Bridgestone Turanza 6, more safety in the wet. EUPG test in Aprilia 06 March 2023 0

For development new tires Turanza 6Bridgestone started by making a product with the best wet performance, with a longer service life and better energy efficiency and power consumption compared to Turanza T005. In addition, the company also wanted to take into account the results of a study conducted among European motorists to find out what they expect from a summer touring tyre.

That is why Turanza 6 was developed at the Bridgestone EMIA research and development center near Rome. OUR road test were held at the European Proving Ground (EUPG) near Aprilia, in the province of Latina. This is a state-of-the-art facility with 70 km of tracks of all types, including a speed circuit where tires can be tested in various conditions, from dry to wet, on dirt roads.

As part of this structure, tires are tested not only for passenger cars, but also for commercial vehicles and motorcycles. Aprilia’s European proving ground is also used to develop specific products for special high-performance models. For example, a tire for the new Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato was developed here. And it was on this proving ground that Bridgestone introduced us to the new Turanza 6 up close.

Compared to the previous Turanza T005, Bridgestone has worked not only on the connection but also on tread pattern to improve tire performance in all conditions, but especially on wet roads. It is for this reason, for example, that a divergent shoulder profile has been adopted to improve water drainage. Always with the same goal, the shape of the blocks has been rounded to optimize the contact area, higher in the central part and lower on the sides. In addition, the shape of the 3D double-angled grooves allowed the creation of more stable micro-drainage channels.

To improve rolling resistance, the new Bridgestone tire also features new belts and carcass plies. In order to provide greater durability over time, wider curbs have been made to optimize drag and reduce slippage. In addition, the new tire can also count on own technologies ENLITEN and TECHSYN which provide additional efficiency and sustainability benefits such as increased mileage and improved fuel efficiency.

Bridgestone claims 22% more mileage than the Turanza T005 and 4% less rolling resistance. Due to its characteristics, the new tire is also suitable for installation on electric vehicles.

The qualities of this new product were verified by an independent body TÜV SÜD which confirmed that the Bridgestone Turanza 6 outperforms its competitors in this segment due to its superior wet performance. This means it handles cornering maneuvers best and offers great straight-line performance. The new Bridgestone Turanza 6 tire also delivers the best level of grip on wet surfaces, certified by the European label in “A” class, the highest in the category in the entire range.

Tests by TÜV SÜD commissioned by Bridgestone in July 2022 at the ATP circuits in Papenburg (Germany) and Bridgestone EUPG (Italy) for wet testing of BMW 520i and BMW 530d vehicles fitted with 245/45 R18 100Y XL tyres. The performance of the Turanza 6 was compared with the main competitors in the same segment: CONTINENTAL Premium Contact 6, MICHELIN Primacy 4+, PIRELLI Cinturato P7 (P7C2). Lateral hydroplaning results: BRIDGESTONE Turanza 6 (100%), PIRELLI Cinturato P7 (P7C2) (96.9%), CONTINENTAL Premium Contact 6 (92%), MICHELIN Primacy 4+ (90.2%). Direct hydroplaning results: CONTINENTAL Premium Contact 6 (100.2%), BRIDGESTONE Turanza 6 (100%), PIRELLI Cinturato P7 (P7C2) (98.9%), MICHELIN Primacy 4+ (98.5%). Wet corner results: BRIDGESTONE Turanza 6 (100%), CONTINENTAL Premium Contact 6 (97.0%), MICHELIN Primacy 4+ (95.1%), PIRELLI Cinturato P7 (P7C2) (93.3%). The result of braking on a wet road (braking distance [m] 80-20 km/h): CONTINENTAL Premium Contact 6 (33), BRIDGESTONE Turanza 6 (33.7), PIRELLI Cinturato P7 (P7C2) (34.4), MICHELIN Primacy 4+ (36).

Produced at Bridgestone’s European factories, including the Bari plant, the Turanza 6 is offered in a wide range of sizes from 16″ (available from 2024) to 22″ for cars and SUVs, both with combustion engine, hybrid or electric .

At the European proving ground, Bridgestone has given us the opportunity briefly check the potential new Turanza 6 in both dry and wet conditions. And all this is mostly overcast day with air temperature that ranged from 15 to 18 degrees.

Therefore, within some fields, routes were laid for simulate specific driving conditions. Particularly in dry weather, Bridgestone wanted to involve the journalists in attendance on a route created using cones to mimic the classic routes that are typically traveled every day. The path to be covered at city speed (about 50 km/h) and without forcing corners to test the qualities of silence and tire comfort. The “test” was carried out with two different cars: the BMW 3 Series and the Audi Q3.

A very quick test is certainly not enough to be able to fully judge the tire in these contexts, but it must be said that throughout the journey the Turanza 6 always proved to be silent even in the presence of imperfect asphalt, with some slightly uneven parts.

Much more interesting was the speed loop test carried out on the Audi A6. Here, a Bridgestone tester was at the wheel, who showed us the qualities of the Turanza 6 in this context. The aim of the engineers was also to create a tire capable of improving steering precision, stability and safety when driving on highways.

In this test, we reached and exceeded 210 km/h. Those who hit positively were driving precision and safety offers Turanza 6. Even in emergency situations simulated by the tester, such as a sudden and abrupt lane change at almost 180 km/h, the tire never experienced difficulty and never gave rise to fear of losing traction. Of course, the test was carried out on a top-level car, but Turanza 6, as the tester emphasized, was designed in such a way as to provide the same driving behavior on all cars on which it is installed. It is for this reason that during development tests it was tested on various types of vehicles, from the smallest (such as the Renault Clio) to the largest.

We then move on to wet tests. The first “exercise” that Bridgestone offered us was done inside a parking lot, where a track was played on which you could experiment with both hydroplaning conditions and hard braking to avoid obstacles such as people and objects. Bridgestone made us use two cars again: the Audi A3 and the Audi Q3.

In this context, at speeds between 50 and 70 km/h, the tires have always performed well, conveying a sense of safety, regardless of the vehicle used. I was particularly impressed by the hydroplaning test. When the cars were moving at a speed of about 70 km / h, the left wheels had to collide with a large puddle of water. In this situation, the cars never crashed, there was no steering response and no electronics intervened.

The second exercise was classic”skin pads» is carried out on board the Mercedes C-Class. This is a loop with permanently irrigated asphalt run at an increasing speedtrying to push the car to the limit. A very interesting test, which showed even better the excellent behavior of the tires on wet roads. Personally, I wanted to push it a little, maybe even too much at some points, to try to create problems for the tyres. On the laps the tires always gave me great feedback, which allowed me to always have a certain margin of safety, even when I went a little too far with the accelerator.