How do you test the reliability of a tyre? In order to ensure tyres behave safely, both in everyday driving as well as in sports mode, it is advisable to subject the tyre to extreme stresses and speeds during testing, in a wide variety of conditions. With the advent of ever higher-performing road hypercars, thanks also to major improvements to electric powertrains, high speed is becoming a crucial factor in the development of various tyre categories, not only those specific to motorsport, but also those intended for road use.
For this reason, Pirelli has installed the High Speed Testing Machine in its Research and Development centre. This new machine is capable of testing tyres at up to 500 km/h in controlled conditions, thus testing their reliability before moving on to the subsequent testing phase outdoors. With this machine, a tyre can be tested just as if it were used on the bends and straights of the Monza racetrack or the Nürburgring Nordschleife, but under even harsher conditions than in real life, to ensure the integrity of the product in various usage conditions and with a wide margin of safety.
The 500 km/h High Speed Testing Machine joins the other two machines already installed in the indoor testing department at the Milan Bicocca headquarters which can reach 370 and 450 km/h, respectively. While the latter are normally used for road tyre tests, the new 500 km/h machine is mainly intended for race cars: Pirelli's presence as a supplier at more than 350 motorsport events has required the introduction of a tool that can take products that are used in challenging contexts, such as racing or the pursuit of new road car records, to even greater limits. In such contexts, the safety requirements are even more stringent and must be guaranteed through purpose-designed controls.In addition, the High Speed Testing Machine manages extremely high torque and acceleration values, such as those obtained behind the wheel of a sports hypercar on a race track.
