tires Archives - usatoday24

Two centuries ago the tires on cars and motorcycles were white. It had nothing to do with the design.

February 14, 2026 by usatoday24

It is more than likely that, in some of the American films you have seen inspired by the last century, you have seen cars or motorcycles with a white stripe on their tires Today, some companies still implement them as a nod to the past. What you may not know is that the only reason the wheels weren’t completely black was to… save a few bucks. As explained in Motorpasion, no tire (neither motorcycle nor car) was born as black as they are now. Between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the following century, tires were white, light gray or beige. If you search any car from the 19th century You can check it easily. This was because natural rubber is naturally light in color. But of course, rubber cannot become a tire as it leaves the tree; it must be heated with sulfur so that it is able to withstand the heat of the asphalt, withstand weight and friction, and behave as expected in a tire. To achieve this, the rubber was “cooked” using a technique called vulcanization, a process that bleached the material even more and ended up producing clear, non-durable tires. The big change came with the introduction of a very specific material: carbon. With its arrival, tires became more durable and resistant, since this material reinforced the rubber structure. There was only one problem: it was very expensive. For this reason, during the early 20th century, tire manufacturers opted for a mixed solution: the critical part (the tread that directly contacts the ground) was made with rubber and carbon, the rest without it. The result was this: tires with said black stripe and the rest in white. As carbon became cheaper, tires became completely black as we know them now, but some manufacturers (mainly motorcycle manufacturers) maintain white treads to give their tires a retro feel. It is the case of some Mitas tires for Harley-Davidson. Yes indeed, through the forums they comment the price to pay for this hesitated retro: you have to constantly clean the tread if you want it to remain white. Image | Harley-Davidson In Xataka | I was about to buy the best-selling Chinese motorcycle in Spain. Until I read the fine print

He has fitted winter tires to use it as a snow plow.

December 31, 2025 by usatoday24

While many drivers in Spain stay stuck on mountain roads Every winter, as a few centimeters of snow fall due to driving cars that are not prepared for those conditions, the CEO of Bugatti wanted to offer a winter driving lesson most unexpected. Mate Rimac, 37-year-old Croatian businessman supercar enthusiast that it manufactures, has recently shared on its social networks a video which shows something completely surprising: he prefers to drive a Bugatti Tourbillon of 4 million euros in heavy snow conditions. This is not an impulsive act, but rather a rigorous testing program that seeks to validate the behavior of the exclusive Bugatti supercar in extreme situations in the real world. The first Bugatti “snowplow” The contrast with what we usually see on Spanish roads with the first snowfalls of the season is disconcerting. While many drivers with front-wheel drive SUVs equipped with summer tires end up trapped for not being able to circulate With a few centimeters of snow, the CEO of Bugatti shows that the problem is not the type of vehicle, but the preparation of the vehicle with the correct equipment to face these adverse weather conditions. In it video posted on your profile From Instagram, Rimac presents two options for driving in snow storms: a properly prepared Jeep Wrangler and a Bugatti Tourbillon. The CEO’s choice of the French supercar, instead of the specifically designed 4×4 vehicle for difficult terrainhighlights a fundamental truth about winter driving. Tap on the image to go to the original content As revealed by the “VP1” callsign on its side, the Bugatti Tourbillon that Rimac drives is the first unit that circulates freely on open roads, with a power of 1,800 HP and a price of 4 million dollars. Rimac explains in his video that the Tourbillon is equipped with winter tires of the correct quality, and this is precisely the determining factor that is missing from the majority of Spanish drivers who get stuck on the roads and mountain passes with the first snowfalls. According to the businessman, the winter tires provide enough grip to control the 1,800 HP delivered by this exclusive asphalt beast, keeping them under control even under snow conditions and with a rolling surface as wide as the one they offer Tourbillon wheels. The irony is that a vehicle so extremely expensive and with such enormous power be more manageable in winter than a conventional SUV poorly equipped. A training program for supercars Rimac and the Tourbillon’s adventure on snowy roads is not simply a display of Bugatti’s automotive bravado. The CEO explained that the objective is thoroughly test the Tourbillon in all possible real-world driving conditions over the next two years. In this way, the Bugatti team aims to obtain data on its behavior and draw conclusions that allow it to improve its configuration with data that goes beyond that obtained in conventional test benches. The CEO assured that “five years of hard work to get the Tourbillon from a blank page to a road test” has led to them now examining the vehicle’s behavior in real scenarios. During these driving tests, Rimac travels accompanied by a technician who monitors the car’s telemetry in real time, collecting valuable data on how the hypercar responds to extreme winter conditions. The CEO noted that “we have been testing it on various tracks and test facilities for two years, but road testing in real conditions is another matter.” The manager has also taken advantage of the opportunity to test the Rimac Refrigeratorthe electric supercar of the brand he foundedunder the same conditions of driving on snow. A luxury convoy that you surely did not expect to find in a mountain pass after a snowfall. In Xataka | If you have four million euros you are very lucky in life, but you will not have the new Bugatti Image | Mate Rimac

