Press Release

Osaka, Japan – 17 July, 2014 – Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. (Akira Nobuki, president) has created yukata (Japanese summer dress) fashioned from cloth incorporating the company’s tire tread designs. 

(*Modeled by Toyo employees)

Tire treads refer to the portion of the tire that makes contact with the road surface. The tread surface formed by carved grooves are three-dimensional in shape, and along with optimization of the rubber materials used, treads provide the tire its functionality in the form of “driving force and braking force,” “drainage in wet weather,” and “noise reduction and driving comfort.” The patterns formed through the carving of grooves are referred to as tread designs or tread patterns. These provide tires with their originality in terms of appearance. Such designs, the “face of the tire” so to speak, are realized through a sophisticated level of technical prowess that ensures the tire’s functionality.

In order to give customers a sense of the rich expression of our tires, which are renowned for their original designs, we had our tread designs tailored into the patterns for yukata, a garment commonly worn during summers in Japan. By transposing the originality of tires, normally thought of as a simple round, black object, into the feminine world of color dimensions apart, we have created another unique touch point distinctive of Toyo Tires.
The tread patterns used for the cloth tailored into yukata come from the PROXES R1R, OPEN COUNTRY M/T and NANOENERGY 0 products, all of which are especially popular among Toyo tires for their tread designs. In producing these designs, traditional Japanese dying technique was used to dye three types of original cloth that were tailored into cool, refreshing kimono designs.

PROXES R1R

OPEN COUNTRY M/T

NANOENERGY 0

At our tire development sites, expert designers draft basic designs that are optimized using computer simulation. In our tread designs, which fuse high functionality and differentiating design, prototypes are painstakingly carved out at the hands of skilled technicians, and only those designs that clear numerous trials are adopted for use.

By combining the aesthetic quality of our tread designs, which supports the technical strength of our company’s tire development, with the “Edo Yukata” dying techniques of traditional craftsmen, we achieved original content that can be utilized not just in Japan but globally as well.

We plan to use the resulting cloth and yukata at future company events. Toyo Tires will continue to work to provide content and transmit information that shines a spotlight on our unique presence.

 

[For reference]

PROXES R1R
This tire’s wide-contact tread pattern boasts superior dry-grip performance as a true sport tire. Its unique arrowhead grooves deliver a high degree of control on wet surfaces as well.
The elite performance of the Proxes R1R has been proven in motorsport competition: Toyo-supported driver Masato Kawabata used this tire in winning the D1 Grand Prix series championship in 2007 and 2013.

OPEN COUNTRY M/T
This product is sold primarily in North America as an off-road mud terrain tire, and features superior traction and durability over severe muddy and rocky terrain. Boasting outstanding off-road prowess, the Open Country M/T has been equipped on Toyo-supported race team vehicles that have claimed victories in the internationally renowned Baja 1000 and Baja 500 off-road races.

NANOENERGY 0
Based on Toyo’s proprietary “Nano Balance Technology” materials design platform technology and optimized tire width and siping pattern design, this tire achieves the highest marks for rolling resistance and wet grip performance in Japan’s tire grading system.
The NANOENERGY series has received acclaim for its far-reaching initiatives in improving quietness and comfort required for the next generation of electric vehicles as a fuel-efficient tire, and in 2012 was awarded the “Good Design Award.”

 

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