Dunlop Tyres:

In 1888 John Boyd Dunlop, having watched his son ride a tricycle with some discomfort, realised that the solid rubber tyres were to blame and experimented by gluing thin rubber sheets together and inflating them with a football pump, thereby creating the first marketable pneumatic tyre. He patented the idea and ten years later his invention had virtually replaced solid tyres.

Dunlop Tyres went from strength to strength, very rapidly becoming a multi-national company, and it has been linked with newsworthy successes over the years such as Sir Malcolm Campbell's land speed record in Bluebird in 1935, sixty six Formula One wins throughout the Fifties and since 1923, thirty four victories (out of 69 races held) in Le Mans.

Dunlop is a highly innovative company and in more recent times has created self supporting technology which means that even when one of these DSST tyres is flat it can support a vehicle's entire weight even if there is no pressure, for up to 80km at 80km/h.

In the early Sixties it was discovered that tyres suffered 'aquaplaning' - a phenomenon where worn tyres 'float' on water losing all braking grip. As a result of much research the Dunlop SP41, a radial ply tyre, with circumferential grooves and rigid structure was developed giving drivers complete protection from aquaplaning - assuming moderate speeds and reasonable pattern depth. Further advances were made to include a system of microslots that soaked up surface water like a sponge and expelled it later.

The legacy of this design is featured in the Dunlop SP Sport 01 tyre with longitudinal grooves that permit low-turbulence water drainage.

Dunlop is very involved with environmentally friendly practices and works closely with various legislative bodies to respond positively to guidelines and legislation. For example as a result of the limits for noise pollution set by the EU the Dunlop SP Sport Maxx has been developed in certain sizes and it's acoustic levels are already below the limits set.