Zafco to show Idiada-proven Zeetex ZT1000 at Essen

Zafco has tested its new Zeetex ZT1000 pattern at the Idiada testing facility in Spain, assessing its strengths and areas for improvement against two other brands from Korea and Taiwan respectively. The tyre tested strongly in aquaplaning, braking distance, steering, comfort, noise and estimated tyre life, consistently performing as well as, or better than, at least one of the other tyres tested, the company says. Testing on a scale of 1-10, where 10 denotes “exceptional” performance, the tyre scored consistently between seven (“good”) and eight (“very good”). Raghavendra Sanga, business & technical insights manager at Zafco, commented that: “R&D at Zeetex will incorporate the results of this study in its future product developments.” He also revealed that Zeetex will showcase the ZT1000 “as an environment friendly tyre at Reifen 2012 in Essen, Germany."

Zafco reveals that the ZT1000, tested together, with the other comparable brands, performed well in the longitudinal and lateral aquaplaning tests, scoring 6.8 and 7.5 respectively, against the Taiwanese brand’s 6.5 and 6.8. Braking on dry asphalt, the ZT1000 got a rating of 7.2 against the Taiwanese brand’s 7.0 in braking distance in dry asphalt conditions. In a straight line, the ZT1000 was on a par with its Korean and Taiwanese counterparts, all three scoring a rating of 7.9. The ZT1000’s steering performance narrowly beat the Korean tyre’s 7.6 rating with a 7.7.

The tyre is also comfortable, scoring 7.8 alongside the tyre from Taiwan, though the ZT1000 got the much improved rating of 7.7 against the Taiwanese’s 6.9 in rolling noise. In terms of the estimated tyre life, the ZT1000 outperformed the Korean brand by getting a rating of 7.5 as against 7.2.

Raghavendra said that Zeetex continues to grow “at a tremendous pace, all around the world… because of our continuous efforts to present consumers with high performance that is simultaneously environment friendly.”

Summarising the results, he said that the test had shown the tyre to be suitable for “those who want a combination of sophisticated appearance, competent handling, ride comfort and durability across a wide range of road conditions.”