Leading tyre manufacturer Kumho has launched a new car tyre which has been designed and engineered specifically for Australian roads and conditions with Holden selecting the new KH17 as original equipment on its popular Cruze, manufactured in Adelaide.
Kumho has re-engineered the Solus KH17 design to achieve better handling and wear on Australian roads, using ‘reverse belt’ technology
According to Kumho Tyres Australia, managing director, Mr Ki Young Kim, the reverse belt Solus KH17 was developed specifically with the Australian market in mind.
“The majority of our tyre range has been designed with a global outlook where most cars drive on the right hand side of the road,” said Mr Kim.
“We set out with the reverse belt Solus KH17 to create a tyres that handles and rides better given the difference in road crown and the way a car tracks in our unique conditions down under , where driving on the left hand side of the road presents unique challenges,” he said.
“There are factors which can cause a car to pull to one side and by adopting different manufacturing techniques, Kumho has been able to lessen the effects of vehicle pull caused by tyres on our roads.”
“Kumho is a significant player in Australia and tailoring tyres specifically for local conditions is confirmation of our commitment to this important market,” he added.
The success of the Solus KH17 lies in the internal construction of the tyre and the layering of the belts. By reversing the direction of the grain of the belt, the tyre’s key performance characteristics including its ‘conicity’ and ‘PRAT’ can be changed to compensate for the direction of camber on Australian roads.
PRAT, or Plysteer Residual Aligning Torque is the relationship between the lateral force of the tyre and the self-aligning moment of the tyre while conicity is the difference in lateral forces of clockwise and counter clockwise rotations.
A range of different factors can cause a car to deviate off course, however most of these are to do with the mechanics of the car or external factors, such as wind or the crown of the road, but PRAT and Conicity are parameters caused by tyres.
Factors such as tyre profile, groove design, tread pattern and internal belts all contribute to PRAT.
“By changing the internal construction, Kumho has made the Solus KH17 an even better choice for Australian consumers,” added Mr Kim.
“We are proud to be OE fitment on one of Australia’s most popular cars as a result of the developments we have made for the Australian market and being selected as original equipment is confirmation that Kumho is now a trusted and accepted brand down under,” he said.
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