Imagine a tire with a tread that regenerates itself as it wears. It’s not science fiction or a scene from movie, it’s reality at Michelin — the new XDA5 drive tire for Class 8 rigs.

Michelin’s design and manufacturing techniques mold the tread of the XDA5 in three dimensions. As the tire wears, the tread reveals new grooves and tread blocks, effectively giving the tire a second life — self-regenerating to improve wet, worn traction. This regenerating tread design keeps the tire in service longer before retreading, a 30 percent improvement in tread life over other drive tires that are commercially available, according to the manufacturer.

“Incorporating three dimensional features into the tire tread that must interact with each other as the tire rolls down the highway required Michelin to develop additional innovations in our manufacturing processes,” said Jean-Michel Guillon, chief operating officer, Michelin Americas Truck Tires.

“The result is a sophisticated tread design that works to preserve itself as it performs. We are very excited to bring this technology to the marketplace as it dramatically raises the bar for high mileage tires.”

Double-wave Matrix sipes give the Michelin XDA5 tire’s 30/32 deep tread blocks the ability to lock together in all directions, delivering rigidity, resistance to scrub, and minimizing irregular wear normally associated with deep tread block designs.

At the base of the Matrix siping, a raindrop groove is molded into the tread block that reveals a new groove when the tread has 10/32 remaining, a feature of self-regenerating tread. Due to this self-regenerating mechanism, the XDA5 tire offers renewed grip, enhanced worn traction, as well as more usable tread, which ultimately results in longer life, according to the manufacturer.

The Michelin XDA5 tire boasts a footprint that is more than 10 percent wider than its predecessor, delivering a larger contact patch and, in turn, increased stability and handling throughout the life of the tire.

The Michelin XDA5 tire will soon be available in four sizes, 275/80R22.5, 11R22.5, 275/80R24.5 and 11R24.5. Next year it will be offered in a 305/75R24.5 LRJ version, created expressly to accommodate Mexico’s higher load-carrying demands.

For more information, visit www.michelin.com.

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