History
Although automobiles are moderately new invention, rubber tires models dated all the way back to the mid-1800 (History of Tires). The early autos were very small tires, similar to bicycle tires, far from today’s auto tires that can withstand all temperatures and all driving conditions. Today’s tires are built to for high speeds of highway driving and some for off road conditions.
The first big development for tires occurred in the 1844, when Charles Goodyear invented vulcanized rubber, the compound needed to create a tire, and then in 1846 when Robert Thompson invented pneumatic tire (History of Vulcanized Rubber). This gave many inventors great ideas to create and refine the tire by combining the two inventions. Then in 1895, Michelin was the first to introduce the first pneumatic tire for an auto. After the Paris-Bordeaux-Paris road rally where the tire was used, it became the standard tire for auto racing tires two years later. Many tire companies started to appear and all began to work on improving the basic design of the auto tire (History of Tires).
In 1990’s was when the number of automobiles started to increase, this kept the auto tires development in pace. As tire manufacturers continued to improve their tires, tires became sturdier, have better traction and also become more efficient on the road.
