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Is it possible to get tyres of different colours? How are they made?

In the very early years of tyre design and before the use of a material now used called carbon black, tyres tended to have a brownish colour. Carbon black is a big contributor to a tyres grip and strength. A tyre typically contains around 30% of carbon black, which is one of the most critical ingredients in tyre construction. Simply, it is manufactured by burning crude oil. The burning process produces 'grains'. It is now possible to produce coloured tyres by using a high proportion of a silica compound that can be pigmented to produce the required colour. Though this doesn't have the strength properties that a higher level of carbon black affords but can have useful applications such as promotional activities. Coloured tyres and see through tyres have been made in the past. These would have been for concept of promotional purposes mainly. Yellow tractor tyres at one point though were made and sold with a particular brand of tractor. To give an idea of costs and supply issues presently one tyre size and pattern in the replacement market may fit a number of cars. Things to consider if a coloured tyre were to be made is what colour should it be. BMW red, Vauxhall red, Ford red, Honda red etc. There would then be the issues of all the other colours in the spectrum. In the future should the market require it you may find coloured tyres are available or even tyres that change colour if they get too hot. As a note tyres with white walls or white lettering do use white rubber.

What do the following abbreviations mean?

BLT
Raised Black Lettering
NRM
Normal load
DOT
Department of Transportation (DOT) code on tyre walls
OWL
Outlined White Lettering
EC
'E' number marked on sidewall
RF
Reinforced
FUL
Full Load
RWL
Raised White Lettering
HSN
High speed use at normal load
SL
Slim Line White Lettering
HFS
High speed use at full load
TL
Tubeless Tyre
LR
Low Rolling Resistance
TT
Tubed Type Tyre

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