Show feedback prompts two new Continental tires

FORT MILL, SC – Feedback at North American truck shows, including Montreal’s ExpoCam, has convinced Continental Tire The Americas to launch not one, but two super wide medium truck radials.

The company displayed two competing designs for a new super wide single tire at March’s Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky. and at ExpoCam in early April, reports Tire Review magazine. 

The different features were explained and attendees were encouraged to vote on which design they preferred. But feedback at the shows and through social media like Facebook led Continental to announce it would launch both the Continental HDL2 Eco Plus super wide drive tire and a super wide version of the Continental HDL2 DL.

Director of marketing Clif Armstrong say the company had envisioned to produce just one new wide single drive tire for highway use. The feedback proved there was an appetite for both designs.

The HDL2 Eco Plus is expected to be available in November. It will be available in size 445/50R22.5, and will feature 27/32nds of tread depth, a closed shoulder, and regenerating sipes in the middle of the tread blocks.

The HDL2 DL will be available in mid-2012. Both tires meet EPA SmartWay rolling resistance requirements, but neither has been submitted for final verification yet.