Continental marks million trip AIBA milestone

Since opening the AIBA (Automated Indoor Braking Analyzer) at its Contidrom proving ground in 2012, Continental has carried out more than a million trips at its unique and fully automated tyre braking test facility, hurtling vehicles at speeds of up to 75mph along a nearly 100-metre-long track in precisely reproduceable tests to evaluate the performance of new car and van tyres on different road surfaces in dry and wet conditions. Acceleration takes place with the help of an electromagnetic linear drive borrowed from modern roller-coaster technology.

The AIBA facility also eliminates the need for the many miles of driving that are required on normal test tracks for starting off and pulling away. “The AIBA facility is one of the most modern braking test facilities for tyres in the world. Even after being in use for more than ten years,” states Meletis Xigakis, Continental’s Head of Global Tire Testing. “We can achieve a particularly high level of comparability of the test results in a fully air-conditioned, weather-independent, and fully automated environment.

“Braking is essential for road safety. That’s why we put a lot of effort into being able to analyse the performance of our tyres as precisely as possible.”

Testing independently of external factors

The AIBA facility hosts around two-thirds of all Continental braking tests. The here is on prototypes of new tyres, with testers validating the interaction of new or modified rubber compounds and tread designs in order to further optimise these. AIBA is also key to checking the performance of tyres that have already entered volume production.

In contrast to virtual simulations, the fully automated tyre braking test facility uses real vehicles on real road surfaces. This enables efficient, precise, and comparable tyre tests – independent of changing external influences such as temperature, wind, and sunlight. The braking tests can even be carried out independently of vehicle-specific properties. In 2022, Continental added the Analytical Vehicle AIBA (AVA) to its test arsenal. This in-house developed, fully electric, driverless test vehicle can be used instead of a standard car or van.

625 times around the Earth

The physical tests in the AIBA facility are an integral part of extensive testing procedures Continental uses to ensure its tyres offer optimum performance on dry, wet, snowy, and icy roads. Before the actual start of production, new tyre models cover around 15.5 million miles a year on roller drum test rigs and test tracks. This corresponds to around 625 orbits around the earth. This also includes test drives to determine the subjective road performance of tyres with professional test drivers, which are carried out on Continental’s test tracks at various locations around the world.

The tyre braking test facility also supports Continental’s sustainability strategy. Over the past 12 years, valuable resources have been saved thanks to the AIBA facility and the electromagnetic linear drive. Around 103,000 miles needed on normal test tracks for starting off and pulling away have been avoided. This has saved 16,600 litres of fuel and almost 40 tonnes of CO2. Electricity for the AIBA braking test facility has been generated entirely from renewable energy sources since the end of 2020.