Germany – Continental AG of Hanover, has begun testing its tyres on a new driver-in-the-loop (DIL) simulator at the Contidrom at its headquarters in Germany. The company purchased the Delta S3 simulator from Ansible Motion and has been fine-tuning it for its specific use over the last 12 months. This, says Continental, will allow for virtual tyre tests, which is expected to shorten development times and save on raw materials when compared to track testing or when in a test cell. Continental expects the simulator to reduce real-world testing by up to 100,000 km per year and to use 10,000 fewer tyres for development.

In terms of specifics, Continental said that “the simulator calculates the exact driving dynamics parameters for the tyres and the corresponding test vehicle. Continental loads the relevant tyre model for the customer’s specific vehicle model into the simulator. The tyre model contains precise information on the tyre design, tread, and rubber compound. The test driver thus drives a dedicated tyre model for a specific vehicle model variant, as was previously the case on the physical test track.” New materials can also be assessed in depth in the driving simulator, including material properties and interactions with other materials.