How to manufacture five million tires every year

June 16, 2025 by usatoday24

Between the Plaza Mayor of Valladolid and the Bibendum roundabout there are 4.1 kilometers and thousands of distance lives. Exactly those who work, have worked or work at the Michelin factory in the city of Pisuerga who, Like Renaultis one of the great engines of the city. The union with the city is so great that “in fact, the idea of calling Bibendum Glorieta at the entrance of the factory left the City Council. We had a generic name of industrial polygon. We wanted to change it and they themselves proposed the name,” they point to us from the company whose doors proudly look its famous Pet in a gigantic size. And it is that 2,200 workers pass every day (almost 1,700 of them are part of the workforce and another 500 work in maintenance or cleaning, among other functions) that keep the plant to full performance, with three eight -hour shifts that keep alive an annual production of five million tires. The objective is clear: fill the 50 trucks that come out every day. Valladolid is not one more factory for the company. It is one of the so -called “digital factories” for the high investment that has been made in all types of systems to carry out a controlled production to the extreme. This investment is manifested in the machinery that gives life to gums for cars, trucks and tractors that are manufactured there but also for the control of the entire assembly line. It is there, exactly, where our visit begins. A control tower We could say that the Valladolid machine room is the opposite of what we could imagine. The Castellanoleonese plant moves to the rhythm of two operators that supervise everything that happens locked in an office. By hand they have two computers with multiple monitorson the wall the screens are multiplied with cameras distributed throughout the facilities, colored notices of all kinds and a volume of numbers, names and information for profane eyes. Our guide points to a side wall in which we had not repaired given the communicative epilepsy we had in front of us. Simply, lines and bulbs. This worked before and thus still controls the management of the inventory or the situation of the machines in some plants. Valladolid, they explain to us, have some of the most advanced control and supervision systems and, in fact, have worked to implement some of the solutions in other plants of the company. The intention is clear: all unforeseen must be controlled at the time for the production chain to stop the minimum and essential. From a breakdown to the shortage of a product. We leave that luck of control tower to put the feet on the mainland. In front we have the compounds that give life to a rubber. They are so simple that they look like a children’s game. Rubber, a metallic ring, the fabric that structures the wheel and the rolling band. So simple that it seems a lie that we talk about a product capable of resisting the force exerted by a car that rolls more than 100 km/h, a truck that transports tons of merchandise or a tractor that, with the agricultural tires More advanced, it can circulate at 80 km/h. “In the United States it is legal for a large tractor to circulate at that speed.” What is unthinkable here “creates a problem when thinking about how to face wear. So we have a system so that, from the tractor itself, the tire pressure is increased so that a smaller surface touch the ground when it moves through the asphalt. And, on the contrary, you can lower the pressure to gain trace when it gets into the field,” they explain. This way of working, without leaving from the tractor cabin, is a solution like the one that They use the pilots in the Dakar Rally That, from inside the car, they put pressure if they want to gain speed on a fast track or remove it if they need to cross a dune since it requires greater contact with the ground to have greater traction capacity. From the rubber to the road This is the key to everything. With the hand, our guide holds the tire rubber. “Each rubber has its own mixture and is secret,” they point to us. It is about making the most balanced rubber for each vehicle and moment. Not only is it a matter of offering the best grip, you also have to get the slightest rolling resistance (lower consumption) or less noise. And those concepts are enemies of braking, traction and, of course, performance. Join those Three pillars In a single tire is the biggest challenge, prioritizing with each type of product one or another game. For example, a Michelin Primacy 5the tire that we have come to know and that is designed for great general performance and good behavior in summer, that a Michelin CrossClimatedesigned to replace the chains in case of Nevada, or a Michelin Pilot Sportfor sports driving. The heart of each has its own mixture of ingredients (they add up to 200,000 tons of rubber per year). And that mixture enters through a machine that is in charge of flattening and shaping the compound. The mixture is heated, flattened and forms the heart of the tire. That already ironed rubber is painted with brands to facilitate the subsequent process management. As if it were a very long plasticine without principle or end, the machines are cutting into strips and barrels serve to generate the rounded shape. This is where the metallic ring and textile meshes are inserted in charge of structuring and supporting the vehicle pressures. The heavier, the greater the resistance the mesh should exert, so in the specific models for SUV or electric cars, two meshes are usually included. Finally, everything is covered with a last layer that will form the rolling band. This is drawn in the process of Vulcanizedat which time the tire … Read more

