Abstract: A pneumatic tire having a component comprising: at least one rubber selected from polybutadiene rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber, synthetic polyisoprene rubber, and natural rubber; and from 1 to 30 parts by weight, per 100 parts by weight of rubber, of a terpolymer of: ethylene, an ?-olefin, and a non-conjugated diene; the terpolymer having an ethylene content of greater than 80 percent by weight and a Mooney viscosity (ML 1+4 at 125° C.) of from 5 to 25 as measured by ASTM D-1646.

Abstract: This invention relates to tires wherein at least a portion of its tire tread containing a running surface is of a rubber composition comprised of a functionalized elastomer, silica reinforcement, particularly precipitated silica aggregates which contain hydroxyl groups (e.g. silanol groups) and a blocked alkoxyorganomercaptosilane coupling agent. The rubber composition may constitute the entire, or major portion of, the running surface of the tread or may be limited to only a longitudinal circumferential strip, or portion, of the running surface of the tread. Such functionalized elastomer is an elastomer which contains functional groups distributed along the polymer chain and/or at its terminal end. Such functional groups may be divided into two categories, namely, a first category which promotes adsorptive interactions with the precipitated silica and a second category which chemically bonds to the precipitated silica.