Optima Sports pushes two new tire innovations

WITH VIDEO -- If John Scott has his way, every car on the road will be shod with tires featuring built-in camber. Scott is the owner of Wisconsin-based Optima Sports, a small automotive-engineering firm, and inventor of Camber Tires--tires with a constantly decreasing diameter.

According to Scott, his tires offer multiple benefits, including enhanced handling, increased stability, reduced tread noise, improved fuel economy and better safety by reducing rollovers. And Scott says preliminary tests show no abnormal wear characteristics, and he extrapolates that 140-tread-rating Camber Tires will easily last 24,000 miles.

We briefly tested a set of the tires with two degrees of camber on a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution and came away amazed. The ride was shockingly quiet and comfortable over rutted roads, which is a stark contrast to the rough and loud ride normally associated with the Evolution on stock Yokohama rubber. Even more impressive was that the Camber Tires still returned the incredible steering response and cornering grip we expect of an Evo.

But to some experts, the jury is still out on Camber Tires. "It's a neat idea, but all the details I don't think are substantiated or confirmed yet," says John Rastetter of the Tire Rack.

Scott continues to move forward with Camber Tires with both three degrees and four degrees of camber coming soon. Work on his next innovation, called Rockers, is also being done. They are molded shoulders on a tire's sidewall that only come in contact with the ground during cornering for improved performance and stability.

Visit www.cambertire.com for more information.

AutoWeek's Jake Lingeman talks with Camber Tires' John Scott
Uploaded by AutoWeek. - Car, truck, and motorcycle videos.

By Jonathan Wong