Michelin’s Innovation in Motion 2025 road show rolled into Ingersoll, Ont., June 17, marking the midway point of the six-stop tour and its only Canadian visit.
Tirecraft’s Canadian Treads retread plant hosted the tour, giving invited fleet and dealer visitors a tour of the Michelin Retread Technologies plant, while Michelin representatives introduced several new and newish truck tires.
Jim Garrett, product manager at Michelin, said the tire maker has been responding to emerging trends, such as shorter routes and increased use of alternative fuels and electric vehicles, which place additional torque demands on the tire.
Meanwhile, customers are asking for more miles to remove and, of course, they want fuel efficiency too, as diesel prices climb. All those demands are given to Michelin’s research and development team — numbering 6,000 globally, with 1,000 in North America – to bring to market new tires that meet ever-evolving needs.
X Line Energy Z+ longhaul steer tire
Garrett started by discussing the X Line Energy Z+ longhaul steer tire designed for 1 million miles (1.6 million km) and up to four retreads. On the market for about a year now, so far, it’s been limited to a low-profile 295/75R22.5 size, the most popular offering in the U.S., but less so in Canada where the 11R22.5 size is generally preferred.
“The 11R version is coming soon,” Garrett promised the Canadian audience.
Some of the new technologies found in the X Line Energy Z+ haven’t yet been rolled out to Michelin’s entire production network. The tire features Michelin’s Infinicoil, a continuous steel wire wrapped around the circumference of the tire to increase stability and withstand punishing conditions, protecting the casing for multiple retreads.
It also offers Michelin’s Powercoil technology, comprised of lightweight, yet robust, steel cables that resist damage while improving rolling resistance and fuel economy, Garrett explained.
It’s a directional tire. Garrett acknowledged not everyone is a fan of directional tires, but he explained the benefits.
“I know directionality may have some negative connotations from a fleet maintenance standpoint,” he said. “But what directionality does on a longhaul tire is, it prevents the onset of irregular wear.”
Some of Michelin’s directional tires can be rotated at half their life without negatively impacting wear patterns, while others remain directional for their entire service life. Check your tire literature to be sure.
The X Line Energy Z+ also contains Michelin’s Regenion self-regenerating tread, revealing new sipes as the tread wears.
X Multi Z2 regional steer tire
Michelin also debuted its new X Multi Z2 regional steer tire, which will be available in the Canadian market around July 15. It succeeds the XZE 2, an all-purpose tire that has been offered for about 20 years.
“That all-position tire is used in a lot of different applications,” Garrett said of the XZE 2. “It does everything good. It doesn’t do anything great.”
The XZE 2 will continue to be offered in 24.5 and 22.5 LRH sizes, “but for everything else we’re going to go with the X Multi Z2,” Garrett said. The compound is the same, for scuff resistance, but the new tire features the Regenion regenerating tread, with wider, more rigid ribs.
The tire begins its life with two large rain grooves, but by end of life has five, so traction isn’t compromised as the tire wears. Conventional wisdom would suggest that additional tread depth is the key to longer wear life. Not so, said Garrett.
“From a tire design standpoint, that’s a bad idea,” he explained. “It’s the least efficient way [to add wear mileage].”
The X Multi Z2 features of a more rigid tread design, which Michelin claims has resulted in a 20% improvement in mileage compared to the XZE 2, with the same tread depth and rubber compound. The tire also features Powercoil, but not Infinicoil, which is more geared towards linehaul applications.
X Line Grip D linehaul drive tire
The third heavy-duty tire on display was the X Line Grip D linehaul drive tire, with a unique, attention-grabbing V-shaped tread design. Eight years in the making, the tire was shown for the first time at the spring meetings of the Technology & Maintenance Council, where Garrett said it attracted much attention, especially among tire rivals.
“We have thousands of these on the road already with some very large fleets, and they keep calling us back saying ‘Can I get more?’ Because the drivers don’t’ want to go back,” Garrett said.
The unique tread and siping provide 90% better snow traction late in life, Michelin claimed.
“Snow is all about biting edges that grip as it goes through the contact patch,” Garrett explained. “By having these grooves angled, they actually turn into biting edges also, but big biting edges, almost like gear teeth biting into the snow. You still have all the siping, which is great for packed snow, but you also have these gear-like grooves that straight groove tires don’t have and you still have the open shoulder. So, the traction is amazing.”
The tread depth was actually reduced, but contains the same amount of rubber as previous tires, just packed more efficiently for better traction and wear.
Light commercial vehicle offerings
Michelin also introduced its new Agilis CrossClimate 2 tire for light-duty commercial trucks and vans, initially announced June 1. Sarah Brand, senior brand manager, urban business with Michelin, said the tire was designed to be an easy selection for fleets, and an easy tire for dealers to sell.
Michelin is guaranteeing the tire will provide 20% more miles than any competitor. Additional rubber within the sidewall protects against curb scrubbing. And, added Brand, the tire was designed for excellent traction in snowy conditions.
She said the tire combines the best of traction, durability and longevity. Unlike its larger, heavy-duty siblings, it’s a non-directional tire.
“We’re trying to make it easier, by having one tread design so you don’t have to think too much about it,” Brand said of the decision to make it non-directional.
More sizes are coming to market this fall, and Brand said Michelin is focused on getting them to the Canadian market first by September, in time for winter. The Agilis CrossClimate 2 rounds out a line that also includes the Agilis HDZ, Agilis HD all-season and Agilis HD Grip D tires.
Credit: Source link
