The Porsches tearing up Sebring International Speedway during the Patron GT3 Challenge burned orange-infused rubber, and the same eco-friendlier tires could be rolling beneath the Toyota Prius and other hybrids within months.
Yokohama says the Advan ENV-R1 tire used by every car on the grid last week combines natural rubber with oil extracted from orange peels in a tire that requires 10 percent less petroleum than conventional racing rubber. It works so well Yokohama says we can expect to see road-going Sunkist tires for the Prius, Honda Civic Hybrid and other gas-electric cars by June.
Tire companies have been experimenting with petroleum substitutes for several years, and several major firms are searching for eco-friendlier alternatives. Yokohama first toyed with orange-infused rubber in the 1980s and recently accelerated development of the technology under the company's global environment strategy.
"This is not a novelty item, and we are not trying to green-wash our product," Mark Chung, director of corporate strategy and planning, told Wired.com. "We are making a better all-around tire for the consumer and the environment, and the best place to test that tire is on the race track."
Yokohama calls it "Super Nano-Power Rubber" and says it performs as well as a conventional race tire. Because it contains a higher percentage of natural products, Chung says, it's easier to recycle. He also says the orange oil makes for better tires.
"It is used to soften the natural rubber and increase grip on the tire," he said. "We've tested a lot of natural products including spider silk, and we found that orange oil works best because it has a molecular structure similar to natural rubber."
Kevin Rohlwing, a senior vice president at Tire Industry Association, said he wasn't familiar with Yokohama's orange tires and would wait before commenting on it. But he said greener tires are high on the industry's to-do list.
"It seems everybody in the tire industry is doing their own thing to help the environment, but the determining factor for the success of these new tires will be if they can run," he said. "People aren't going to pay for an environmentally friendly tire that wares-out faster than or doesn't perform like a so-called regular tire."
Patron Challenge drivers had no complaints, with Gold Class winner Melanie Snow telling Modern Tire Dealer, "I thought the Advan ENV-R1 worked really well. We were fairly quick in traffic and for us to be able to turn the times that we did was good. The tires held up well for me."
Of course, Yokohama is a major sponsor of the race, so everyone probably had a list of talking points to recite after the race. But you'll be able to judge for yourself when the orange-infused db Super E-spec tires go on sale in June.
Photo: Yokohama
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