GOODYEAR INTRODUCES RUN-FLAT TIRES
by Gerry Frechette
| For the last few years, the Chevrolet Corvette has been optionally available with Goodyear tires featuring their EMT technology. It’s been kept fairly low key, kind of a test situation. But now, with the introduction of the new generation Corvette, the Goodyear F1 EMT tire is standard across the line, and being promoted. You can guess what the F1 part of the name is supposed to make you think of, but “EMT?” It stands for Extended Mobility Tire, and it might be the greatest advance in tires since they figured out how to make them hold air. Ironically, the EMT technology is all about allowing the tire so equipped to run with no air at all. That’s right, the EMT tire will run safely, at legal highway speeds, for up to a few hundred kilometres, with absolutely no air in it. And it won’t destroy the tire in the process. The secret is in the sidewall construction and the rubber compounds employed. The safety implications of this technology should be apparent, and of course, it relegates the spare tire and jack to the scrap heap. Ultra low-profile tires like those on the Corvette, and the Plymouth Prowler, are the first application for EMT technology, because of their very low aspect ratio being more suited to it. With the technology becoming more perfected, it will be seen on regular passenger car and light truck tires in the near future. Initially, it will be offered as an option with new cars, but of course, Goodyear will be selling it in the replacement tire market as well. How well does it work? We drove several vehicles with airless EMT tires, and you notice a slight noise as you would with any flat tire, and a bit less steering response and more understeer if the deflated tire is on the front of the car. Otherwise, there is little drama, to the point where Goodyear and the car manufacturers are specifying a remote tire pressure monitoring system as part of the EMT system. Otherwise, you might not know you have a deflated tire at all if you are out on the open road. As further confirmation that this technology is very significant, Goodyear was recently awarded the first annual “Best New Technology” award by the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada. Most of us take our tires for granted, but now Goodyear has come up with the ultimate tire - one that doesn’t need air at all. |  |