Bridgestone brings sustainable technology to latest Blizzak tire

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo.—This isn't your ordinary winter tire.

Just look at the names on the sidewall.

Yes, this is one of the winter tires, the few designated to carry the Bridgestone Blizzak moniker.

And that Blizzak name—well, that means something.

"Blizzak is, essentially, the household name for winter tires," said Todd Chapman, Bridgestone Americas Inc.'s senior manager of product strategy. "You think of a Kleenex for tissues; we are Blizzak for winter tires."

And that, he noted, is for good reason.

Chapman said Blizzak means something more, something better—things like superior performance in snow and on ice. It means excellent wet braking, enhanced mileage and greater durability.

And this tire, the brand new Blizzak 6, also just happens to come with sustainability built right into the compound.

Yep, it's a Blizzak. Through and through.

And it was against the backdrop of Colorado Rockies' snowy mountain peaks that Bridgestone set about proving it, unveiling the tire for a group of industry journalists and allowing them to test it for themselves on the icy, snowy tracks of the Bridgestone Winter Driving School.

The Blizzak 6 is a winter performance tire designed especially for sports cars, sporty coupes, performance sedans and CUVs. Starting in May, the tire—engineered and produced in Europe—will be available in more than 38 sizes for rims ranging from 17 to 22 inches.

"The important part for Blizzak 6 are those sizes," Chapman said. "We are adding 20 new Blizzak sizes to the market. These are sizes we didn't previously support. So this is opening up the car parc and how many people can buy a Blizzak for their vehicle."

The Blizzak 6 rounds out a family of Blizzak winter tires intended to serve every vehicle on the roadway. They include, the:

• Blizzak WS90 for cars and minivans;
• Blizzak DM-V2 for cars, SUVs and trucks; and
• Blizzak LT for trucks and commercial vehicles.

And each Blizzak 6 tire is engineered to provide the best possible performance and safety.

That's due in part to Bridgestone's unique multicell technology—small pockets that form in the tire's compound. These pockets pull water from the icy surface allowing the tire tread to make better contact with the ice, which provides better overall grip.

It's the kind of performance that Chapman said competitors strive to imitate.

"Our competitors have done a lot to try to match our performance without using the ability to use multicell technology," Chapman said.

Further bolstering the Blizzak 6's grip is added silica, which provides enhanced performance on both wet and snowy roadways.

Then there's the 3D zigzag sipes, which go through the depth of the tread to maintain gripping performance even as the tire wears.

"The intent there is for the life of the tire you will get the same gripping performance because it has those biting edges," Chapman said. "The other thing with the 3D shape is, say you are in a dry environment, driving on the road. Maybe you want to push a corner a little bit. Those sipes lock together and lock down the tread block to have good performance dry handling as well as wet roads."

What truly sets the Blizzak 6 apart from its predecessors and competitors is yet another name molded into the tire's sidewall: Enliten.

Enliten is a suite of more sustainable technologies that allows Bridgestone to unlock safety and performance in ways it never could before.

"Sustainability, safety (and) performance are the big things," said Davis Adams-Smith, director of public relations for Bridgestone West—the Americas and EMEA. "And if you are going to remember anything about Enliten technology, (remember): Maximum performance—the tire that you want it to be, to do the things you ask it to do—and maximum sustainability: How do we do it (in) a way that is better for the world?"

Bridgestone calls it the "Enliten effect."

And in the case of the Blizzak 6, the Enliten effect leads to a v-shaped tread pattern that offers improved digging force for traction and water evacuation. It also boasts "lightning-like slots" on the shoulder blocks for improved snow trapping.

And thanks to Enliten the tire does all of that—grip, dig, trap and drive—more sustainably. The Blizzak 6 boasts 25 percent more recycled and reusable materials than its predecessor, the Bridgestone Blizzak LM005.

For Bridgestone, the Blizzak 6 is an important milestone in its sustainability journey as it is the first of Bridgestone's winter tires to embrace the Enliten technologies. It's just the fourth Bridgestone tire to do so.

Enliten technology debuted in 2023 with the launch of the Bridgestone Turanza EV, an electric vehicle specific tire intended to provide comfortable, quiet rides as well as excellent wear life.

From there, Enliten made its way into newly launched products that focus heavily on performance: the ultra-high-performance Potenza Sport AS, the Dueler A/T Ascent and now the Blizzak 6 winter tire.

And there is plenty more to come, according to Bridgestone.

"Let me tell you that Enliten is something that is coming for everybody that owns a Bridgestone product," Adams-Smith said, noting that Bridgestone plans to roll Enliten technology into a majority of its tire offerings by 2030. "… Later this year we will be launching our first grand touring high-end luxury product, and then, from there, we will start going into the more mainstream touring (and) all-season stuff as well."