Tires, Radial Ply

A tire in which the fabric cords run at 90 degrees to the direction of travel (that is, across the tire from lip to lip). This design results is a flexible side walls with a relatively stiff tread area and a larger and more consistent footprint on the road under all driving conditions. As the cords cannot rub against each other as the tire flexes, the rolling friction of the tire is reduces, resulting in improved fuel economy in comparison to coss-ply (or bias-ply) tires.

The radial tire has become the standard design for essentially all automotive tires.