9:25 am, January 31, 2013
NEW high-tech tyres could change colour when they’re worn.
Tyre wear indication technology hasn’t come particularly far in the past thirty years, as motorists are still reduced to sticking a 20p piece into the tread to see if it’s time to replace the rubber.
But award-winning designers Gao Fenglin and Zhou Buyi have been busy working on a high-tech solution to the age-old problem of spotting worn out rubber.
The pair have created the Discolor Tyre, that features a layer of bright orange rubber that sits beneath the traditional black top layer.
When the tread is worn to a certain depth, the bright under layer will show through indicating a need to replace.
The bright colouring can also help drivers spot a tiny insidious tear or leak, and the designers estimate their tyre will get over 12,000 miles before the subdermal color begins to show through.
There have been plenty of patents submitted for advanced wear indicators but due to the expensive production process and the stringent safety rules; many are yet to see the light of day.
A spokesperson for TyreSafe, a not-for-profit organisation that is dedicated to raising awareness of tyre safety in UK, said: ‘Anything that raises awareness of tyre safety is a good thing. Drivers tend not to understand tyre technology or they don’t want to know. They fit and forget.
‘But tread depth is just one of a number of key issues when it comes to tyre safety. There isn’t a substitute for getting down and dirty, checking the state of your tyres regularly. Particularly with the current state of UK roads.’
Image credit: Yanko Design
