Marangoni Gears up for Winter

The Marangoni Group research centre is located in Rovereto, Italy, at the foot of the Alps, where snow covered and icy roads plus below-zero temperatures are normal for many weeks of the year. According to Marangoni, everyday driving experience in these conditions acts an additional tool available to the engineers who design its winter tyres. As a result, the company reports its expertise and skills in producing tyres that work well in the conditions they were designed for are greatly enhanced. Exploiting their experience, engineers at the Marangoni Car Tyre research centre have designed and developed a range of tyres that covers all car segments. This line-up is divided into series suited for continental European climates and the harsher winters of northern Europe.

The coming winter will see an expansion of the 4 Winter tyre range, developed by Marangoni for small segment A cars such as the Citroen C1, Vauxhall Agila, Suzuki Splash and Toyota Aygo, and for compact segment B cars such as the Citroen C3, Ford Ka, Peugeot 107, Renault Clio and VW Lupo. This winter, the Marangoni 4 Winter will be available in seventeen different sizes, from 155/70 R 13 to 185/65 R 15, for 13, 14 and 15-inch wheels.

The tyre has a directional tread pattern featuring three longitudinal grooves and optimised sequences of side blocks, designed to maximise grip on snow-covered and icy surfaces while remaining effective on wet roads. Like all recent Marangoni winter tyres, the 4 Winter also benefits from SPE (Solid Particles Encapsulation) technology, developed by Marangoni’s Research & Development centre and fine-tuned at the World Test Center in Ivalo, Finland. This technology is said to improve the performance of the tyre by encapsulating crystals measuring just a few microns in size into the compound, achieving exceptional grip on ice and increased adherence across the tread. Furthermore, Marangoni claims that the progressive separation of the crystals produces an alternating sequence of microscopic empty and solid elements on the tread surface, making the tyre particularly effective on snow covered roads.

The 2009-2010 season also marks the return of the Marangoni Meteo HP, the specialist high performance winter tyre designed for medium-high range cars and for typically alpine and central European winters. The Meteo HP has an asymmetrical tread pattern, with four longitudinal grooves and dense siping with variable inclination. The results, says Marangoni, are outstanding and constant performance over an exceptionally wide range of ambient temperatures, efficiency on any road surface, especially on snowy and icy ground, yet at the same time comfortable driving over long distances on the motorway at sustained speed. Indeed, the speed rating reaches the level of summer tyres: up to speed code V, that is, 240 km/h.

The strength of the Meteo HP, Marangoni adds, lies in its high level of driving comfort and performance on different road conditions at low temperatures – all of which is said to make it the ‘no-compromise’ winter tyre, to be used from October to April. The range includes 23 sizes ranging from 195/55 R15 to 225/40 R 18, for 15, 16, 17 and 18-inch wheels.

The Meteo HP tread pattern is also used on the Marangoni Meteo HP SUV, a tyre for SUVs and crossovers with a wider tread and a reinforced casing. According to Marangoni, the main performance features of this tyre include excellent road grip, exceptional lateral stability and above all reduced braking distance, something of fundamental importance in winter on wet and snowy roads. The range is available in 6 different sizes, from 215/65 R16 to 235/60 R18, for 16, 17 and 18-inch wheels.

Finally, for particularly demanding situations, such as winter driving in Scandinavian countries, Marangoni has unveiled the new 4ICE. This directional tread pattern tyre features dovetail siping that guarantees, says Marangoni, perfect traction in any situation, ensuring maximum driving safety even in the worst weather conditions. The Marangoni 4ICE is available in 10 different sizes, from 175/65 R 14 to 215/65 R 16, for 14, 15 and 16-inch wheels.

All Marangoni winter products use the company’s exclusive E+ technology, which makes use of environmentally friendly compounds that are completely free of aromatic oils. By introducing this technology, Marangoni Tyre has anticipated the requirements of European directive 76/769/EEC, which specifies that as of 1 January 2010 all tyres sold on the market must have a PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon) content of less than 10 mg/kg.