Yokohama Rubber to exhibit at Tokyo Motor Show

ERJ staff report (TB)

Tokyo − Yokohama Rubber plans to participate in the 43rd Tokyo Motor Show 2013, which will be held at Tokyo Big Sight in Koto-ku, Tokyo, from 22 November through 1 December, reported Tire Business.

The tire maker said its exhibit will introduce the company's concept of "The Science of Tire Grip Performance," and highlight its "advanced technological capabilities and its corporate stance of seeking ever higher grip performance as a key to driving safety," along with its "cutting-edge technologies."

The motor show opens to the general public on 23 November.

Through its exhibit, Yokohama Rubber said it "hopes to raise driver understanding of tire grip performance by appealing to its efforts to achieve superior grip performance in all tire categories, from fuel-efficient tires to studless tires." The exhibit will provide explanations of the advanced proprietary technologies that support Yokohama tires' grip performance − from compounding technologies that incorporate orange oil and other advances in rubber compounding, to a mechanism for enhancing the performance of studless tires on icy surfaces. The exhibit also will introduce the company's technologies for raising the fuel-efficiency performance of tires.

The company also will present its technologies "contributing to the next-generation of motorisation." These proprietary technologies include "fin tires" that employ advances in aerodynamics to reduce vehicle air drag by controlling airflow in the wheel well, auto body design technologies for high strength, ultra-lightweight body components based on Yokohama's development of aircraft components, and adhesive technologies accumulated during development of Hamatite adhesives that enable the creation of composites made from hard-to-bond dissimilar materials.

Yokohama said these technologies are showcased in the AERO-Y concept car, an electric vehicle that will be on display at the Tokyo-based tire maker's booth.

The Tokyo Motor Show was launched in 1954. The previous show, in 2011, attracted 174 automotive industry exhibitors from around the world and about 840,000 visitors, according to Yokohama.