The new touring tyre from Bridgestone’s second-line brand also gains A-rated wet grip and improved fuel consumption versus the original Roadhawk
The Firestone Roadhawk 2 Enliten summer touring tyre will be available from January 2024. Manufacturer Bridgestone says the new tyre offers “best-in-class wet grip” as well as longer mileage and 10 per cent better fuel and energy-efficiency. The sequel to the cornerstone of Firestone’s revamped car tyre range integrates Bridgestone’s Enliten technology. This reduces material consumption and tyre weight, while increasing wear resistance with Bridgestone’s NanoPro-Tech high-silica compound. All this makes the Roadhawk 2 Enliten an “EV-ready tyre”: a tyre suitable for fitment on vehicles using and electric or conventional combustion engine powertrain. The tyre’s initial range of 17-21” sizes will cover 90 per cent of sizes in the market, Bridgestone says. 16” sizes will join the Firestone Roadhawk 2 Enliten range in 2025 for a total of 112 size variations.
Enhanced everyday driving performance
Firestone Roadhawk 2 Enliten (Photo: Bridgestone)
The Firestone Roadhawk 2 Enliten targets motorists making everyday journeys, such as commuting, including the usual mix of heavy traffic, sudden braking and motorway speed all part of the daily mix of challenges on the roads.
Engineered with Enliten, Bridgestone’s umbrella name for a combination of cutting-edge tyre technologies, the tyre increases safety characteristics, improving both the tyre performance and sustainability of the original Roadhawk. For the Roadhawk 2 Enliten, this is combined with an innovative mixing technology and the integration of NanoPro-Tech, a high silica content compound that provides robust abrasion resistance and longer mileage.
The result is a tyre with significant performance upgrades on the original Roadhawk. The Firestone Roadhawk 2 Enliten scores A-grade wet grip on the EU tyre label, achieving 20 per cent longer mileage than the original Firestone Roadhawk. This is combined with a 12 per cent rolling resistance reduction to optimise vehicle fuel or energy consumption.
The use of Enliten in the latest tyre from Firestone, developed at Bridgestone’s Rome-based R&D Centre, means the tyre is EV-ready. It is capable of meeting both the general performance demands of any vehicle and the specific requirements of electric vehicles.
“Everyday drivers are demanding safety on the roads and, in this current climate, increased value for money,” says Steven De Bock, vice president consumer replacement and OE at Bridgestone EMIA. “The Roadhawk has represented the best of Firestone, and now we’ve taken it to another level by introducing the incredible capabilities of Enliten with the Roadhawk 2 Enliten. And as an EV-ready tyre that’s available in a wider collection of sizes, this tyre’s performance benefits can be brought to many more drivers.”
