With 280,000km already achieved during trials of Continental's HD Hybrid tyre, Irish haulier Tarrant International Transport reckons it will achieve 300,000km before the tyres need replacing.
The company has been trialling the HD Hybrid on a Volvo FH13 Globetrotter XL, delivering 460bhp and 2,300Nm torque.
Donagh Tarrant, transport manager for the Cork based family firm, says the tyre has proved perfectly able to handle this high power and torque as well as the significant retarder forces during steep hill descents.
"The HD Hybrid tyre has coped well with the wide variety of road surface and climatic conditions that our trucks encounter on their trips across Europe," states Tarrant.
"It takes all these variations in its stride and performs equally well in wintry conditions as in the heat. As a tyre designed for a combination of motorway and regional use it suits our operations perfectly."
Continental's HD Hybrid is a dual-purpose drive-axle tyre designed for vehicles running a combination of regional and long distance work. The manufacturer claims that it delivers in a wide range of applications without any compromise in rolling resistance, energy efficiency, grip, safety and noise.
Tarrant runs a fleet of 42 artics and more than 100 trailers, including refrigerated, curtainsider, Euroliner and tipping types. Its current tyre choices are Continental HSR2 for steer axles, HTR2 for the trailers and the HD Hybrid on the drive, all supplied through local Conti360 dealer Advance Pitstop, in Mallow.
"We're very satisfied with the performance of our Continental tyres both on our tractor units and our trailers," confirms Tarrant.
"They tick all the boxes in terms of safety, high mileage, and good performance in all road and load conditions and the HD Hybrid is proving particularly impressive."
