It’s not just automakers that are transforming towards a sustainable future.
Tire brands are adapting to today’s demanding mobility situations and Bridgestone is at the forefront of innovation in high-tech tires.
I invited him to Bridgestone’s study and progression center in Rome to see how the Japanese tire manufacturer is moving towards a more sustainable future.
A key component of this task is Bridgestone’s new Enliten generation platform, which uses the latest generation to deliver maximum tire protection and functionality to drivers.
It also improves the durability characteristics of the tire and makes Bridgestone tires perfectly prepared for electric cars, so that they meet the functionality needs and express needs of electric cars.
Enliten’s range of passenger cars consists of the Turanza 6, a summer travel tyre, the Turanza All-Season 6 and, for winter driving, the Blizzak 6.
Then, for vans, the Duravis Van tire and for trucks, the Ecopia Enliten tire.
In addition to producing tires for passenger cars, vans, and trucks, Bridgestone also manufactures tires for motorcycles, buses, agricultural vehicles, all-terrain vehicles, and even airplanes.
This equates to more than 180 types of tires in more than six hundred sizes.
And they also create more than 80 new technological inventions and patents every year, and operate in more than 150 countries, with 120 factories and R&D services.
The Rome plant alone produces 50,000 passenger car tyres each year. And Bridgestone is also investing heavily in R
This makes it possible to expand tires that meet the needs and demands of today’s and tomorrow’s customers.
In addition, Bridgestone has also created a virtual tire progression generation that uses complex and detailed physical models, data and artificial intelligence.
This makes it possible to create and virtually test a virtual edition of a tire under development, adding a driving simulator, before building prototypes.
This technique eliminates approximately two hundred physical prototypes, reduces vehicle physical testing by 80 percent, and reduces progression time by up to 50 percent.
Bridgestone partners with some of the world’s most prestigious automakers, creating custom-designed premium tires for Lamborghini, Porsche, Maserati and Ferrari, as well as California-based EV newcomer Fisker.
And by 2050, Bridgestone aims to bring tyres to market that use 100 percent sustainable materials.
The plan is already underway, expanding its recycling capacities, investing in renewable fabrics and introducing new raw fabrics, adding sustainable polymers, for the production of tires.
That of r
More than €5 million has been invested since 2022 to modernise its soil in Rome, adding the creation of a new gravel track, as well as a new rainwater management track with a more effective and sustainable water control formula where 90% of the water is recycled. .
And Bridgestone is moving away from fossil fuels by using electric boilers powered by renewable sources.
Emilio Tiberio, CTO of Bridgestone West, said: “As the world of mobility evolves at an immediate pace, we are often innovating to expand high-end tires that are safe, effective and sustainable, able to meet the demanding situations of today’s and long-term mobility.
In addition to visiting the R Center
It is a high-speed oval with a walled bank, dry, rainy tracks plus a permanently flooded domain called Black Lake, plus a protection tank and spaces for noise testing and tire comfort.
In 2022 and 2023, Bridgestone invested more than €3. 5 million in the facility, in addition to an additional €1 million in protection investments and €700,000 in sustainability.
It’s a very impressive position and, as a bonus, we were able to enjoy the test track not only from the comfort of the gallery, but we were also taken to the track with one of Bridgestone’s control pilots.
The dry track was the first, and Aitor Amezketa, a former race car driver and Bridgestone test driver for more than 25 years, put a 3. 0-liter Audi Q5 TSFI through its paces.
I’ve driven the Q5 several times, but never on the track, nor have I subjected it to cornering and braking at high speed, but Aitor didn’t hold back, pushing the SUV to the limit of grip.
Fitted with the new Bridgestone Turanza 6 tyres, the grip they featured was unbeatable and this became even more apparent when we did a few laps in the wet.
With the track saturated with water, it’s surprising to see that the Q5 has almost the same grip in the wet.
But the most fun component of the track delighted when we went to the oval for high-speed testing.
This meant driving at 250 km/h in a straight line and two hundred km/h on banked corners, and the Q5 stuck to the asphalt like glue.
I was also able to get behind the wheel and see for myself the grip levels, this time with an Audi A3 driving around Bridgestone’s Black Lake.
A course with hidden obstacles was set up with the help of Guinean horses to simulate a boy on a bicycle and a woman with a stroller.
You had to brake hard in a corner to avoid hazards and, once again, the grip was impressive, especially when you had to brake hard in the corners.
Then, on the last stretch of the route, you had to accelerate up to 70 km before making an emergency stop.
I expected the A3 to lose grip and brake because the track was covered in water, but it braked much faster than expected without skidding, no doubt thanks to its Bridgestone tyres.
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