“Sensationalised Coverage” of Auto Express Tyre Test “Grossly Unfair”: Maxxis
Following the recent tyre tests in Auto Express, Maxxis noted what the company brands a “grossly unfair” reaction in “some newspapers”, which suggested that budget tyres pose a threat to the lives of drivers and their passengers. Maxxis International’s managing director Derek McMartin released a statement to address the “sensationalist language” used to brand budget tyres “bottom of safety league”, pointing out that secondary reports had missed the complexity of Auto Express’s comprehensive testing and that the company’s MA-Z1 Drift had performed creditably in most areas despite being a road-legal speciality drifting tyre. The tyre was given a rating of 94.8 per cent of the winning Continental SportContact 3’s overall performance in the 2010 Auto Express Tyre Test.
“Let’s be clear, Auto Express tested the MA-Z1 Drift, which is a world beater in terms of what it is intended to do,” began McMartin. “As a product designed specifically for the sport of drifting it has proved itself streets ahead of the competition by winning Formula D, the premier US series, and all three European drift series – the British Drift Championship, ProDrift and the European Drift Championship – last season.
The MA-Z1 Drift is certainly street legal, but it is not a general purpose high performance tyre, so is unlikely to achieve the same results as the premium brands used in the variety of road-based tests Auto Express carried out.
“We feel it is grossly unfair that some newspapers have sensationalised their coverage by suggesting that drivers are risking their lives if they buy budget tyres because not only is this concept of a ‘safety league’ totally inaccurate – the Auto Express test examined a number of different aspects, including price, which is a major consideration for some people – but the MA-Z1 Drift performed very well indeed in some areas.
“It did extremely well in the aquaplaning tests, for example, winning the straight test, and was commended for being low noise. The Maxxis results were not so far away from those of the premium brands in several areas so reports that Maxxis was ‘slammed’ in the dry handling test for poor turning are misleading. What the results show are that the MA-Z1 Drift performed in accordance with its characteristics as a drift tyre and yet it still scored 97.7 per cent, finishing only just behind the top runner in that test.
“When Auto Express provided a thoroughly objective review, it is disappointing that some areas of the media should seize the opportunity to generalise the findings so that they can criticise manufacturers who develop quality products which perform well and offer excellent value,” McMartin concluded.
Maxxis’ complaint reflects the generalised attacks on budget segment tyres’ safety following tests conducted by What Car? magazine in August 2010. Tyrepress.com published an analysis that suggested the grouping together of all budget tyres in condemnation was at best lacking nuance, and at worst outright misleading (see pp. 14-16 in the September issue of Tyres & Accessories for more details, or click on the Related News links below).
Related News:
- ContiSportContact 3 Tops Auto Express Tyre Test
- Auto Express Tests: Sava Offering Quieter, Fuel-Efficient Ride
- Auto Express Tyre Tests: Goodyear “Wet Weather Specialists”
- Analysis: Saying All Budget Tyres are Lethal is an Unfair Generalisation
- Report: Budget Tyres Could Kill, But at Least They’re Quiet
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