Shatumatic tires at 10,000 km

May 25, 2025 by usatoday24

It is not just what you save in gasoline, it is also what you save on maintenance. It is, without a doubt, one of the great Arguments to jump into the electric car and one of the factors that can opt for the balance. As they have shown us with statements the taxi drivers themselvesthe more kilometers you do, the more performance you take out an electric car. But that’s what we can expect from a electric car normal. And the Tesla Cybertruck It is, of course, everything but normal. That is why there are people complaining about a small detail: they have had to change the wheels of their car last more than 10,000 kilometers. A change of express tires The Tesla Cybertruck is great. It is very big, in fact. But, above all, it is heavy and powerful. A combination that do not get along with an aggressive driving style or with poor quality tires. According to what was shown in social networks by some owners of the electric pick-up Of those of Elon Musk, it is not entirely clear if the problem is the first, the second or a combination of both. And there are those who are making clear in their social networks that after just over 10,000 kilometers he has already had to make his first change of tires. They explain in Jalopnik That the Tesla CybeRtruck is equipped with goude tires of proportions according to its size. With dimensions of 285/65r20They point out that changing each of these tires can go to about $ 500 if the original tire is chosen. That is, at least 2,000 euros for changing the game of the four tires. This is because the gums used are specially designed so that the aerodynamic tapacubos that are mounted in the vehicle are designed to give a higher size impression of what they really are. Another possibility, in case of opting for change, is to set up a new tire and opt for cheaper tires. But the issue for some owners is that these doubts that should assault them after traveling tens of thousands of kilometers have begun to manifest when they have barely traveled little more than 10,000 kilometers. Or of 11,200 kilometers in one of the examples they put in Jalopnik. In September 2024, the information that aimed at A very short useful life of the rubber. What has led to this premature wear of the tires? That is one of the big doubts. It is true that the rubber of some specific cases may have arrived deteriorated but it is more likely that there is a cluster of circumstances that sweep with records in record time. First, the tires mounted in these cases are gums with off -road tachy. This type of tire suffers especially in the asphalt since they are designed to improve grip and traction which means, of course, greater wear. The performance and useful life of the tire is also variable depending on the weather conditions: if the abrasa asphalt, greater wear. To this is added that we are facing a car that weighs 3,000 kg and can be acquired with a power of 845 hp. Its motor torque is more than 1,100 nm. They are data that give an idea of to what extent the gums can suffer if the driver weighs a little right foot. Photo | Maxim In Xataka | Four tires, twelve months: solving whether the “All Season” wheels are a good investment or not

Torrential rains have reminded us why winter tires make a difference. Even when there is no snow

