Asymmetrical vehicle tire with balanced wet and dry performance

摘要

The tire of this invention has an asymmetrical tread pattern with a balanced inboard and outboard tread pattern. The tread pattern has a plurality of tread ribs with their average transverse widths equal to one another at the contact with the road surface. The total contact surface area on the inboard side of the mid-circumferential plane is essentially equal to the total contact surface area on the outboard side. The circumferential grooves between tread ribs have a groove base which is straight in the circumferential direction. The groove openings between the contact surface areas of adjacent ribs have a serpentine shape, except for the outermost outboard groove. The amplitude of the serpentine grooves increases from the outboard straight groove to the innermost inboard groove. The ribs have a rib base with a transverse width greater than the transverse width of each rib at the contact surface. This difference in width varies in the circumferential direction, and a greater difference exists on the inboard side of the tread pattern.