Orange oil helps Yokohama AVID Ascend tire to longer life, longer warranty

LANGLEY, BC, Feb. 16, 2012 /CNW/ - The new Yokohama AVID Ascend, a premium all-season tire that incorporates orange oil to improve tread life and enhance fuel economy, will have one of the longest treadwear warranties in the industry in Canada, Yokohama Tire (Canada) Inc. announced here today.

The AVID Ascend is the latest Yokohama tire to incorporate orange oil in its tread compound and the first replacement market product to receive the BluEarth designation for environmentally sensitive products from Yokohama in Canada. The AVID Ascend goes on sale across the country on March 1, 2012, in three speed ratings and 45 popular sizes.

The new Yokohama AVID Ascend is aimed squarely at the premium touring tire market, where its unlimited kilometre treadwear warranty will make it appealing to a broad cross-section of premium tire buyers, said James de Chavez, marketing manager for Yokohama Canada.

"With a host of the most popular sizes in the 15" to 18" diameter range and a superior environmental profile, we believe the AVID Ascend will quickly earn a place in the market with discerning buyers who demand both performance and economy in a sophisticated touring tire," said de Chavez.

Using a patented process that infuses the natural and synthetic rubber of the tire tread compound with the natural oil from orange peels, Yokohama has created a compound that not only improves tread life and reduces rolling resistance (for enhanced fuel economy), but also reduces the use of petroleum in the tire's manufacture. The process combines oil extracted from orange peels with silica and natural rubber to form "Super Nano-Power Rubber™" (SNPR). This technology was initially utilized in Yokohama's innovative and groundbreaking dB Super E-spec™ tire.

The SNPR allows for less petroleum to be used in the manufacturing process and conserves fuel as it reduces rolling resistance by up to 20 per cent - minimizing the energy wasted (as heat) as the tire rolls down the road. Yokohama is the first - and only - tire manufacturer in the world to employ orange oil technology.

Yokohama has also used its orange oil technology to create breakthrough competition tires currently used in road racing in selected markets around the world.

The new Yokohama AVID Ascend also features interlocking tapered centre rib design for improved on-centre feel and stability, cross-supporting shoulder blocks to enhance handling, cross- and circumferential-grooves (wet weather performance) as well as adaptive 3D sipes to improve wear resistance.

Yokohama Tire (Canada) Inc. markets and distributes a full line of tires for high performance, passenger car, light truck, and commercial truck applications, as well as off-the-road tires for mining, forestry and construction applications. It maintains distribution centers across Canada to serve more than 700 independent tire dealers and more than 2,000 retail locations.

James de Chavez
Yokohama Tire (Canada) Inc.
604 546 9656 x1142
[email protected]

Doug Mepham
MacDonald & Co.
613 966 4969
[email protected]