Motor Car Tyres Made From Synthetic Rubber

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18503, 15 September 1934, Page 9

Motor Car Tyres Made From Synthetic Rubber

\VII,M 1 XtITO.X, Del., .1 11110 22. Till-; first American synlhoti<- rubber automobile tyres which look like real rubber and wear fully as well, were announced here yesterday. They were described as a potential checkmate against excessive rubber prices ami it guarantee of American rubber independence in wartime. The synthetic rubber now costs about 4s a pound, against 7d. for foreign real rubber, which has ranged from L’i<i tn more than 4s. The announcement was made jointly by the l)u Pont Company, makers of the synthetic rubber, and the Dayton llttbber Manufacturing Company, of Dayton, Ohio, making the tyres. The synthetic rubber is made of acetylene, salt and water. The acetylene comes from coal and limestone, so that all the ingredients are home products. The Dayton announcement states that the synthetic tyres were “built with the same machinery that is used to produce natural rubber tyres." The road tests have been under way secretly in Arizona, Ohio, and Maryland. Describing them, Mr. .T.,A. MacMillan, president of ihe Dayton Company, issued this statement: — Passed Rigid Tests. "These tyres have been subjected to rigid laboratory and road’.tests, and have proved themselves fully, the equal of tvres built of natural rubber. They have been placed on automobiles opposite 'tyres built of natural rubber and have been subjected lo severe usage. "'Brakes have been jammed on on the cars. The test cars have run around curves at high speeds, subjecting the sidewalls to unusual strains. The ears have been run and are still running in the hottest weather. They have been aederated sharply on hill climbs and have been skidded on downgrades. “The synthetic lyres have withstood the tests every bit as well as those of natural rubber, been equally resistant lo tread wear and other abrasion. “One decided advantage of the synthetic rubber is that it does not age appreciably or deteriorate when exposed to the action of the elements or in contact with solvents that affect natural rubber unfavorably." lie said it is unlikely that the Dayton Company will manufacture the new synthetic tvres for sale at present.