In racing, there are times when you just say, “let’s start over, I mean all the way over.”
Examples include the Chaparral 2J (a racecar that had a separate engine to drive two fans to create suction down force), the
Tyrrell P34 (a 6-wheeled F1 car) and now the Yokohama ADVAN ENV-R1 race tire.
A couple of decades ago, a group of dedicated Yokohama engineers took this approach. Look at every component and throw some unconventional ideas at it. One of the key ingredients in a tire (especially a race tire) is petroleum, lots of it.
So they thought what happens when you replace petroleum with novel, natural materials?. Well, in Yokohama’s case with the orange oil, it stuck (pun intended) and you get a sticky tire. And just like the feats in motorsports mentioned above, they had their teething problems, but unlike the feats mentions above, they were solved.
Fast forward to 2009, the general public is more concerned then ever about the environment. Rolling resistance and sustainability are phrases that are not just uttered at scientific global warming discussion groups. Yokohama partners with IMSA and Porsche to become the spec tire on the Patron GT3 Cup by Yokohama and after the first third of the season, the competitors are very happy with the performance of the tire.
As it has been proven countless times, the race track breeds ideas and products for the consumer. Unfortunately, I am not currently driving a suction producing six wheeled car, but starting this month, I (and the general public of the US market) can purchase and drive on the dB Super E-spec. The Super E-spec uses similar orange oil technology found in the ENV-R1 as well as a host of other advances. These advances make it a green tire through and through from its production in a zero-emission factory, to low rolling resistance and air loss throughout its life to its 80% composition of natural products making it return to the earth easier.
And before someone fires off in the comment section, no the tire does not smell like orange and I can tell you from personal experience, it does not taste like oranges. Yes I am that dedicated to the tire industry!
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