Firestone Upgrades a Bestseller with the New Destination LE4 Tire

Firestone, a subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas (Bridgestone), today announced the launch of the new Firestone Destination LE4 highway touring tire: the successor to Firestone’s best-selling Destination LE3 tire. Engineered with a deeper tread depth, an advanced compound and a non-directional tread pattern, the Destination LE4 delivers longer wear life and enhanced wet and light snow performance.

“Drivers loved the Firestone Destination LE3 for its comfortable, quiet ride and all-season reliability,” said Jeremy Norwood, Chief Engineer, New Product Engineering, Bridgestone Americas. “With the new Destination LE4, we enhanced those strengths by extending wear life and improving wet-weather handling, delivering dependable performance, confident control and everyday value.”

The Next Era of Unwavering Dependability As the newest addition to Firestone’s bestselling highway touring line, the Destination LE4 builds upon the proven reputation of its predecessor with new features to improve durability and performance. Key benefits include:

• Extended Wear Life: Backed by a 70,000-mile limited mileage warranty¹, the Destination LE4 tire combines deeper initial tread depth, as compared to its predecessor, with optimized rib widths that resist irregular wear to prolong tire life. In external testing, the Destination LE4 demonstrated longer tread wear as compared to its competitors and its predecessor, as it is:

o   Projected to wear 16% longer than the Firestone Destination LE3 tire².

o   Projected to wear 9% longer than the General Grabber H/T tire².

o   Projected to wear 43% longer than the BFGoodrich Advantage Control HT tire².

• Wet and Year-Round Weather Control: Thinner 3D sipes throughout the tread pattern, as compared to its predecessor, help deliver optimized traction and improved handling in wet and light snow³ conditions for year-round driving confidence. In internal testing, the Destination LE4 demonstrated improved wet and dry stopping performance compared to competitors and its predecessor:

o   A 6.9% reduction in wet stopping distance (stopping 8 feet shorter) and 7.7% reduction in dry stopping distance (stopping 8 feet shorter) vs. the Toyo Open Country H/T II tire⁴.

o   A 4% reduction in wet stopping distance (stopping 4 feet shorter) and 2.1% reduction in dry stopping distance (stopping 2 feet shorter) vs. the BFGoodrich Advantage Ctrl HT tire⁵.

o   A 2.6% reduction in dry stopping distance (stopping 2 feet shorter) vs. the Firestone Destination LE3 tire⁶.

• Enhanced Sustainability Features: The Firestone Destination LE4 tire features wear-resistance technology to help increase tire life and optimized material usage supports a reduction of raw material consumption. Enhanced traction technology helps provide confident control on the road. Together, these features are designed to deliver uncompromised tire performance while promoting a focus on enhanced sustainability.

Milestones for Firestone Tires The introduction of the Firestone Destination LE4 tire marks two significant technical milestones for the company. For the first time, engineers at the Bridgestone Americas Technology Center in Akron, Ohio, integrated new manufacturing and material methods into this tire’s construction:

• High-Strength, Lightweight Carcass Architecture: The Destination LE4 tire features light, high-strength body plies and steel cords within the tire carcass. This structural innovation is engineered to deliver robust durability while maintaining low rolling resistance, supporting overall vehicle fuel efficiency despite the tire’s deeper tread depth.
• Advanced Compound Mixing: Utilizing an engineered mixing process, the tire’s compound achieves greater ingredient consistency throughout the rubber. This enhanced molecular structure boosts overall tread wear, precise handling and wet-surface grip.

Available now in 65 sizes fitting 15- to 22-inch rim diameters, the Destination LE4 provides extensive vehicle coverage within a single product line that surpasses many competitor highway tires. Engineered to fit select small CUVs, SUVs, pickups and larger trucks, popular vehicle fitments include the Mazda CX-5, Ford F-150, RAM 1500, Chevrolet Trailblazer and Nissan Armada.

Source: Bridgestone