Ikon Tyres conducted tests of winter tires with the addition of new rubber from SIBUR

Ikon Tyres and SIBUR have conducted the first track tests of tyres with a new functionalized synthetic rubber DSSK-615. The winter friction tyre Ikon Autograph Snow 3 was chosen for the tests, and Ikon notes that if studded tyres have a high role in ensuring traction, thanks to the anti-skid studs, then testing non-studded tyres allows us to assess the impact of new components in the rubber mixture on grip and handling on snow and ice. The tests were carried out on a frozen lake in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, and the characteristics of the tyres, such as acceleration and braking efficiency, as well as behaviour during high-speed manoeuvring, were evaluated.

As Ikon notes, real-world testing will allow us to start gathering information about the impact of the new rubber on the properties of the tyres, and before implementing the material in mass production, a long cycle of laboratory, bench, track, and finally, resource tests is planned, which will allow us to assess the characteristics of the tyres in various road and weather conditions.

As Vladimir Barvinok, Ikon Tyres Product Development Director, noted, "only complex, multi-stage research work - from laboratory tests to real tests in various climatic conditions - forms the final decision to use a particular material", and Anatoly Svetlikov, Director of the Transport Division at SIBUR, added that "testing a new brand of butadiene-styrene rubber, developed in partnership with Tatneft, has become another successful stage in the programme for developing domestic synthetic rubbers. Joint efforts have made it possible to achieve a localization level of 99%".