The answer might surprise you: It's due to a key ingredient that greatly improves tire efficiency and overall strength.
Why Are Tires Black?
Updated on Apr. 03, 2023
Tires and wheels are like fashion accessories on a vehicle. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, “tire” is a shortened form of “attire,” as in the dressing of a wheel.
As times, trends and tastes change, so has the look of tires and wheels. The type of tires in the 19th century were solid rubber; now they’re air-filled radials. One hundred years ago, tires were all white. Today, most tires you see on the road are all black.
“Black tires are easier to make look shiny,” says Chris “Moose” Pyle, an auto expert with JustAnswer.com. “When you have a sidewall that is white, yellow or red, the colors get dinghy and look worse if you do not clean them. So most of us just choose a solid black tire.”
Curious why else tires are black? Here’s what you need to know.
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Are Tires Naturally Black?
No.
Natural rubber, one of the main ingredients in tires, is a white, milky latex. The first mass-produced inflatable auto, bicycle and motorcycle tires produced were white but failed to last.
Today, up to 200 ingredients go into manufacturing the modern tire. Refined carbon black, a byproduct of incomplete combustion of coal and oil, is a key one.
Why Are Tires Black?
Tire manufacturers discovered that adding carbon black, polyester, metal and other synthetic rubber compounds to natural latex helps tires perform better and last longer. Without carbon black, tires wouldn’t last 5,000 miles, according to Jack L. Koenig in his book, Spectroscopy of Polymers. It also makes tires black.
Besides significantly increasing tire mileage and durability, carbon black:
- Protects tires from dry rot.
- Improves handling, stability, braking and fuel economy.
- Rapidly transfers heat away from a tire’s core and treads, increasing lifespan.
- Disburses static electricity. In today’s vehicles crammed with highly sensitive electronics, static electricity can quickly damage expensive electronic devices.
- Makes tires easier to keep clean and shiny.
Why Aren’t Tires Available in Colors Besides Black?
They used to be. But people wouldn’t buy them.
Orange, blue, yellow and green tires functioned the same as their black counterparts and passed all U.S. standards for road safety and performance. But they never became popular.
BFGoodrich once sold tires with colorful treads. According to Michelin, BFGoodrich’s parent company, Goodyear manufactured different color tires in the 1950s to match people’s car. That way, drivers could change tires to match their fancy evening attire.
Goodyear also made tires from a translucent material with lights inside! But none were a hit. Just like white tires, colorful tires got dirty fast. They were also expensive. Without carbon black, people weren’t eager to spend extra money on something that wouldn’t last long.
Today, white tires for antique vehicles are readily available. So are wide whitewall tires made from the original molds to ensure authenticity when restoring classic and collector vehicles.
Tires with raised white letters, narrow whitewalls and thin red-striped sidewalls can be found for custom applications. Pirelli produces tires for ultra-high-end vehicles with different colored sidewalls, lettering and stripes, using similar compounds and production processes as their F1 racing car tires.
How are tires made?
Layers of rubber are rolled out onto a mold, then steel and/or nylon belts are added, followed by more layers of rubber and finally the tread.
“It’s kind of like black electrical tape being added to a tube of cardboard, spun round and round building up the layers,” says Pyle.
Next, the tire goes into a mold that pushes out from inside the tire and pushes in from the outside before finally being heated to melt all the rubber layers together.
What can different tire colors mean?
Different shades of black can tell you how much carbon was added. Occasionally, you will still see accent colors beyond black, too, but they don’t mean anything in particular.
“They are just a preference by the car owner,” says Pyle. “A lot of older vehicles had white wall tires and owners might want to retain that nostalgic appearance. Some luxury cars have tires with a pinstripe that is often red or yellow, which just catches the eye and looks neat.”
About the Experts
- Chris “Moose” Pyle is a master-certified technician with 20-plus years of automotive experience. He has also worked as an expert for JustAnswer.com since 2006, where he answers hundreds of car maintenance and repair questions a day.
