A new lightweight carbon fibre rubber runflat has been launched today at IDEX on stand 07-C20. The new Tyron Carbon-ATR achieves up to 50% weight reduction.
Tyron runflats have a patented steel core to give it strength and a frame to maximise the performance of the rubber. The Carbon-ATR replaces this with a carbon fibre core, which reduces the weight while maintaining its strength.
"Reducing the weight on an armoured vehicle is the goal of all vehicle designer’s as lower weight means increased mobility and better fuel economy," said Richard Glazebrook, Chief Executive of Tyron Runflat.
"We have therefore been working hard exploring the use of new materials to develop this solution as all of our customers are looking at ways to save weight.
"This is being driven by the changes in military demands of rapid deployment and in a lot of cases amphibious capability.
"The Carbon-ATR achieve this weight reduction significantly, for example on an 8×8 on 1400R20 tyres, the minimum weight reduction compared to our steel insert ATRs so far is 240kg and we expect to improve this still further," said Mr Glazebrook.
Tyron’s runflat’s are unique in that not only are they manufactured from rubber, their multi-part design makes it easy to change a tyre on the side of the road without special tools, and the weight reduction of the Carbon-ATR makes this even easier. Tyron’s runflats have been proven to easily exceed the Finabel standards and can keep going at more than 50kmph for distances in excess of 100km.
The new Carbon-ATR will initially be available for both the 1400R20 and 1600R20 tyres where the greatest weight saving can be achieved. Tyron will continue developing its unique Runflat systems using this new technology on the complete range and expect to make further announcements later in the year.