Test World assessing tyre studs for Finnish transport agency

Millbrook’s Test World facility in Finland has been selected as the official partner of Traficom, the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency, to carry out assessments across the studded tyre market. Test World will work with Traficom over a period of three years, beginning this summer.

The primary objective of the partnership is to evaluate studded tyres for the Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian markets. This involves testing for road wear to evaluate the conformity of each studded tyre with type approval documents and previous test results.

Studded tyre technology is important to ensure safety and vehicle performance under certain winter conditions. However, when the snow melts, road wear caused by studded winter tyres can be significant. The impact of this must be tested to ensure road wear remains below an accepted limit. With the signing of this new partnership, Test World will play a vital role in ensuring the optimum quality and performance of studded tyres, as well as the safety of drivers in harsh, snowy and icy conditions across Finland, Sweden and Norway.

“As a pioneer in these services, Test World has been developing the road wear overrun test method for studded tyres for many years,” says Jukka Antila, technical director at Test World. “With such vast experience in this area, we are happy to help authorities test tyres in the market and ensure that they comply with safety and performance regulations.”

“The agreement will result in systematic monitoring of the conformity of studded tyres on the market every year,” says Mika Loponen, senior advisor of Traficom. “Effective control is an advantage for Finland as the requirements of studded tyres affect not only traffic safety, but also road wear which has been under lively debate.”

Traficom’s key criteria for choosing a partner were technical expertise, cost and the company’s independence from the tyre and stud industry.