Sumitomo Rubber Installs Cooling System at Winter Tire Development Base, Doubling Annual Cold-Weather Testing Period:Ice Performance Testing at Higher Standard Even in Mild Winter
Dec. 17. 2024
Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. is pleased to announce that we have recently installed a cooling system at the Nayoro Tire Proving Ground (Location: Nayoro City, Hokkaido), one of our main development bases for winter tires. The new system was installed in the Nayoro Indoor ICE Field (NICE), the indoor on-ice tire testing facility. With winters becoming milder, the period of time available for winter tire development is becoming shorter each year. We made the decision of introducing the new system in order to ensure stability in our tire development activities, unaffected by changes in weather.
With this installation, our winter tire development period, which primarily spanned two months from January to February in the past, can now be extended to four months, from December to March. In addition, the facility now supports development and testing at road surface temperatures between −5°C and −15°C,* meeting the requirements for the Ice Grip Symbol, which signifies compliance with UN regulations for ice performance standards.
Now that it is possible to conduct high-precision on-ice development and testing at NICE regardless of weather conditions, we will aim for even higher performance and faster development process for our winter tires.
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| Cooling system during construction | NICE indoor on-ice test course |
On December 15th, we held a completion ceremony at Nayoro Tire Proving Ground in the presence of prominent members of the local community. At the ceremony, Mayor Takeshi Kato of Nayoro City offered remarks, stating, “With the completion of this new system, it is my heartfelt wish that it leads to the development of even more extraordinary tires that resonate worldwide and contributes to the remarkable growth of Sumitomo Rubber Group.” Meanwhile, Kiyoshige Muraoka, Director and Senior Executive Officer of Sumitomo Rubber Industries, expressed the following aspirations: “We will work together as a team to deliver the world’s best tires that will inspire our customers, from right here in Nayoro.”
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| Ribbon cutting ceremony | Takeshi Kato, Mayor of Nayoro City | Kiyoshige Muraoka, Director (Senior Executive Officer) |
Sumitomo Rubber Industries owns and operates three tire proving grounds in Japan:our Okayama Tire Proving Grounds, which is used for comprehensive tire performance testing, as well as our Nayoro and Asahikawa Tire Proving Ground, which are both used in the development of winter tires. Featuring an ice test course, a compacted snow test course and more, our Nayoro Tire Proving Ground is used for a wide range of tire testing and analysis and has so far contributed to the development of countless good tires for market.
* As defined by ISO 19447:2021
■Nayoro Tire Proving Ground Profile
Location:1996-1 Aza Chiebun, Nayoro City, Hokkaido
Established:1991
Site Area:870,000m2
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■NICE Profile
Start of Testing operations:January 2021
Floor Area:3,000m2
Facilities:a braking test course (length:100m) and a turning test course (30m×30m)
Purpose:Indoor on-ice testing of tires mounted on vehicles
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