In Japan, Bridgestone Tire Co., Ltd. was established in 1931. Shojiro Ishibashi, the company’s founder, is named after an English version of his surname (Ishie, stone bashi bridge).
High-performance winter tread compounds are molded into directional tread designs with thousands of biting edges to provide a stop-and-go grip in the snow while also providing responsive handling in wet and dry road conditions.
Blizzak Studless Ice & Snow tires’ unique MULTICELL material contains millions of small pores that help grip ice without the use of studs. Blizzak Studless Ice & Snow tires have been shown to stop a vehicle traveling at 30 miles per hour 35 feet shorter on ice than standard all-season radials…roughly two car lengths.
Bridgestone manufactures tires for go-karts, motorbikes, buses, and tractor-trailers, in addition to tires for cars, crossovers, sport utility vehicles, and light trucks, which are offered through Wheelrack.
Top Bridgestone Winter Tires
Bridgestone Blizzak LM-50 RFT
Bridgestone’s Studless Winter tire, the Blizzak LM-50 RFT (Run-Flat), is designed exclusively for Toyota Sienna van users to provide interim self-supporting run-flat continuing mobility in the event of complete air loss due to a puncture during winter driving. The Blizzak LM-50 RFT Studless Winter tires keep your Toyota Sienna moving while providing winter driving traction on dry, wet, and snowy surfaces.
The Blizzak LM-50 RFT has the same symmetric tread design as the popular Blizzak WS-50, with flow-through grooves to aid grip on wet and slushy roads and zigzag sipes and independent tread blocks to aid bite-through snow. The Blizzak LM-50 RFT, on the other hand, replaces the Blizzak WS-50’s Multicell compound with a more robust winter tread compound that can withstand the additional stress and heat of being driven when flat. Despite the fact that these tires have a single winter tread compound, they have “snow platform” tread depth indicators to indicate when the tire should be retired from winter service. The Blizzak LM-50 RFT tire’s internal structure includes run-flat sidewall supports to temporarily absorb load in the tread.
Bridgestone Blizzak WS90
The Bridgestone Blizzak WS90 Studless Ice & Snow winter tire was designed for drivers of sedans, coupes, minivans, and SUVs who want confident control in a variety of harsh winter weather conditions. Bridgestone’s Blizzak WS90 winter tires are designed to perform optimally in the harshest winter driving conditions.
Bridgestone’s EdgePerformance Technology Package includes full-depth features and interlocking sipes for exceptional performance throughout the tire’s life, and the Blizzak WS90’s directional pattern offers higher block stiffness for more responsive steering as well as improved wear life. The tread design has 15% more block edges and 15% more contact area than the previous Blizzak WS90, which improves ice traction and reduces braking distances in wet conditions. It is made of Bridgestone’s next-generation Multi-Cell composition, which contains biting particles that aid in the removal of the small layer of water that forms between the tread rubber and icy surfaces, allowing the tire to grip the ice more effectively. Silica improvements in the composition improve traction even more in snow and ice.
Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25 RFT
The Blizzak LM-25 RFT (Run-Flat) tire from Bridgestone is designed to provide temporary self-supporting run-flat continuing mobility in the event of complete air loss due to a puncture during winter driving exclusively for BMW Z4 roadsters, 1-, 3-, 5-, 6-, and 7-Series sedans, and Nissan GT-R supercars. Blizzak LM-25 RFT Performance Winter tires maintain your car’s sporty appearance and mobility while providing winter driving traction on dry, wet, and snow-covered roads.
The Blizzak LM-25 RFT winter tires feature a directed tread design to reduce hydroplaning on wet and slushy roads, as well as rounded tread shoulders to improve dry and wet road handling. Instead of the Multicell tread compounds found on other Blizzak winter tires, their tread compound contains a significant amount of silica. As a result, the Blizzak LM-25 RFT tires can combine winter traction with H- and V-speed rated durability. The Blizzak LM-25 RFT tires feature an independent block tread pattern with the Lamellen “edge effect” (many biting edges in the tread blocks to better grab snow and ice) to improve winter traction without the use of traditional metal studs.
Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V2
Bridgestone’s Blizzak DM-V2 Light Truck/SUV Studless Ice & Snow winter tire was created for drivers of pickups, crossovers, and sport utility vehicles looking for improved traction in slush, snow, and ice. The Blizzak DM-V2 is designed for winter driving, with an emphasis on ice traction and braking, as well as wet road handling and hydroplaning resistance.
Bridgestone’s adaptable NanoPro Tech Multicell compound is used in the Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V2 tires, which includes a water-loving hydrophilic covering with small biting particles. The Multicell material retains its flexibility in subfreezing temperatures, wicks water away from packed snow and ice, and the biting particles aid in breaking on glare ice. This compound is molded into a directed tread design that features 15% more aggressive block edges (than the Blizzak DM-V1), large lateral and circumferential grooves to channel water, slush, and snow away from the contact region, and 3D zigzag sipes to increase the amount of snow biting edges.
Conclusion
Bridgestone is one of the world’s largest tire companies, with a global team dedicated to providing clients around the world with quality, service, and technology. Bridgestone has developed several game-changing products.
Bridgestone introduced DriveGuard tires in 2014, featuring their Third-Generation Run-Flat Technology (3G RFT), which combines increased mobility in the event of a puncture with traditional tire riding quality. DriveGuard tires help drivers avoid becoming stranded due to a flat tire in bad weather or on the side of a busy highway.
Bridgestone Blizzak winter tires feature advanced rubber formulations and tread patterns that make winter driving more comfortable. Blizzak tires have become one of the most popular winter tires in the United States, providing snow and ice traction previously thought to be only possible with studded tires.
Wheelrack carries Bridgestone Potenza performance, Turanza touring, DriveGuard run-flat, Ecopia fuel-efficient passenger, Dueler light truck, and Blizzak winter tires, as well as many other tire lines used as Original Equipment on new vehicles.