it notes, causing such traffic disruptions that the Automobile Association describes the period as the most active in its 100-year history – the motoring association answered 200,000 calls for assistance on November 29 alone. In December the lowest temperatures since 1890 were reached.

Pirelli shares that, generally speaking, all drive-axle truck tyres sold in Europe are M+S marked, yet while this fulfils the regulatory requirements of some countries, performance in real-word winter conditions – four degrees Celsius and below – is another matter entirely. Therefore the tyre maker has introduced two new products into its ‘01’ line-up: The TW01 drive-axle and FW01 steer-axle tyre. Both feature dense, thin siping said to provide excellent ‘snow on snow’ grip for better traction and stability on wet and slippery surfaces. The tread compound used is a patent-pending dual layer arrangement with high silica content. Both tyres are available in sizes 315/60 R22.5,    315/70 R22.5, 295/80 R22.5 and    315/80 R22.5.