A new inner liner material developed by Yokohama Rubber is hoped to further improve the fuel saving properties of the company’s eco-tyre products. The ‘Airtex advances liner’ adheres to the inside of the tyre and features what Yokohama describes as a special resin, which when added to the conventional inner liner can “substantially reduce the volume of air naturally leaking from a tyre.” The material, says the Japanese manufacturer, is both highly impermeable and flexible. The company says that products employing Airtex have already been marketed in Japan, North America and some European countries, and the quest is now on to produce what Yokohama calls the ‘next generation Airtex’, a product that delivers near zero air leakage.