Products & Solutions

Did You Know?

Smart tires that save gas

Tires based on Silica/Silane-technology save gasoline by reducing rolling resistance. At the same time, they also keep cars safely on the roadway—even under extreme weather conditions.

Up to 20 percent of the fuel consumed in a vehicle merely serves to overcome rolling resistance. It comes as no surprise then that automakers have a keen interest in reducing rolling resistance. The math speaks for itself: Reducing resistance by 30 to 40 percent would lower fuel consumption by roughly eight percent. For a car consuming an average of eight liters of fuel per 100 kilometers and traveling 25,000 kilometers per year, that translates to a savings of 160 liters—and a real relief to your wallet.

This accounts for the past few decades of extraordinary success for the Silica/Silane-system from Evonik, which utilizes a combination of ULTRASIL® (precipitated silica) and rubber silanes such as Si 363® to reduce rolling resistance significantly. The most recent success story has come from POLYVEST® ST, an additive developed by Evonik that reduces rolling resistance even further—without lowering wet grip or increasing wear. In so doing, the Evonik researchers have repealed a fundamental law of the tire industry: the notion that improving one of the three core properties of a tire—rolling resistance, wet grip, or roll resistance—necessarily compromises of one of the other properties.

Related Topics: