What accounts for the weight difference b/t tires?

[Cressida]

I was looking at two pretty popular tires now in size 205/60/16. One is the General Altimax RT43 and the other the Pirelli Cinturato P7 A/S Plus - both in the same "H" speed rating

When I looked at the some of the detailed specs, I noticed that there is a 3 pound weight difference b/t these tires. The Altimax RT43 is ~19 lbs. and the Pirelli Cinturato P7 is ~22 lbs.

What in the tire construction would account for this 3 lb. or ~15% difference; and what difference will it make in tire safety or longevity?

 

[spasm3]

I would think belt type and number of belts. How many steel belts vs non steel belts, how thick the belts are, tread depth.

 

[Rolla07]

More plies would be my guess..stiffer sidewalls too but you would need to check if thats why.

 

[06VtecV6]

Originally Posted By: Cressida
I was looking at two pretty popular tires now in size 205/60/16. One is the General Altimax RT43 and the other the Pirelli Cinturato P7 A/S Plus - both in the same "H" speed rating

When I looked at the some of the detailed specs, I noticed that there is a 3 pound weight difference b/t these tires. The Altimax RT43 is ~19 lbs. and the Pirelli Cinturato P7 is ~22 lbs.

What in the tire construction would account for this 3 lb. or ~15% difference; and what difference will it make in tire safety or longevity?


and that's with skinny 205 tire, imagine with 215s or 225s even. my prev DD used 215 50 and this old school 225-55...go figure but more profile=more comfort as a general rule? better technology for one if they can get the same results with better design or materials used? when you shop for tires, do you base Tread life over price or do you have to the best of all worlds?!

 

[CapriRacer]

A couple of thoughts:

Certainly, a difference in construction can account for a few pounds difference between tires - AND - the transition between a single ply to a 2 ply is in the 205 / 215 range.

Plus, there can be a difference in the way the values are derived. When I was working, we had a list based of of the spec weights - but typically, they actually weighed more. If I remember correctly Tire Rack actually weighed tires, so their values were typically higher.

Not to mention the amount of tread rubber. I'm going to guess that tread rubber accounts for about half the weight in a tire, and the difference in the amount of void and the width of the tread can easily be a couple of pounds!