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Currently used tire models have shown a certain lack of accuracy in some advanced handling applications. This lack of accuracy is believed to be partly due to thermal effects. In reality, the tire rubber temperature is not constant during the normal operating conditions and it's really well known that the tire friction coefficient strongly depends on the temperature level. The temperature generation, propagation and evolution are the result of a dynamic energy equilibrium between phenomena of different natures. Various mechanisms create a non-uniform temperature distribution in various parts of the tire structure: heat is generated in zones with large cyclic deformations due to the energy dissipated from the rubber strains and in the sliding part of the contact patch due to friction. The rubber cools down because the heat energy transferred to the air (internally and externally) and to the asphalt in the stick zone of the contact patch.