Tires with Orange Peel Oil

The next time you buy tires for your car or truck you may have the option of purchasing a tire that is made with a large amount of orange oil instead of regular petroleum rubber.¬† I know what you’re thinking right now, excuse me but I don’t think I want changes made to the rubber I ride on. Well listen up, this may not be a bad idea, as a matter of fact it seems to have a lot of merit. After all we grow a lot of oranges in Florida.

The Yokohama Tire Co. which is a subsidiary of Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. has developed a new process that uses oil that is derived from orange peels instead of the usual petroleum oil. The claim is it does not compromise performance or safety at all. It claims to help consumers save money at the gas pump by reducing rolling resistance by up to twenty percent.

The tire is make from vulcanized rubber as usual, but the difference is the new tire has eighty percent of it’s petroleum replaced with oil from orange peel. The company acquires orange peels from a neighboring orange juice factory. So is this tire safe? Can we depend on it on the open road in freezing conditions and temperatures over one hundred? It seems the new tire has been used exclusively at the Porsche GT3 Cup race, the “Patron GT3 Challenge” in both short and twenty four hour races. And if you’re like me, I do respect and trust those boys from Germany to know what they’re doing with cars.

This may add a new twist to the citrus industry. What was once just thrown away or turned into cattle feed, like at Tropicana’s plant in Bradenton, now may become in economic demand. I guess there is nothing like waking up to a glass of OJ and four tires. See ya on the road.

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