Zeon 4XS Sport, Cooper’s high performance SUV option

Cooper Tire Europe launched its latest high performance SUV tyre, the Cooper Zeon 4XS Sport, at the Red Bull Ring in Austria last October with brand ambassador, David Coulthard in attendance.

Designed for medium and large SUV fitments, the 4XS Sport offers European label ‘A’ grade wet grip performance as one of its strongest points.

Replacing the Cooper Zeon 4XS and XSTa, the 4XS Sport has been developed with a new asymmetric tread pattern which is specifically designed to cope with the weight of large SUVs. It also benefits from input from David Coulthard who tested development variants of the tyre at the Vallelunga circuit. Coulthard’s feedback provided direction for the final construction and compound selected for the tyre.

Large circumferential grooves in the tread are designed to clear water quickly and efficiently from the contact patch to reduce the risk of aquaplaning in the wet, while a large central rib is present for increased feel and driving response.

Using a new algorithm, the tread blocks are split into different sized blocks to reduce harmonic noise. The edges of the individual tread blocks are also chamfered to help eliminate uneven wear and to reduce contact noise on the road.

Introduced as part of Cooper’s new high performance product range, the tread pattern of the 4XS Sport features 3D sipes which have interlocking three dimensional points inside the sipe. These 3D sipes provide the same benefits of a traditional sipe, including helping the tyre warm up and providing enhanced wet grip, but limit the amount of flex in the tread block which helps control the amount of heat generation in the dry and keeps the tread block stable.

The Cooper Zeon 4XS Sport boasts numerous advanced technological features and benefits, including Noise Damping Structures (dimples) that help break up the noise transmitted by the tyre and the road, new lightweight construction that provides reduced rolling resistance and improved steering response, and a new tread compound for added grip.

In addition, moulds for Cooper’s high performance tyre range utilise the latest technology in spring venting design for a cleaner and higher quality looking tyre. A new bead profile design has also been utilised on the 4XS Sport to improve the tyre/rim seat interface and to ease tyre fitting.

Derek Carruthers, sales and marketing director, Cooper Tire Europe, said: “Our new high performance sport utility vehicle (SUV) tyre brings together a wide range of new technologies to offer a winning tyre in this market segment. We are proud to now have a number of tyre ranges which offer ‘A’ grade for wet grip. With sales of SUVs continuing to be strong within Europe, customers have increasing needs for a versatile high performance SUV tyre that delivers high levels of grip and fuel efficiency.”