CST SALEKS E.X1 fitted and tested on a premium electric MPV, the Denza D9
Tyres, very often overlooked for the simple reason that they are black and round and easily forgotten. However, tyres are your FIRST line of safety on the road as they keep you on the tarmac.
Something as simple as a few pounds of pressure difference in the front tyres can cause a vehicle to wander slightly off line. Tyre choice can also play a role as with the incorrect amount of offset on some wheels will have your balance all wrong.
Tyres are very well engineered products. They are the only thing keeping your car in contact with the road come rain or shine. However, like everything else, age can take its toll on tyres, so it could be time to get yours checked by a tyre shop that you trust.
Meanwhile, here is a brand new ‘EV’ designed tyre that we were asked to field test and share the findings with you readers.
This is a tyre brand that originated from Taiwan way back in 1967 and has been established in Malaysia for some years now. Their focus in Malaysia was with the off-road enthusiasts and over the last decade where they have been providing the very best off-road tyres for the infamous Borneo Safari teams or so they have solid fans in Malaysia.
Yes, their off-road tyres have conquered all given terrains and they were champions year after year at the gruelling Rainforest Challenge and Borneo Safari events.
CST (Cheng Shin Tire) tyres are sold in 180 countries around the globe.
Now, they are moving into a new segment. The electric vehicle. With China leading the world in electric vehicle production. They have worked closely with Chinese EV manufacturers to engineer a range of tyres best suited for new energy vehicles.
As the EV market expanded in China, CST looked at how best they could provide a long lasting, very quiet and well priced tyre for electric car drivers/owners.
After months of research and development at the factory and time consumed on their purpose designed test track, CST has the SALEKS E.X1 tyre ready for EV owners to use.
Surprisingly, the SALEKS E.X1 is also easily usable on petrol (Toyota Alphard & Vellfire) and also diesel powered (Kia Carnival and Hyundai Starex) luxury MPV’s.
For this test, the SALEKS E.X1 tyre was fitted on a Denza D9 electric MPV simply because we thought it would be best to have a heavy electric vehicle that was also very popular to be the ‘test mule’ for this ‘purpose designed’ EV tyre.
Fact! The Denza D9 customer wants a quiet cabin (that’s why they have a good audio system fitted by Dynaudio) with predictable handling and of course, a comfortable ride (SALEKS E.X1 Cabin Noise Is at 60.4dB).
After a few days behind the wheel of the Denza D9 riding on the CST SALEKS E.X1 EV tyre, we found very very very little (when on badly maintained tarmac) or no road noise impending the cabin space, with good handling in the wet (lucky it was raining heavy the past week).
This wet-weather confidence is thanks to the EX-1’s nano-silica tread compound which improves road contact, enhancing wet braking performance by 10% its drainage-enhancing groove design that efficiently spread the surface water very well.
It also engineered with low rolling resistance (6.9K/kN) , meaning it requires less energy to keep the vehicle moving. This translates to improved energy efficiency, allowing both EVs and petrol-powered MPVs to consume less fuel or battery power—ultimately delivering longer mileage
The CST SALEKS E.X1 EV tyre has already been field tested against the world’s top 4 established EV tyres and remarkably, they have managed to almost equal their test parameters.
This means that the CST SALEKS E.X1 EV tyre is on par with legendary tyre brands from Europe and America and with a low purchase price point.
Well, it makes sense. Chinese automotive engineers have managed to deliver better and lower priced electric vehicles over their European and American rivals ……. and now a Chinese tyre producer has managed to deliver an electric vehicle tyre that competes head on with Michelin, Pirelli and even Goodyear.
