Michelin policy ‘boosts tyre performance’ – DJ Coaches

DJ Coaches is to adopt a 100 per cent Michelin policy after in-house tyre data showed that its Michelin tyres typically last up to 140,000km longer than a premium competitor brand fitted as original equipment to newer vehicles in the fleet.

The Kent-based coach operator will now specify 295/80 R22.5 Michelin X MultiWay 3D XZE to the steer axle and X Coach XD drive tyres across its Mercedes-Benz Tourismo single-deck and double-deck coach fleet, as wear dictates. All tyres will follow the Michelin multi-life policy, enabling the customer to fit a mixture of new and Remix tyres – with the Michelin retreads offering virtually the same performance as a new tyre, but costing around 40 per cent less.

Lee Mant, engineering manager at DJ Coaches, says: “All our vehicles are delivered with premium tyres as standard, but on some of our newest arrivals we’ve seen a huge performance difference between different top tier brands. This has meant replacing original equipment tyres after only 110,000 km in service, whereas we’ve routinely had Michelin tyres on our older vehicles achieving 250,000 km before retreading.

“For a high-mileage fleet like ours this has meant the newer vehicles have spent more time in the workshop, plus our tyre bills have been increasing. As a result, we needed to rethink our options.”

The Michelin X MultiWay 3D XZE and X Coach XD tyres are designed to blend fuel efficiency and mileage performance, with 3PMSF (Three Peak Mountain Snowflake) markings on the sidewall confirming their high level of grip in all weather conditions.

Michelin’s X Coach XD fitments also offer up to 20 per cent more mileage potential than the previous generation XDA4 tyres, the tyre manufacturer adds. It says it achieved this by integrating full-depth patented ‘double wave’ sipes into the tread blocks to improve tread rigidity.

Mant adds: “Our coaches can be used for journeys through the Alps and the Michelin tyres’ grip is excellent. So long as we’re not operating on routes which require their use, it means our drivers don’t need to fit snow chains – the traction we get from these Michelin tyres is more than up for the job.”

Michelin supported the change in tyre policy by carrying out a weighing exercise involving multiple vehicles within the fleet. This enables a Michelin technical manager to suggest bespoke cold tyre inflation pressures for individual vehicles, helping to minimise wear and boost total mileage potential even further.

All tyre fitting and maintenance is being conducted by local dealer Watling Tyres.

Based in Gravesend, DJ Coaches runs a 27-strong fleet offering airport transfers, corporate hire, European travel, school contracts, private hire and tour operator services. As well as Mercedes-Benz Tourismo coaches, it also runs several Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and IVECO Turas minibuses.