Firestone Launches New Mass-Market Multihawk

Firestone has announced details of the long-term replacement for its F590FS tyre, a regular OE fitment on a number of mass-market hatchbacks and compact family cars – Including the Volkswagen Polo, Fiat’s Punto and Stilo and the Skoda Fabia, since its release in 2000.

Christened the Multihawk, the new tyre is one Firestone promise will deliver ‘even greater poise and handling capabilities’ than its predecessor. Special attention has been paid to the tyre’s wet weather performance, with Firestone singling out the Multihawk’s wider footprint and tread pattern featuring rounded blocks as the key to its reported optimised road contact and enhanced water drainage.

Firestone report that wet evaluation tests have found the Multihawk to have a shorter stopping distance than the tyre it replaces, while the same tests show the tyre’s handling to be superior to that of ‘several comparative tyres from other leading manufacturers.’

In addition the Multihawk’s rate of wear is reportedly dramatically improved versus the F590FS as a result of the increased block stiffness that the tyre’s fewer centre sipes has produced. The tyre has been subject to ‘comprehensive’ wear testing, to quote Firestone’s press release, and this testing is reported to show the Multihawk as class-leader in this area.

The new Multihawk has a T/H speed rating, and is available in 20 different sizes for 13, 14 and 15-inch rims.