GT Radial demos tyres to dealers at MIRA

The UK’s major centre of excellence for vehicle research and development also houses the world’s ninth biggest tyre company, GITI Tire’s European Technical Centre; in May Tyres & Accessories joined representatives of the company and its UK dealers in visiting the site for a demonstration of its current high performance passenger tyre range. With an eye for the spectacular, the company’s test drivers at MIRA demonstrated the performance characteristics of current products such as the Champiro HPY, fitted to a BMW M3, and the Champiro HPX on an Ariel Atom for fast laps showing the tyres’ dry handling ability. Attendees at the event, which included representatives from the company’s exclusive UK distributor Micheldever, also tried for themselves the Champiro 228 on the wet circles track, and the Adventuro M/T off-road tyre in Mira’s 4×4 testing track. Contrasting with the high performance demonstrations was an amusing competitive element featuring a Fiat Panda, a parking cage and the unmistakable smell of burning clutch.

Presentations from GITI Tire UK general manager, Brian McDermott and director, research and development Europe, Eddie Young started proceedings at MIRA. Emphasising the company’s current global original equipment deals – an important indicator of quality for one of the, if not the, biggest Chinese tyre brands – McDermott mentioned that the company was “close to signing a deal with another major European manufacturer”. Emphasising the brand’s quality further was McDermott’s statement that GITI has around 300 research and development staff members in its China, UK and Finland bases (see T&A April 2012 for a report from GT Radial’s testing at Mellatracks in Ivalo).

In turn, Young emphasised the involvement of the European R&D facilities’ involvement with their colleagues in China, saying that the accessibility of European technology from MIRA was a vital component of GITI’s global development. Young also said that the company was investing “more money… in R&D than any other tyre company over the past few years”. This investment will lead to the employment of “500 technical staff within the next five month or so”, Young continued, with the company’s centre in Hefei (in Anhui Province, China) receiving “US$50 million in investment”, helping it to a capacity of 500 engineers. He also said the company was to open an R&D centre equivalent in Indonesia.
 
The company also highlighted the role of MIRA in the global business during the day’s presentations; while considerably smaller by most metrics, GITI’s ETC offers considerable access to the cutting edge of both testing facilities and vehicle technology. Young said the focus on a wide variety of vehicle engineering at MIRA meant that the facility has “huge expertise” that GITI can tap into: “We work very closely with the people that design the chassis, vehicle dynamics, electronics, safety, fuel use etc.”

Finally, Young suggested an area in which GITI has not traditionally participated could be the next step for its R&D operations. The company has recently entered rallying activities in China, and Young speculated that the company could come “into motorsport here too in the future”.