March 12, 2025 by usatoday24

Spain has been plunged into a scenario of persistent rainscold in many parts of the country (exacerbated by moisture) and snow in some cases. They are the ideal conditions to be clear about why they can be worth some winter tires. Even if there is no snow. Two situations lived with completely different results in recent weeks are your confirmation. Winter tires for when there is no snow Winter and snow tires are almost inseparable in the collective imaginary. It makes sense if we think it is the only way to continue circulating when the road has become so complicated that the road is cut for all those who do not have chains or these shoes for their cars. But, in addition, not only is it that Winter tires They allow us to get ahead when chains are necessary. In addition, they are safer because the control of the car is simpler, it does not force us to maneuver with an accessory that we rarely put in the car (if we get to take it on occasion) while we deal with a icy temperature. And, as if that were not enough, we do not run the risk of destroying the tires if we are not attentive. The latter is what happens when we do not remove the chains on time and the ice has already disappeared from the road. As we say, these are the most extreme but not the only ones in which winter tires are necessary. How much we miss them, for example, in our aborted contact of the Ford Capri, when the port of Navacerrada had to turn around. Experience we tell you in this article. In those we were, in the idea of finding the snow and checking first -hand what were capable of winter tires in our contact of DS 7 crossback, SUV of the company that has been renewed and offered now with new plug -in hybrid mechanics. But, like Time is capriciousthen wanted our visit to the Aragonese Pyrenees to be marked by rain but, much less, by snow. We even had an offroad route prepared to verify what a car was able to get it out of the asphalt if we put some Michelin CrossClimate 2. And the result was surprisingly good. It is true that the route did not present great complications for an SUV but had a certain challenge for a car that is not designed to pass stretches where the mud forced us to stay in our site, be soft and constant with the accelerator pedal and, above all, maneuver gently. Of course, if something allowed to go to DS 7 crossback on the chosen route it was by the tires. Because snow is not necessary to check why they are interesting winter tires. Tire yield depending on the temperature: 1.- Nordic tires. 2.- Winter tires. 3.- All Season tires. 4.- Summer tires. Security reasons The first thing I thought when we started linking mud, mud and more mud on our offroad route with the DS 7 crossback is that in our situation you could find anyone who likes to go out to the field, put the car the car by a simple step and, already late, it realizes that it has gotten into a mess. There are a thousand examples. From the hiker who approaches the car to a route, which he wants to bring children closer to snow and find it that the road is in the worst state of what he thought. Going through the fisherman who wants to spend a morning in a reservoir and enjoy tranquility. I know who, in the latter case, almost ends inside the water with the car. That day, the tires barely traction in a step with mud that, in reality, was deeper than it seemed to the naked eye. With a little touch it is something we completely avoid. In our case, the Michelin CrossClimate 2 are designed to be mounted on all stations but have winter certification (M+S and 3pmsf). The latter acronyms (m+s of Mud + snowmud and snow in English, and Three Peak Mountain Snow Flakewhich can also be identified with a three -spike mountain) is what demands the DGT to circulate with tires as an alternative to chains. It is not necessary for the road to be completely snowy to check the efficacy of winter tires The rubber in this case is structured with great V -shaped slots. That drawing allows you to drain more quickly. It moves much more water and increases the traction capacity in mud situations (such as the one lived in the Aragonese Pyrenees) or with ice and snow (the one lived in the port of Navacerrada). But also, simply, with rain. Circular these days through the Community of Madrid is to check the problems that some roads have to drain the water that is falling. Winter tires make it difficult to fall into the dreaded Aquaplaing Because, as we said, they clear an amount of water well above summer tires. This is especially important if, in addition, the asphalt temperature is low, as is happening these days. In these conditions of cold and rain, the performance of a summer tire is much worse and the winter wins (with much) the game. Above all If the temperature has fallen below seven degrees. The structure of the tire with large g grooves facilitates to drain more fluid and improve the braking with the wet floor Collect the DGT That a winter tire needs 32 meters to stop the car when the road It is wet and is cold When it circulates at 50 km/h. Under the same conditions, a summer tire will go above 60 meters. That extra security deserves money if we live in areas where rains are very common and temperatures in summer are not especially high. There are also spaces that keep the tires and protect them during winter or summer to exchange rubber twice a year. Each … Read more

Log In

Sign In

Forgot password?

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections