New Pirelli Angel GT, number 1 for mileage

After the official presentation to the international press which took place last week on the flight deck of the Cavour aircraft carrier of the Italian Navy and at the Nardò Technical Center, the new sport touring tire Angel GT of Pirelli is ready to take to the streets with motorcyclists and travel many kilometers with them thanks to a record already achieved: the new Angel GT it was in fact certified like the tyre number one for mileage in the Sport Touring segment and is able to guarantee the Pirelli DNA in terms of performance, high throughout the tire's life cycle. Alongside these characteristics is thesporting attitude typical of Pirelli it's a First-rate wet and dry behavior thanks to an in-depth study of the compounds and the geometry and positioning of the tread grooves.

The Motorrad TestCenter test

Angel GT it is the best mileage tire in the Sport Touring segment. It was established and certified by the authoritative autonomous German body Motorrad TestCenter which in a test compared the new Pirelli tire with Michelin Pilot Road 3, Dunlop Sportmax Roadsmart II, Bridgestone Battlax BT 023, Continental RoadAttack2 and Metzeler Roadtec Z8 Interact M/O.

For the test, which took place in Spain from 27 November to 14 December 2012, a set of tires in sizes 120/70 ZR17 and 180/55 ZR17 was taken as reference and six Suzuki Bandit 1250 ABS motorcycles were used. The test took place on fast roads between Málaga, Algeciras, Jerez, Seville, Cordoba and Antequerra at an average speed of 120km/h and on extra-urban and mountain roads with a limit between 90 and 110km/h between Marbella, Ronda , Algodonales, Ardales, Alora and Málaga.

The test sessions took place in dry weather conditions with fairly low but constant temperatures over the period. Due to the route which included different altitudes (from 10 meters up to 1100 meters above sea level) the air temperature varied from 18 to 5 degrees celsius while that of the asphalt from 18 to 23 degrees celsius.

At the end of the test it emerged that Angel GT it is the tire with the highest mileage compared to its competitors in the Sport Touring segment.

The design of the new Pirelli tire Angel GT, the spearhead of the Sport Touring segment of the Milanese company, has been totally finalized through innovative developments of new combination concepts between tread design, profiles, structure and compounds to achieve the coveted status of absolute reference in the segment in terms of mileage performance, while maintaining the typical Pirelli sporting DNA unchanged for the entire life cycle of the product and offering absolute reference performance on both dry and wet surfaces.

100% Italian Gran Turismo and Performance Mileage

Angel GT it is the spearhead of Pirelli's Sport Touring range and is the natural heir of Angel ST, a multi-winning tire in the comparative tests of prestigious international motorcycle magazines as well as holder of 7 world durability records. Compared to its predecessor, Angel GT increases mileage by 30%, reduces braking distance by around 1 meter (at a speed of 75 km/h), also improving grip and handling on wet surfaces and, even more importantly, manages to maintain these high characteristics over time.

With the naming chosen for this product, therefore, Pirelli wanted to maintain a clear link with an already successful tire by highlighting with the acronym GT the evolution towards a product dedicated to long distances which maintains the sportiness typical of Pirelli products. Here because Angel GT è 100% Italian Gran Turismo, an ideal tire for all motorcyclists who travel long distances even with a passenger and a fully loaded motorbike or simple out-of-town trips and also for those who use the motorbike in all seasons of the year, in their free time as well as on the home-office commute. This regardless of the motorbike used which could be a touring, a road enduro, a naked or a sports bike.

The Pirelli engineers have therefore managed to obtain a reference mileage in the segment combined with the typical performance of a sports product but, even more, the uniqueness of Angel GT what distinguishes it from other products in the segment lies in the fact that the characteristics it can boast have a limited decay with the passing of kilometers and until the end of the product's life cycle, a property which Pirelli summarizes with the formula “Performance Mileage”.

The tread design

The tread of Angel GT it is a clear evolution of that of Angel ST in technological terms because it has been designed with the primary aim of offering reduced and more regular wear and better water drainage guaranteed both by the front tire and by the new arrangement of the grooves on the rear tire . To offer optimal wear the grooves have been oriented following the Schallamach theory of wear waves which describes the mechanics of the formation of wear crests on the tire as a function of the position and direction of the forces exchanged between the tire and asphalt at each point of the profile.

The arrangement and orientation of the carvings have also been studied to optimize water drainage, and have allowed a percentage reduction of 10% at the front and 16% at the rear of the empty/full ratio which translates into a greater surface area. of compound in contact with the ground and therefore greater grip and better wear.

From a pure aesthetic point of view, the design appears more tidy and clear, unlike the Angel ST, the tread of the new one Angel GT its design does not change with use, demonstrating the fact that its performance remains virtually unchanged for the entire life cycle of the tyre.

