How Discount Tire Treadwell Research Park helps fleets test tires

Tire selection is no easy task where fleet management is concerned, and staring down an ever-growing pool of offerings catered to various vehicles, operating conditions, tread patterns, and more can make the decision seem impossible. As the third-largest expense for most fleets, choosing the wrong tire option can result in lost time and money.

All tire manufacturers offer specs, ideal applications, and other vaguely helpful information, but fleet managers still lack access to real-world performance data that could be key to optimizing their fleet’s performance at the tire efficiency level. Treadwell Research Park, Discount Tire’s state-of-the-art facility in Pearsall, Texas, offers a solution in the form of tire testing through controlled, real-world environments. By putting data and information into the hands of consumers when it comes to tire-buying, Discount Tire helps simplify the decision-making process, the company explained to media last October during a ride-and-drive event called Treadwell Experience '24.

There we got to see first-hand the ability to see how mulitple tire options performed on the the same vehicle and the same surface.

Treadwell Research Park's south Texas location boasts an ideal climate with consistent weather and minimal rain, maximizing the number of quality test days every year, said Smithers, the independent testing company that manages the complex.

“Discount Tire uses this, for example, to gain a better understanding for the performance of tires at different wear levels," explained Joshua Sortor, product and quality director for Discount Tire. "Understanding the impact of tire wear on performance is particularly important for commercial fleets, where users are looking for efficiency and minimizing any downtime required due to maintenance.

“Treadwell Research Park has the potential to do that in a controlled setting, even including the technology to buff tires down to a specific tread level and compare the performance of new tires versus worn tires onsite and in real-time,” he continued.

The facility

The 900-acre complex, located just over 50 miles Southwest of San Antonio and managed by independent testing experts at Smithers, has been a major component of Discount Tire’s operation since they acquired it in 2022. Before being sold, over 95% of the company’s tires are tested on a variety of the park’s 15+ test surfaces, including a 1.9 mile oval track, wet and dry braking lanes, wet and dry vehicle dynamics areas, and off-road surfaces.

While the park typically offers testing more focused on tires for passenger and light-duty vehicles, the concept provides a unique example of how this data can be applied in a commercial context.

Treadwell, Discount Tire’s online tire recommendation tool, contains all information collected by the company at Treadwell Research Facility. From there, “fleet operators are able to enter their vehicle type and driving habits into Treadwell online and see which tires have been tested and perform best for their specific conditions,” Sortor said.

On the track

Tests mimic real-world conditions where tire choice can have a dramatic impact beyond efficiency, as I noticed when almost spinning out on the Wet Vehicle Dynamics Area (VDA) upon switching to a BMW with tires that were more geared toward winter and snow driving as opposed to a wet road.

With identical BMW 3 Series and the same wet on-road conditions, the only variable was the difference in tires. One car was equipped with Bridgestone Weatherpeak tires, and the other with Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4.

“What we found out here today is the Bridgestone is definitely controllable within its limit, but at some point it just kind of breaks over that and it's hard to recover. It just has a slightly lower limit of grip,” explained Brent Rollins, tire information and testing assistant manager at Tire Rack, who was a professional driver at Treadwell Experience '24. “The Michelin is designed to be a little bit more of a performance tire. So out here, with hard dynamic handling and a high level of wet grip, it's just more at home.”

Since the 800 x 800-ft. track can accommodate multiple test courses simultaneously, allowing for same-time A/B testing over a consistent water depth of 1.75 to 2.25 mm, the differences in performance were immediately apparent. The back-to-back comparison between the two lends to a much more informed decision based on the real-life application.

Fleet testing in practice

As Sortor noted, the facility offers a select range of everyday light-duty vehicles (including EVs) that can be rented out for testing, but companies and fleets are encouraged to bring their own tires and vehicles for the most relevant data.

While the complex hasn’t yet been utilized by a fleet for testing purposes, Sortor emphasized “to any fleet operator that [they] are open for business and have a dedicated team interested in hearing how Treadwell Research Park’s facility might be of use.”