The predecessor of the summer tire Nokian Hakka Blue 2 turned out to be a commercially successful product, thanks to the combination of a relatively low price and high performance. At the same time, car enthusiasts had, although only one, but still a significant reason to complain about it, namely the insufficiently long service life of the tire. When developing the second generation of this model, Finnish tire manufacturers not only eliminated this drawback but also improved most of the running qualities, including traction properties on wet pavement.
New compound
To a significant extent, the increased wear of the tread of the previous model was due to the characteristics of the rubber mixture. It has been replaced with a new compound with a different composition and somewhat changed properties. The key one is the ability to maintain an optimal level of elasticity from the point of view of ensuring traction in a very wide temperature range. In addition, the appearance of pine oil in the composition made it possible to reduce the degree of heating of the tread during movement, which, in turn, reduced rolling resistance and, as a consequence, fuel consumption and wear.
Reinforced breaker
Another solution that allowed increasing the service life was the strengthening of the breaker. It, like its predecessor, is made of steel cord, but a high-tensile steel tape is used. This element, while having a significantly lower weight, has higher strength and resistance to deformation. The appearance of a very rigid "substrate" under the tread allows for a more even distribution of the external load over the contact patch. The latter, in turn, has become slightly larger, and its shape is even closer to square due to the optimized tread profile. This further reduces the specific pressure on the road surface, which also increases the durability of the tread.
Reduced noise level
Some of the solutions that have proven themselves well in the previous generation model have been used in this tire. We are talking about Silent Sidewall and Silent Groove technologies. The first is an additional polyurethane layer located under the working surface of the tread and sidewalls. It absorbs most of the vibrations from the power elements of the tire design, thereby eliminating low-frequency noise that is well transmitted to the car's interior through metal parts. In turn, Silent Groove is a multitude of circular depressions on the sidewalls of the longitudinal drainage grooves. These elements prevent the formation of vortices in the air flow with high speed passing through the grooves during movement, which additionally increases the acoustic comfort.
Dry Touch 2
This model has become one of the first passenger tires where the Finnish manufacturer used Dry Touch 2 lamellas. They have a comparable efficiency with the previous iteration of this technology, but at the same time, it does not change significantly even with significant wear. This feature is due to the changed design of the lamellas, which expand as the tread wears out, thereby maintaining the volume of the drainage channels formed by them.
Main features of the summer tire Nokian Hakka Blue 2
- the new compound maintains optimal elasticity in a wide temperature range, and due to the addition of pine oil to the composition, it reduces the heating of the tread, thereby reducing rolling resistance and wear;
- the increased stiffness of the breaker and the optimized tread profile reduce the specific pressure on the surface, distribute it evenly, thereby increasing the service life and improving handling and traction.
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