Ultra High Performance

Attending the Geneva Motor Show is a great opportunity to see the newest vehicles around close-up, not to mention a good chance to check-out which tyres car manufacturers are brandishing on the latest concepts and releases. So when, after visiting the motor show, Tyres & Accessories was given the opportunity to drive a beautiful Ferrari F430 from Geneva back to London on Pirelli Sotto Zero cold weather tyres, we jumped at the chance.

Put the car through its paces, they said. Drive it on snow and take the tyres to the limit, they said. And we would have done, had there have been any. But in March even the Alps are short on snow and ice. There were, however, plenty of mountain roads; more than a sprinkle of rain; and cold temperatures consistently below seven degrees. So while the sight of the F430 sports coupe sticking to sheet ice was out of the question, driving on wet “snow-chain only” Alpine roads in March was definitely on the menu. And the truth is these conditions are probably more akin to what the drivers experience during the majority of the cold weather season.
The myths associated with cold weather tyres are no longer true. Modern products like Pirelli’s Sotto Zero are a far cry from the short-lived winter tyres of yesteryear. And did I mention they look good too? Road noise radiation characteristics have also been greatly improved. In fact, the improvement is such that the varying quality of road surfaces has a much greater effect on road noise that the fitment of cold-weather tyres.
This is most noticeable on the French side of the Swiss border. Driving across the winding mountain roads around Mount Blanc gave the F430 ample opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of its electronic differential or E-Diff (a formidable technological improvement derived from F1-single-seaters and designed to improve road holding by generating maximum grip out of corners and eliminating wheel spin). But all this technology depends on having premium quality tyres like the Pirellis fitted to the F430 T&A was driving.
Driving an F430 in any circumstances is certainly a great experience, but the road surface in the mountains was, shall we say, variable. In these conditions the quietest summer tyres would be accused of generating road noise. The almost empty French toll roads between Paris and Calais couldn’t have been more different – miles and miles of near faultless smooth asphalt proved that the most particular of drivers would probably have had to have installed their own semi-anechoic noise chamber to really notice the difference. The technological improvements of cold weather tyres aside, the majestic roar of the F430’s engine is much more of a distraction than whether or not today’s cold-weather tyres really are guilty of generating too much noise.

Below 7 degrees

As we all know, the silica-based compounds and numerous sipes that characterise cold-weather tyres give them the obvious advantage on snow and ice. The softer compound also means they outperform standard tyres in wet and dry conditions below seven degrees.
Germany remains Europe’s leading market for winter tyre sales, selling 25 million passenger car units to the trade in 2006, up 16 per cent year on year, according to ‘pool’ figures T&A saw. (These sell-in figures exclude non-European tyres and grey/parallel imports.) However, while this number represents the lion’s share of the 44 million cold-weather car tyres sold across Europe last year, unusually warm weather meant that sell-out rates were down. And despite new legislation recommending ‘suitable tyres for the season’ (see: Dressing for winter box), “the expected winter tyre boom was missing,” according to German Tyre Association (BRV) chairman, Hans-Juergen Drechsler.
At the end of February Deutsche Bank analysts observed that leading European manufacturers (namely Continental) lost market share in winter tyres, and therefore profitability as a consequence. Despite this, Goodyear Dunlop European president Arthur de Bok, interviewed elsewhere in this issue, reported that his company had actually experienced stronger sales partly because of new cold weather tyre legislation in Germany.
For the last four years Pirelli has been encouraging German consumers to purchase its tyres by bravely putting its money where its mouth is.
The Italian manufacturer’s strategy avoids over simplistic association with snow and ice and instead focuses on the below seven degrees concept, an approach that looks likely to be all the more relevant as European winters become less snowy. Instead Pirelli offers German consumers purchasing products from its cold weather range the chance to bet on the weather.
The Pirelli Winter Wetter (literally the Pirelli winter bet) works like this: If there is a warm winter Pirelli Germany pays out a 50 per cent rebate for normal customers and 75 per cent for motorists that are members of the ADAC (German AA equivalent). The small print is very straightforward. In order for consumers to win, official temperatures provided by Deutsche Wetterdienst (the German Met Office), have to be above an average temperature of 7 degrees for around two thirds of the winter. For the purposes of the bet the winter season is determined as the 106 days from 15 November till the end of February. And in order to balance the weather conditions present in the various regions, the country is divided into two areas. In the south Pirelli has to pay out if temperatures are above 7 degrees for 67 days, while in the milder north the boundary is 77 days. Tyres have to have been bought between 1 September and 14 November.
2006 was the first time in four years that Pirelli has had to pay out and 5000 customers went through the process of claiming their money back. Whatever Pirelli actually had to pay out to consumers must have been worth it in terms of marketing value and exposure. It also has the real benefit of deflecting attention from an overly direct association between cold weather tyres and snow and ice.

On the Island

In view of numbers like this, the UK market’s cold weather segment can only be described as embryonic. Here some market players have been quicker off the mark than others, with certain parties suggesting they will get involved when legislation or other pre-conditions are in place. But if the German market, which is very successful in many respects, is anything to go by legislation that is too closely related to weather conditions, as opposed to temperatures, might not have the desired effect when the snow stops. Instead focusing purely on temperature is easier for consumers to understand and is makes whether and therefore product planning more predictable.
Now, following increased efforts from leading manufacturers, early indications are positive and show that the market is far from thawing out (see chart). The figures are obviously set against a low base, but there is definite improvement. There has been no word of Pirelli launching a winter betting scheme in the UK, but September 2006 did see the manufacturer introduce cold weather tyre stock packs designed to assist dealers in selecting the most popular sizes to put on their shelves. Cold Weather tyre stocks also started to arrive in Pirelli’s UK warehouses at the same time. Michelin also upped its cold weather tyre sales last year, while other manufacturers including Vredestein, Continental and Toyo continue consistent support for the development of a UK cold weather market.
In addition, there is now also anecdotal evidence suggesting that Alpine holidaymakers are increasingly demanding cold weather tyres as the ski-set get ‘bitten’ by the various different tyre regulations around Europe. These consumers are feeling the effect of the legislation both directly – through fines and reprimands from local police forces; and indirectly through exorbitant charges for winter tyre fitment on hire cars. While this progress is not exactly going to turn Britain into a leading winter market overnight, the customers that are buying these tyres are buying high value, high performance products. Maybe things are hotting up (or should that be cooling down) in the cold-weather