Collaborations

Pirelli Tyre R&D has many long-standing, strong relationships with national and international universities . But our collaborations don't end there. We have developed a wide range of partnerships with top research institutes as well as manufacturers/suppliers that directly and indirectly operate in the automotive field.

In the tyre industry, it's important to create synergy between manufacturers and suppliers. At Pirelli, we recognise this fact and have consistently worked with suppliers as well as car manufacturers to gain the knowledge needed to push industry innovation and meet consumer needs. In today's global business, the tyre manufactures are not simply suppliers for the auto industry, but partners that collaborate in the development of new models that strongly influence performance.

Some the most important collaborations with autos manufacturers have involved the development and approval of driving performance and tyre comfort predictive models. These efforts have lead to an incredible increase in driving comfort in the past few years. Pirelli is also taking a lead research role in the construction and simulation of models. Pirelli collaborates with some of the most important software houses and contributes to the development of software used for the simulation of the tyre behaviour and performance.

When it comes to research and development, Pirelli is at the top of the class. With collaborations at many of the top universities and research facilities, we understand the importance of developing new technologies and broadening our level of thinking.

Most of our collaborations can be divided into technical areas, material development and mathematical models . One of the most relevant, recent projects was thanks to a European collaboration. Its goal was to parameterize a predictive (mathematical) model, and determine the different interactions between tyre (materials, structure and geometry) and road surface, in order to forecast the materials behaviours and support the design of the tyre. The same approach has been used for the predictive study of the tyre wear and resistance to the rolling phenomena. Other important studies have been developed either with European or American universities and institutes.

Our studies on noise and energy - environment issues (for example the reduction of the rolling resistance, and removal of toxic substances from tyres) are continuously carried out by specific legislations, the auto manufactures and our own fierce desire to remain competitive in the global market. 

At Pirelli, safety is our main priority. That's why we've taken it upon ourselves to play a central role in auto safety. Pirelli is continuously working to make safer products for the road and is always working to introduce new technological systems, like the Run Flat technology. In order to push advancements in road safety, Pirelli has been carrying out a series of studies with some of the most important Italian universities to development models, research integrated tyre behaviours and process sensorial data. In addition, Pirelli collaborates with competitors, suppliers and various national transport agencies (Vertec, Apollo) to study road surface characteristics , and the interaction between the tyre and the road surface - in order to improve the customer driving safety.