Avon 3D Ultra – three road/track options for sportsbike riders
In mid-March, Avon Tyres officially launched its latest high performance motorcycle tyre range – the 3D Ultra. Tyre dealers and members of the press got their hands on the new tyres for the first time during a launch event at the Almeria circuit in Spain, and Avon says the tyres “exceeded expectations” despite the difficult weather conditions experienced. All three versions of the 3D Ultra were put through their paces, and riders attending the launch commented favourably on the new Avon rubber.
“Riding on both the Supersport and Xtreme versions of the 3D Ultra on track made me realise that these are as good as anything I’ve used on a track day for many years,” stated Niall Mackenzie, three-time British Superbike champion and ex-500cc GP rider. “It’s a brave move for Avon to take on some of the more popular names in this sector of sports tyres, but they’ve done a really good job.”
The three products taking on the big names are as follows: the 3D Ultra Sport is described by Avon as giving sportsbike riders the “perfect compromise between grip and life” by offering a large, stable footprint, fast warm-up times and high-performance, silica-rich multi-compound – perfect for the road, the tyre maker comments. The 3D Ultra Supersport is a soft-compound version of 3D Ultra Sport, suited for road and track use. Avon says it offers excellent grip under hard braking and acceleration. The trio is completed by the 3D Ultra Xtreme, a tyre exclusively intended for track days. Avon says the tyre’s profile and footprint is optimised for big lean angles, while the soft compound is ‘thermally stable’ for huge grip levels.
More than a century’s experience designing and manufacturing motorcycle tyres and knowledge gained through racing went into developing the range. Avon says that with the 3D Ultra it aims to offer sportsbike riders the “perfect compromise between high performance, longevity and excellent value.” All versions share some features; 3D Sipes are cut into the tread of the tyres, and these feature interlocking three-dimensional points which improve stability, grip, limiting tread flex and allowing the tyre to warm-up in less time. A new design of wind-on-belt material is used in the construction of the rear tyres, which Avon says helps to increase the footprint size at all lean angles, improving grips. Triple Extrusion or ‘TE’ tread compounds places durable rubber on the centre of the tyre to give good mileage and softer compounds on the shoulders of the tyre, providing increased grip where it is most needed – in the corners. A third compound below binds both together and aids tyre longevity by helping the tyre stay cooler.
Developing the 3D Ultra
Peter McNally, Avon’s technical product manager for motorcycle tyres, shared that the new range had a development to launch time of just over a year. Discussing new product development, he said “often it (work on a new tyre) begins the minute the previous range is introduced. Any advances learnt are put into the next generation of tyres. Work on 3D Ultra started around January 2011.” According to McNally, it takes around three months to design a new tread pattern along with mould profile and construction, and a further three months for mould delivery. “Then it’s another three to six months for testing/Design Certification and then production,” he added.
As McNally pointed out, the final stage of a tyre’s development involves getting it right. “The amount of testing hours required directly relates to how good the tyre is straight out of the box,” he commented. “Usually it will take a number of days at tracks, followed by tweaks and retesting. At the same time tyres are run on the road for thousands of miles. If at any point there is an issue, the tyre will be redesigned and the whole process will begin again.”
McNally said a core team of five people developed the 3D Ultra – “but if you included chemists, planners, production workers, rig test operators etcetera, the number turns into hundreds,” he noted. Although he declined to share how much developing a range like the 3D Ultra costs, the technical product manager admitted that “you would not have much change from £500,000 just for a small tyre range.”
Drawing on 100 years’ experience
In this day and age it is rare to encounter a British designed and manufactured tyre, but as previously mentioned, Avon is no stranger to the development of motorcycle rubber. Amongst the major advances in motorcycle tyre technology over the years, McNally says the UK tyre maker can claim a number as its own innovations: “We came up with Inverted Front Grooves (IFG) for the front tyre. This is a system pioneered by Avon in the late 1980s and only now being adopted by the competition. What IFG does is it resists ‘stepped-wear’ and cupping to deliver smooth handling throughout the tyre’s life. By reducing uneven tread wear, a further advantage of IFG is improved wet braking and shorter stopping distances. We came up with this and it’s since been adopted by some of the competition. Another advance is A-VBD, which stands for ‘Advanced-Variable Belt Density’ technology, used specifically on rear tyres. A-VBD is a jointless belt of ultra-strong Steel or Aramid strands running around the tyre’s circumference. At the centre of the tread the strands are very closely spaced for maximum stability and high wear resistance. The closer you get to the edge of the tread, the further apart the strands are spaced – this broadens the tyre’s footprint when you’re getting your knee down or at extreme angles of lean.”
Buying tyres developed with a century’s experience is all well and good, but even after a hundred years punctures and other tyre damage are sometimes still inevitable. Avon observes generously that Britain’s roads are “less than perfect,” and the tyre maker says potholes alone cost UK motorists an estimated £2.8 billion every year. It says the 3D Ultra Sport and Supersport, however, are “perfect for the blighted highways of Britain” thanks to the Road Hazard Warranty scheme. Avon says that should the tyre become unserviceable as a result of hitting a pothole or through a puncture, then under the warranty a replacement will be offered at no charge.
The Avon 3D Ultra is available in the following sizes:
3D Ultra Sport
Front (AV79): 120/60 ZR17, 120/70 ZR17, 130/70 ZR16
Rear (AV80): 150/60 ZR17, 160/60 ZR17, 180/55 ZR17, 190/50 ZR17, 190/55 ZR17, 200/50 ZR17
3D Ultra Supersport
Front (AV79): 120/60 ZR17, 120/70 ZR17
Rear (AV80): 160/60 ZR17, 180/55 ZR17, 190/50 ZR17, 190/55 ZR17
3D Ultra Xtreme
Front: (AV81): 120/70 ZR17
Rear: (AV82): 180/55 ZR17, 190/55 ZR17
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