Precipitated silica use can improve the in-service performance of passenger car radial tires by increasing the wet traction, reducing rolling resistance, and maintaining tread wear life if dispersed to a similar degree as carbon black.
One result of the EU mandating a label on all tires for rolling resistance, wet traction and noise is that silica use in PCR treads is expected to increase.
Maximizing tread properties requires using high-performance materials and also optimizing their internal mixing sequence.