The Continental HSR2 regional steer tire has a new model that decreases rolling resistance by 15% for a 3% improvement in vehicle fuel economy, according to Continental Tire the Americas. The new HSR2 Eco Plus achieves that improvement by combining a new fuel-efficient compound with a four-rib tread design, according to the company.
Given the difficulty of balancing off-highway damage resistance with low rolling resistance in a tire compound, the Eco Plus is also one of the few regional application tires approved by the EPA SmartWay program as a low rolling resistance tire, according to Continental.
“If you run the combined application of some long haul highway traffic and some regional on-road traffic, then the HSR2 Eco Plus has the ideal combination of tread compound and grooves. It’s going to be the answer these fleets have been searching for, as far as fuel efficiency goes,” said Roger Stansbie, dir. of radial truck tire technology
Other features for the HSR2 Eco Plus include: a protective curb rib for high-scrub applications, patented groove technology to reduce cracking and tearing, and proprietary tread depth and alignment indicators.