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Tire manufacturers need to perform various types of testing to determine tire performance under representative vehicle load conditions. However, test results are influenced by a number of external variables other than tire construction. Vehicle load distribution and suspension properties are some of those external variables which can have a significant effect on tire wear rate and durability. Therefore, in order to measure real world tire performance in a controlled and repeatable manner, a representative vehicle and associated tire load conditions are needed. Laboratory or indoor tire testing offers many advantages over vehicle fleet testing. It provides a well-defined test environment and repeatable results without influence from external factors. Indoor testing has been largely developed around the process of simulating tire wear performance on a specific reference vehicle, including its specific weight distribution, suspension characteristics, and alignment.

Indoor or laboratory testing of tire tread wear offers many advantages over vehicle fleet testing. Advances in test equipment capabilities and the technologies for defining and simulating meaningful tire loading histories has made indoor tread wear testing a reality. Tire loading histories are influenced by vehicle characteristics, wear course and driving style, and tire stiffnesses. Methods for independently characterizing each of these are reviewed. A simulation technique, TS-Sim, is also described that combines specific vehicle, course and tire characterizations to create a tire load history. The vehicle characterization is critical to the process since both wear rate and various forms of uneven and irregular wear are strongly dependent on vehicle suspension/steering characteristics and on dynamic load transfer behavior. The characterization process involves mapping the vehicle over a practical range of acceleration, deceleration and cornering maneuvers.