Landsail IceDragon Van – a new studded tyre built for working vans

A van’s working day does not depend on whether the roads are dry, snowy or covered with ice. Its tyres must cope with the weight of the vehicle and its cargo, withstand frequent stops and pull-aways, and maintain grip across a wide range of winter surfaces.

To meet these demands, Landsail has developed the IceDragon Van, a new studded tyre for vans and light commercial vehicles. The model will soon be joining the Rehvid Pluss winter tyre range.

Although its name connects it with the passenger-car IceDragon, the Van is not simply a larger version of the same tyre. It has its own tread design and a reinforced construction developed around the greater weight and load requirements of commercial vehicles.

Reinforced for everyday van use

IceDragon Van is a C-marked van tyre. The C in its size designation indicates that the tyre’s construction and load capacity are intended for vans and other light commercial vehicles.

A working van is used differently from an ordinary passenger car. It may begin the day empty, run fully loaded later on and make dozens of stops along a single route. The tyre must therefore continue to perform consistently under changing loads and constantly varying road conditions.

The reinforced construction of the IceDragon Van is designed to provide the load-carrying capacity required for commercial use while allowing the tread enough flexibility to work in freezing temperatures, snow and ice.

Ice grip designed with a van’s weight in mind

Studded tyres provide vans with an important advantage on frozen roads. Metal studs engage mechanically with the upper layer of ice, creating grip points that cannot be produced by the rubber compound or tread edges alone.

The IceDragon Van’s studs are distributed across different areas of the tread. The layout extends from the central tread zone towards the intermediate sections and shoulders, allowing a wider part of the contact patch to contribute to grip.

This design is intended for situations where a loaded van must pull away from an icy parking area, brake at a slippery junction or travel along frozen secondary roads.

A stable centre and open channels for slush

The centre of the IceDragon Van’s directional tread features arrow-shaped blocks. Together, they form a structure aligned with the direction of rotation and designed to support stable straight-line driving and braking.

Curved channels lead from the centre towards the sides, giving water and slush a route out of the contact patch. Open spaces between the blocks also allow the tread to work in loose snow and help prevent the pattern from quickly becoming packed with wet snow.

Broader shoulder blocks support handling when cornering or changing direction. Together with studs extending towards the shoulders, they help maintain grip when lateral forces move the load away from the centre of the tread.

Sipes provide grip between the studs

Metal studs create strong but separate points of contact on ice. The rest of the tread must still manage snow, moisture and uneven frozen surfaces.

For this purpose, the IceDragon Van features a dense network of wave-shaped sipes. These create additional biting edges within the contact patch and help the tyre engage with packed snow and icy surfaces in the areas between the studs.

Their wave-shaped design helps balance two different requirements. A tread block must remain flexible enough to create new gripping edges, yet stable enough to avoid excessive deformation during braking and steering.

The IceDragon Van therefore relies on its studs, sipes, tread blocks and open channels working together, with each element performing a different task.

Snow, ice and slush may all appear on the same route

Vans frequently travel through areas where road-maintenance standards vary. City-centre streets may be wet and clear, industrial roads covered with slush, and smaller secondary roads snowy or icy.

The IceDragon Van is designed for these rapidly changing conditions:

• metal studs support grip on ice;
• sipes and tread edges work on packed snow;
• open spaces between the blocks give the tread room to work in loose snow;
• directional channels help remove water and slush;
• reinforced construction takes the van’s weight and cargo into account.

M+S and 3PMSF confirm its winter credentials

The IceDragon Van carries M+S and 3PMSF markings.

M+S indicates that the tyre is intended for use in mud and snow. The Three-Peak Mountain Snowflake, or 3PMSF symbol, confirms that the tyre type has achieved the required performance level in a standardised severe-snow test.

The 3PMSF marking relates to the tyre’s performance on snow. On ice, the IceDragon Van relies primarily on the mechanical grip provided by its studs, supported by dense siping and the edges of the tread blocks.

Euro 7 requirements also apply to van tyres

Euro 7 does not cover vehicle exhaust emissions alone. It also addresses particles released through tyre wear, with the requirements extending beyond passenger-car tyres to the tyre class used by light commercial vehicles.

Developing the IceDragon Van therefore required a balance between several important characteristics: load capacity, winter grip, durability and controlled tread wear.

The model has been developed with Euro 7 requirements in mind, combining the studded ice performance needed for Nordic winters with the wear and environmental objectives expected from a new generation of tyres.

Experience from the previous ice STAR iS37

Before the IceDragon Van, the ice STAR iS37 occupied a similar position in Landsail’s van winter tyre range. Based on Rehvid Pluss sales experience, it became known as a practical tyre for working vans.

Customer feedback was generally positive. Rather than being defined by one outstanding feature, the iS37 was valued as a well-balanced package combining suitable C-marked van sizes, Nordic studded performance and a reasonable price.

IceDragon Van follows the same principle while introducing a new tread pattern and stud solution. Its focus is on providing an up-to-date and dependable workhorse tyre for drivers and businesses that value reliable everyday performance, suitable load capacity and competitive pricing.

Who is the IceDragon Van designed for?

IceDragon Van is aimed at van and light commercial vehicle drivers who cannot choose their working days according to the weather. It is suitable for couriers, maintenance companies, construction businesses and other users whose vehicles must operate in towns, on motorways and along smaller snow-covered roads.

The model’s main advantage is its combination of reinforced construction designed for vans and the characteristics of a Nordic studded tyre. IceDragon Van will soon be available from Rehvid Pluss as a competitively priced alternative for businesses and private users looking for a dependable winter tyre for their van.

IceDragon Van is coming soon to the Rehvid Pluss range.