Continental Stretch Belts are made specifically for drives that dont have a mechanical tensioner to maintain constant belt tension or an adjustment slot that allows for belt installation or tensioning. Since 2004, automobile manufacturers have been designing drives using self-tensioning belts. These drives do not have a mechanical tensioner to maintain constant belt tension and they do not have an adjustment slot that allows belt installation and tensioning. The Continental Stretch Belt incorporates low modulus and high elongation technologies that allow the belt to be installed on these fixed drive systems and provide the “self-tensioning” capabilities necessary to maintain proper belt tension in the absence of an automatic tensioner. Continentals distinctive design uses the latest OEM technology in EPDM compounds and a polyamide tensile cord that stretches for installation, then recovers once installed to maintain proper tension. Although Continental Stretch Belts look similar to Continental Poly-V belts, they are dramatically different and not interchangeable with our Poly-V or other serpentine belts. The Continental Stretch Belt can be differentiated by its part number. The functional Poly-V part number that includes the number of ribs and length also has an “S” suffix, indicating a stretch belt.