Triangle EffeXSport range developments designed to balance compound and construction

Details of the first wave of the EffeXSport product line-up were released at the end of the first quarter and explain that the initial range is made up of 54 sizes ranging from 16 to 20 inches. Those products were already available back in March. Moving forward, a further 50 sizes will be added by the end of the year. What we now know is that the overall range will be more than half A-rated on the European tyre label. Triangle’s recent track event at the Hungaroring gave more details of how Triangle is developing its range by balancing compound and construction, as published in our July print edition. Subscribers can read all the details by clicking here.

More specifically, “70 per cent of the tyres will have an A label for wet braking. When it comes to rolling resistance, everyone reaches a B label. We are very happy about these grades “, Igino Schiavi told us, adding: “We are currently developing the new Connex Van TA 702 van tyres, which are to be launched in 20 sizes from 14 to 17 inches in autumn”.

However, as we all know, the European tyre label is just part of the story and the Budapest event was all about Triangle’s EffeXSport range and the TH202 in particular. And that’s why Triangle arranged relatively free access to the main Hungaroring track in order to experience the acceleration, dry braking and handling performance of EffeXSport tyres fitted to Alpine A110S, Mercedes AMG 45S, Mercedes AMG GLB 35, VW Golf R, BMW M3 135 and BMW M3 850i vehicles.

“At the start of 2017 we sold around 300,000 tyres a year across Europe, now we are selling that much in Europe in a month “, Mirco Spiniella explained. The main sales markets are UK, France, Spain, Italy and the Nordic countries (namely Norway, Sweden and Denmark). Indeed, Tyres & Accessories understands that the Triangle brand is on a significant growth trajectory in the UK, something that is designed to bring mutual success to the tyremaker (Triangle), its UK distribution partner (Stapleton’s) and – of course – tyre retailers.

However, at least one clear target remains. Market shares in Europe’s largest tyre market, Germany, are still starting off. “In Germany, we want to have a market share of one per cent, but have so far only achieved half of it “, Spiniella continued.

Finding linearity

Of course, the central goal of the Budapest event was to demonstrate the EffeXSport’s segment-defying performance. As Tread managing director Ray Collier, who played a key role in developing the new tyre for the European market, explained:

“What we are really looking for is not a dynamic testing in terms of handling performance and lap time,  what we are looking for is the linearity, the driver interaction, the steering response, the weight, the torque and the feedback. We want the steering to be direct on centre. When I brake and turn I want some steering response…when that control is there from the tyre, the whole drive is safe, stable, enjoyable…“, adding that, under braking, the TH202 is able to give the driver “great feedback”.

During his introduction to the tyre, Collier explained the importance of matching development progress in both tyre construction and compounding. “When you have a tyre that has a lot of compound grip, you can saturate what the structure is able to deal with. That’s when you get non-linearity. You steer and the car doesn’t steer where you want it to. And if you have a structure that’s really strong, but the compound grip’s not good enough, then you have a nasty sharp breakaway transition.”

In other words, failing to balance the development of these two parallel lanes of progress results in a less stable driving experience. But what specific steps has Triangle’s development team taken to ensure that it has upgraded both the compound and the construction of its latest generation of tyres? To answer this question, T&A spoke with Wang Dapeng technology, technical leader of PCR Design Department and executive vice-president of Triangle Tyre Co. Ltd in China.

On the compound side of things, Triangle has overhauled and re-developed its recipe, specifically adding F-SSBR to the compound – that is “functional region” SSBR – and a higher proportion of silica to the compound. These ingredients are then mixed in a tandem HF mixer.

Regarding construction, Triangle has added an “ultra-tension steel belt”, which is said to be lighter and stronger, offering higher density and, in turn, higher structural performance.

Construction and compound come together in the updated tread pattern, which is designed to offer “good pressure distribution” as well as “wide longitudinal grooves” for water evacuation and noise reduction. And finally, at the point where the tread meets the rest of the casing, a new shoulder has been added in order to improve dry handling.

In addition to the high-speed dry handling experience opportunity provided by the Hungaroring, Triangle representatives set up a number of areas designed to highlight the wet performance of the EffeXSport range. These included: a wet breakaway character test and a wet slalom/avoidance test.

With electric vehicles changing the face of the European car parc, Tyres & Accessories asked Corrado Moglia, CEO of Triangle Europe about the company’s policy relating to EV tyres in Europe. Specifically, does Triangle follow the all-tyres-are-high-quality-enough philosophy or will it make specific tyres for electric vehicles?

“Electric vehicle tyres are certainly on our wishlist, but are maybe not the number one priority”, but that is not to say that Triangle are in any way behind the curve when it comes to EVs. Rather Triangle is “already working with electric vehicle OEMs in China.” And that means that Triangle already has some tyres that are made for EVs. At the same time, in Europe Triangle has some other tyres that, while not specifically developed for electric vehicles do offer the necessary load and torque performance.