Pirelli technological evolution: 1948-2003

 

1948-1950. Post-war period and motor cars for the masses

Pirelli launches the Motor-Scooter, a tyre with a thick block pattern designed for the wheels of lambrettas. The generation of tyres for lorries and specific agricultural use is started up. In the motor car sector the Stelvio is launched: this tyre with a pentagonal block tread signals the gradual change from the mainly cut pattern to the mainly grooved pattern to improve directionality and road traction. In the same period the Pirelli Winter was launched. This snow tyre, characterized by sipes arranged in a fishbone shape, is capable of preventing sideways skidding and guaranteeing excellent traction on uneven road surfaces.

1950's. The belt system

The production of the belted radial (cinturato), studied by Pirelli since 1948, begins. In the radial the carcass plies consist of cords which are no longer crossed but arranged as rays which start from the center of the wheel. The radial increases road traction and improves the behavior on bends and when braking both on dry and wet roads. At the same time the wear resistance increases, making the cover last longer. Pirelli prepares the ' tubeless ' tyre as well. It is called Fakir, and has a special layer of rubber, impermeable to air, applied inside the carcass, which makes the inner tube superfluous.

1960's. Research continues

During the course of the 60's, research on materials and on structures lead to the introduction of steel wire into the belt of the radial tyre to make it even more resistant: The "textile" belt gives way to the steel one.

1970's. Invention and diffusion of 'low' tyres

Pirelli starts an operation which totally revolutionizes the traditional conception of the tyre: it launches the "low" tyre. Up until that moment tyre design foresaw a standard relationship between the height of the side and the section width. In the low tyre the side height is 70% less than the section width. The lowered profile manufactured tyre opens the way to numerous possibilities of development in terms of performance and quality. Halfway through the 1970's the ' low ' tyre also makes its debut in the motor cycle sector: indeed the revolutionary Phantom is created. In these years Pirelli also patents a two steel belt structure surmounted by a third zero degrees nylon belt that is, with wires arranged according to the rolling direction.

1980's. The range becomes specialized

In these years the 'Winter' line gains popularity. Pirelli combines an ultra-adherent compound, developed at the beginning of the 1970's, with a new type of tread capable of exploiting the traction between the snow on the road surface and the snow held in the grooves. In 1985, Pirelli in collaboration with Goodyear, designs the asymmetric hump, the rim with an asymmetric edge capable of maintaining the bead lip of a punctured cover even with a residual pressure of only 2/10 atmosphere. The great advantage is its versatility: it is a rim that adapts to any cover on the market.

1990's. State of the art techniques and materials

New methods of approach are applied in tyre manufacture foreseeing new definitions of the priorities in the development process. The technical content of the Pirelli P2000 is defined by the innovative choices applied to developing the tread pattern, the profiles and the materials. The tread pattern comes from applying sophisticated CAD/CAE systems, from using intensimetric measurement instruments and from using mathematical simulation models of the fluid flows. The profiles were designed from a theory of global optimization of the structural rigidities, based on the computerized calculation of the complex correlation coming between the driving factor and the comfort factor. The compounds belong to a generation of materials tailor-made for the required applications.

2000-2003. The era of 'total mobility'

Pirelli revolutionizes the concept of safe driving, launching Eufori@ , the first Run Flat tyre manufactured inside the MIRS , the new futuristic Pirelli factory.
Eufori@™ allows you to cover up to 80km (50 miles) at zero pressure in complete safety.
What the tyre industry design and production departments have failed to come up with for decades has been achieved by Pirelli thanks to the flexibility and integration of the new MIRS™ production process. Indeed the MIRS system has allowed Pirelli to create products, above all Eufori@, which blend safety and reliability to performance, comfort, and design like never before.