Carbon Fiber Tires
Carbon fiber is becoming increasingly popular in automotive applications because of its high strength and low weight. Made up of woven strands of carbon filament it can be made into practically any shape and has been used to make everything from Formula 1 suspension components to body and interior panels for production cars.
The Goodyear tire company has discovered another use for the composite, tires. Dubbed the Eagle ResponsEdge, Goodyear has developed a tire that uses carbon fiber inserts to reinforce the outer sidewall to give the tire better handling characteristics. By stiffening the outer sidewall, the tire will be able to provide sharper turn-in and better grip when the outer sidewall is loaded. The inner sidewall generally doesn’t have to deal with as much weight transfer as the outer so Goodyear used conventional construction methods for the inner sidewall. This also means that the tire is still able to maintain a smooth ride. In addition to the carbon sidewall the ResponsEdge uses DuPont Kevlar in its belting. The carbon/Kevlar combination should help drop the weight of the tire a bit over a standard steel belted unit.
Goodyear dropped the curtains on the tire at this years SEMA show in Las Vegas. The product was extremely well received; so much so that the folks at Popular Mechanics gave the ResponsEdge one of their Editor’s Choice Awards. It was the only tire to receive such an award this year.
-Bill Mertz
