Good demand for the Bridgestone Ecopia passenger vehicle tyre range has led to an expansion of variants to reach out to more customers.
This follows the launch of the latest Ecopia tyre, which is available as the EP150, EP200 and EP850. Previously, there was only one model, the EP100A.
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Each tyre in the new Ecopia range comes with its own tread pattern to serve its respective market segment, although the characteristics of fuel economy, safety and reliability, and longer tyre life apply to all of them.
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Bridgestone Ecopia EP150 (195/65R15)
The EP150 is targeted at small cars like Perodua Viva with tyre sizes from 12-inch to 16-inch; the EP200 is for medium cars like Toyota Vios and Honda City with 13-inch to 18-inch tyres; while the EP850 is aimed at SUVs and Crossovers with 15-inch to 20-inch sizes.
For the Malaysian market, Bridgestone Malaysia is focusing on the popular tyre sizes, mainly 15-inch to 17-inch, although there will be two 13-inch models as well.
Most will come from Bridgestone Thailand, with the exception of one 13-inch model, which will come from Bridgestone Indonesia.
As a refresher, the name Ecopia is a combination of two words – ecology and utopia – that Bridgestone feels describes the tyre’s performance best. With the new Ecopia, Bridgestone’s target was to raise that level by finding a good balance between “ecology” and “safety”.
Bridgestone has added more silica to the tyre compound to inhibit heat generation and lower energy loss, both of which affect tyre performance negatively, without losing the tyre’s core attributes.
The tyre shoulder assumes a square shape from the rounded profile as this is found to reduce irregular wear through lower shoulder deformation that maintains better ground contact.
Tread pattern was also improved upon, and varies in design according to the respective Ecopia model. Take the EP200 for example: it has stiffer shoulder blocks to enhance wear life and driving stability.
Wide straight grooves between tread blocks reduce hydroplaning on wet surfaces; while the centre tread area boasts of “leaf blocks” that comprise high angle lug groove and reversed “Z” blocks.
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Bridgestone Ecopia EP200 (195/65R15)
The former inhibits tread block deformation during road contact and improves grip, especially in the wet, while the latter provides even block stiffness to maintain good road contact.
The tyre’s asymmetrical shape on a cross section basis is improved to provide higher straight line stability while minimising random external forces caused by road conditions such as bumps, dips, and potholes.
An unusual aspect here is that the inside and outer (the side that you see) sidewalls are shaped differently to achieve this profile and higher performance level.
Compared to the outgoing Turanza AR10, the Ecopia EP200 matches its attributes in wet handling, wet braking, dry handling, ride comfort, stability, and quietness while providing improved wear life and low rolling resistance.
Put against the previous EP100A, improvements are achieved in five areas – wet handling, wet braking, dry handling, stability, rolling resistance – while maintaining ride comfort, quietness and good wear life.
At the Bridgestone proving ground in Ayutthaya to the east of Bangkok, our tests on the new tyres included a rolling resistance run in three Toyota Corollas with automatic gearshifts, shod with new Ecopias, old Ecopias, and a rival tyre.
Starting off simultaneously, the driver of each Corolla was to reach 50kph and maintain speed before slotting into neutral at a set point.
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Bridgestone Ecopia EP850 (195/65R15)
The rival-tyred Corolla came to a stop over the shortest distance. However, it was the rainy season and the drive experience was a near washout.
The drive routine was reduced from five to three while we waited for the rain to abate.
During the hour-long break, we managed only two routines; on the skid pad with EP200-shod Corolla and on wet handling with EP850-shod Toyota Fortuner.
We compared grip levels in a similar vehicle shod with different tyres; the EP100A for the Corolla and Dueler H/L 683 in the Fortuner.
At the skid pad, we took the respective Corolla three times around the set course at a constant 60kph.
At that speed, the EP100A Corolla was screeching on the wet tarmac and we could feel that road grip was at its limit.
With the EP200 Corolla, we could push it faster without feeling a loss of grip, boosting our confidence.At the wet handling course, we maintained 60kph with the Dueler Fortuner through the respective corners and lane change manoeuvre, and went off road briefly at one bend, throwing up soggy earth onto the damp track.
Taking the same course at a faster trot in the EP850 Fortuner, we enjoyed slightly better grip that helped directional feedback, allowing us to make a tidy drive through.
The Bridgestone Ecopia starts at RM220 for the 13-inch EP150 and goes up to more than RM500 for the bigger tyre sizes.
