Continental has released details of its newly developed Generation 3 winter tires for truck applications. Part of its Scandinavia tire family, the new generation consists of the HS3 (steer), HD3 (drive) and HT3 (trailer) tires.
“As our customers face tougher market demands, they expect us to deliver higher-performance products,” said Hinnerk Kaiser, head of tire development at Continental. “For the Generation 3 winter tires we pooled our tire expertise and brought new technologies into play in order to push the performance envelope. We decided to use a higher natural rubber content so as to further improve rolling resistance and maximize flexibility in low temperatures.”
The tires feature a two-phase compound that, as it wears, provides a much larger treaded area, the intent being that as vehicles operations move from winter to summer the tire remains effective. With the winter compound, Continental highlights that two-stage siping technology has been employed to both increase traction and reduce rolling resistance.
Additionally, the company says that the compound ratios are formulated to give the tires better wear properties, enabling them to deliver higher mileage over a longer service life.
According to Continental, the HS3 offers maximum steering stability and optimal water drainage at the steer axle thanks to the use of pocket sipe technology. The pattern design features a large number of sipes for optimal traction on wintry roads, while the geometry reduces stone trapping thanks to beveled flanks set at different angles.
On the HD3 drive axle tires, a longitudinal groove prevents stone trapping through a zigzag arrangement, again with beveled flanks set at different angles.
