Tired of rolling resistrance.

The response by the Rubber Manufacturers Association to the government's report on rolling resistance was somewhat interesting. "RMA supports the National Academy of Science (NAS) report's recommendations to provide consumers with information on tire rolling resistance and particularly supports the recommendation that proper tire pressure is vital to achieving improved fuel efficiency as well as promoting safety and longer-lasting tires," is all they wanted to say about the 134-page re port.

Commissioned by Congress, the NAS report, "Tire and passenger vehicle fuel economy--informing consumers, improving performance," focuses on rolling resistance, specifically the rolling resistance of replacement tires.

Improving rolling resistance is not a new initiative to the tire manufacturers, the auto companies or the suppliers of tire making chemicals and materials. One attempt at this is discussed this month in "Improving rolling resistance of NR tread formulations," which begins on page 30. Authors, Greene, et. al, discuss how an alternative secondary accelerator can play a role in reducing rolling resistance in truck tires. The tire industry has looked at rolling resistance from almost every angle.

I'll bet the RMA was more relieved that the report stopped short of mandating regulations concerning rolling resistance information.

The main conclusion of the report was that the panel felt that a 10% reduction in rolling resistance was attainable through a combination of improved tire technology, shifts in consumer purchases and tire maintenance. Believe me, tire engineers have been reducing rolling resistance for decades, and know a myriad of ways to achieve reductions from compounding and design. But, they have to balance the reductions with tread wear, traction, handling and other properties people want in a tire.

The report (available at www.trb.org/publications/sr/sr286.pdf) points out that a 10% reduction in rolling resistance is almost attainable through proper tire maintenance. This is something we have known for quite some time. Congress actually doing something about this will be the real benefit of this study.