TECHNOLOGY

TEST FACILITIES T-MODE

Toyo Tires operates one of the most aggressive and comprehensive testing programs in the industry. This helps to develop and distribute products with consistently high quality, including excellent safety and performance. In addition to the following proving grounds and technical center in Japan, extensive real-world testing is performed in each of company's markets around the globe. But the testing doesn't stop at the places listed on this page.

At Toyo Tires, everybody believes in innovation through competition. As a result, they are actively involved in a variety of motorsports worldwide. This includes everything from the SPEED World Challenge GT and Touring Car series, which competes on famous racetracks across the United States, to the Dakar Rally, which covers some of the roughest terrain in the world. This assists engineers in developing and testing prototype materials, construction and performance concepts.

Our Test Facilities

• Toyo Tires Proving Ground - Miyazaki, Japan

At the Toyo Tires Proving Ground in Miyazaki, Japan thay conduct high-speed performance, endurance, and noise tests on passenger car, light truck and bus tires. The facility also includes a test track to monitor and analyze steering stability characteristics of Toyo Tires products.

• Toyo Tires Proving Ground - Saroma, Japan

Snow and all-season tires are evaluated at the Toyo Tires Proving Ground in Saroma, Japan. At the facility, Toyo Tires engineers accurately measure performance characteristics such as traction, braking, and steering response in real-life, demanding winter conditions.

• Toyo Tires Technical Center - Itami, Japan

The Toyo Tires Technical Center in Itami, Japan is one of the most advanced tire-development centers in the world. It contains state-of-the-art design, development, and testing equipment, including the Flat-Trac II tire testing machine and the super-computer based simulation system responsible for T-mode designed products.

T-MODE

Over the years, Toyo Tires has pioneered the development of vehicle-specific tires and ultra high-performance sport tires. Advanced polymer technology played a role in these breakthroughs, but they were also made possible by company's proprietary virtual testing systems.

T-Mode, Toyo Tires' latest form of this technology, uses computer simulation to virtually test vehicle-mounted tires in an array of driving conditions. Uneven tread wear, noise generation and a series of other factors are also analyzed. This data is then used to optimize tire design and enhance performance.

E-BALANCE

Toyo Tires' new e-balance technology for commercial truck tires improves fundamental performance characteristics and their compatibility with one another. These characteristics are tire life, irregular wear resistance, endurance and fuel consumption. All of these improvements help to lower fleet operating costs and make e-balance tires more environmentally friendly.

The new technologies of e-balance incorporate improvements in the areas of Tread Profile Retention, Bead Profile Retention, and overall Simulation for optimum tire design.

Tread Profile Retention

Tires that utilize e-balance exhibit improved tread profile retention, meaning less service growth compared to conventional tires. The flatter tread radius provides an optimized footprint shape resulting in even wear, less irregular wear and longer life. Strain at the belt edge is reduced by approximately 30%, which also helps to improve tread profile retention.

Simulation of Vehicle Behavior

Blue Truck: e-balance
Red Truck: without e-balance
e-balance tire has better handling performance than the tire without e-balance.
V: 40km/h Steering Angle 90°

Bead Profile Retention

Tires that utilize e-balance have higher bead stiffness to achieve improvements in bead profile retention. This leads to a reduction in irregular wear and an improvement in endurance. The bead area profile is retained even after service. Increased bead stiffness is achieved through the use of a high stiffness bead core, which is then surrounded by high stiffness rubber. A low heat build-up rubber is also used in the bead filler area. Strain at the ply turn-up edge is reduced by approximately 20% over conventional tires.

Simulation

There are four simulation technologies utilized in e-balance. Tire irregular wear, tire profile change, tread pattern noise and vehicle handling behavior. All of these areas are analyzed with careful consideration to how they affect one another. This new simulation technology allows for optimization of tire design with much higher accuracy than what was possible before.

SILENT WALL

Company's innovative Silent Wall technology utilizes perpendicular serrations on either one or both walls of a groove to reduce pipe resonance, resulting in a quieter ride.

Toyo Tires Silent Wall

When silent wall technology is applied to the groove wall, air flow is disturbed by dense perpendicular serrations. The result is reduced noise and a quieter ride.

Toyo Tires Conventional Groove Wall

In a conventional groove wall, air flows through the groove without being disturbed. This creates a whistling sound known as "pipe resonance".

MULTI-WAVE SIPES

Multi-wave sipes are thin, modified slits manufactured in the shoulder block of a tire. As the tire wears the two walls of a multi-wave sipe interlock, decreasing block movement and keeping more of the tire tread in contact with the road surface. The results are improved wet and dry performance as well as reduced irregular wear and noise, which can be caused by irregular wear. Multi-wave sipes help to keep more of the tire tread in contact with the road surface.

TECH & ECO

As part of Toyo Tires' goal to become an environmentally conscience corporation, they've implemented a social responsibility initiative called Tecology. Tecology is the use of company's latest proprietary technology to develop eco-friendly tires that still carry the highest standards for comfort, safety and performance. Improvements in the manufacturing process as well as in the products themselves have already been made.

The company have been able to significantly lower CO2 emissions in the manufacturing process through the introduction of a natural gas cogeneration system, which enables the boilers in our facilities to operate on natural gas as opposed to fuel oil. Natural gas produces less carbon dioxide when compared with coal or fuel oil, thus reducing the overall impact on the environment.

Tires that receive a significant improvement in wear life over the preceding product will be brought to market as "eco-friendly." To identify these new environmentally-friendly products, a logo with the letter "E" placed inside a leaf will be stamped along the sidewall. This stamp is currently on new Versado Eco, Versado LX II and Tourevo LS II products. Moving forward, particular attention will also be made to the development of products so that they are more lightweight, longer lasting, and developed with recycled material when possible.

MICROBIT TECHNOLOGY

Walnut shells are one of the hardest natural substances in the world. That's why Toyo Tires has developed Microbit Technology, which incorporates thousands of crushed walnut shells into the tread compound of the Observe G-02 plus, and Observe Garit KX and Open Country G-02 plus winter tires. These walnut shells act like tiny spikes that dig into ice or compacted snow, providing added traction, especially during harsh winter driving conditions. Being a naturally-derived material, they are also friendly to the environment as the tire wears down.