Nokian Tyres of Finland has developed the world’s first winter tyre with retractable studs.
Still in concept form, with a press of a button, the driver can bring out the studs to improve the grip of the tyre. When the studs are not needed, they can be retracted back into the tyre.
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The idea of the combined non-studded and studded tyre is that the driver can make the switch when the conditions change. Studs are not needed on dry roads and stable winter conditions, but they can be activated in icy weather.
The concept tyre utilises the tread pattern and structural design of the newly introduced Hakkapeliitta 8 SUV studded winter tyre. The studs on all four tyres raise and lower at the same time. The body of the stud remains in place, and the moving part is the hard metal pin in the middle of the stud.
Nokian Tyres developed and manufactured the world’s first winter tyre in 1934. Two years later, the engineers at the tyre factory came up with a tyre for passenger car drivers struggling with the slippery winter roads and they called it the Snow-Hakkapeliitta.
Nokian specialises in northern European, supplying tyres for cars, trucks and heavy machinery mainly in areas with special challenges for tyre performance: snow, forests and harsh driving conditions in different seasons.
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By GlobalDataIts products are mainly sold in replacement markets and the group has sales companies in Sweden, Norway, Germany, Switzerland, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Czech Republic, the US and Belarus.