The profile

The set target of increasing mileage, which cannot be achieved by working only at tread level, took into utmost consideration the absolute need not to compromise the grip levels necessary to maintain performance and safety supremacy in all conditions of use . This is the reason why the Pirelli Research and Development center has concentrated its efforts to achieve this improvement also and above all by designing a totally innovative profile.

While maintaining the Pirelli philosophy based on a design with variable radius curvature, we acted by increasing the central radius by approximately 35%, so as to create a less rounded central section. In this way, both the size and the proportion of the footprint area on the ground have been substantially modified, which is now 6% shorter and 15% wider than that of the predecessor Angel ST.

Generally speaking, the wear of a compound is caused by the slipping that occurs when the compound leaves the footprint area while the tire rolls on asphalt, this is why the size and shape of the contact area with the asphalt directly affects on the consumption of the compound. A shorter footprint translates into less overheating, less slippage and therefore less wear of the compound itself, at the same time 15% more width means being able to distribute wear over a greater portion of the tread with an advantage both in terms of final performance and on the regularity of wear. By combining this technical solution with a compound specifically designed, Pirelli engineers managed to increase the mileage of Angel GT by approximately 30% compared to Angel ST.

A further benefit brought by the profile lies in the fact that the footprint area presents a linear variation of its proportions between straight and full lean, with the consequence of having a variable progression of the behavior of the tire which offers the rider a feeling of safety when riding. more agile and direct handling and behavior of the motorcycle.

Structure

To adequately support the innovations made in terms of profile and larger footprint size so as to guarantee a comfortable and pleasant ride with the tire Angel GT a special has been introduced Rayon carcass which derives directly from the know-how acquired by Pirelli in competitions, in particular in the FIM World Superbike Championship.

The new carcass has a 32% greater linear density with a 60% higher rigidity than that of the Angel ST tire and allows for at the same time an agile and direct ride, high thrust and grip when cornering and optimal damping capabilities. on bumps in the asphalt. Furthermore, this ensures that the initial performance of the new tire remains constant throughout the entire life cycle of the product.

He mixes them

Thanks to a footprint designed to improve mileage and the benefits brought about by the innovative profile and the new structure which reduce the stresses to which the compounds are subjected, the Pirelli engineers have been able to implement a decisive review of the choice of compounds and of the general philosophy of the their application compared to the predecessor Angel ST, pushing on technical solutions that were previously difficult to implement.

The set of the new Angel GT it is in fact made up of a back tread band dual-compound with cap&base technology, that is, a technology that allows us to improve the compactness and stability of the product by using a compound capable of offering grip in the part in contact with the asphalt and a compound that guarantees stability in the lower layer, coupled to a single compound front that adopts a 100% silica formulation derived from the one used on the shoulders of the rear tire to offer similar behavior especially when leaning and on wet surfaces.

The sophisticated construction of the rear, in addition to the cap&base application, has included a central part of the tread band with an average width of approximately 45 millimeters (the dimensions vary slightly based on the size of the tire) created expressly to guarantee very high stability at every level of load and of use and greater resistance to abrasion and a high level of grip on wet surfaces both during acceleration and braking thanks to a silica concentration of more than 50% with a balanced proportion of carbon black and resins.

The shoulder compound, similar to that of the entire front band, has a percentage of 100% silica capable of offering excellent grip on dry and wet surfaces thanks also to the use of polymers with a controlled microstructure which improve the dispersion of the fillers and the interaction between the polymers themselves and the fillers.

Particular care was taken in the selection of these components to better harmonize the pairing of the two compounds used and in the revolutionary mixing process. In fact, the new compounds use innovative materials that release maximum potential if they are processed with a continuous mixing process, that is, with a management that takes into account not only the volume of the ingredients used but also the temporal sequence with which they enter the flow.

Finally, the front tire is also 100% silica, with a formulation derived from that used on the shoulders of the rear tire to offer very high level behavior on both dry and wet surfaces and when braking.

The customization

In addition to the technological features described above, the new motorcycle tire Angel GT, following the customization characteristics typical of Pirelli's latest top-of-the-range products, presents a dedicated area on the sidewall of the front and rear tire where it is possible to apply a special personalized label which can be created and purchased directly on the Pirelli website www.pirellimoto.com. The online tool allows you to customize your label by choosing between different fonts, colours, flags, layouts of the most famous international circuits and many other logos and to receive it directly at your home with a special adhesive resin specifically designed for application on tyres.

The measures available

The new tyre Angel GT It is already available for purchase from the international Pirelli dealer network in the following sizes:

(A) Reinforced two-ply structure for better stability

(D) Original equipment of the new Ducati Multistrada 1200 S Granturismo