Yokohama Targeting SUV, 4×4 OE Business
Japanese brand Yokohama says that it is becoming more widely adopted as original equipment within the SUV and high performance 4x4 segments. The manufacturer’s flagship ADVAN Sport tyre is fitted to the VW Touareg and Porsche Cayenne models and has been added to the AMG-tuned version of the Mercedes ML63 AMG 4x4. The size 295/40x20 front and back has been fitted to that particular model; the ADVAN range is available in 19”, 20” and 21” options, sized 275/45x19, 275/40x20 and 295/35x21 respectively. The Touareg uses the 19” and 20” options, while the Cayenne adds the 21” alternative. Another manufacturer to select the Yokohama ADVAN Sport for its large SUV/4x4 model is Audi. The German manufacturer has already adopted the Sport for its flagship A6 and A8 models and now, the Q7 SUV is fitted with ADVAN Sports from the factory. Sized either 265/50R19 or 275/45R20, the ADVAN Sports fitted to the Q7 are speed rated to 300kph to cope with one of the most powerful SUVs on the market today.
Continue ReadingTyreSafe Appoints Red Marlin Communications
TyreSafe has appointed Red Marlin Communications to handle its national PR. The appointment takes effect immediately and will see the company “working to raise awareness of tyre-related safety issues across a wide range of consumer, trade and business audiences.” As well as developing a stream of regular news and educational stories, the agency is aiming to help TyreSafe engage with relevant stakeholder groups to widen the distribution of its tyre safety messages.
Continue ReadingTire Review Top Shop Deadline Today
Today is the final deadline to enter the 2009 Tire Review Top Shop Awards presented by Ammco/Coats, which seeks to honor the “best of the best” independent tyre dealers in the US and Canada. Entries will be accepted until midnight tonight. Entry forms and information are now available via the Top Shop Awards Web site at www.tirereviewtopshopaward.com. Complete entries can be made right online. Dealers can nominate their own businesses, or others can nominate tyre dealer businesses. The entry process is simple: Those making the nomination need to provide basic information about the dealership being nominated and write a short (300-word maximum) essay explaining why that dealership should be considered.
Continue ReadingEU Wheel Balancer/Tyre Changer Market Down 2.7%
Less than 42,000 tyre changers and wheel balancers were sold across the seven leading European markets in 2008. A new report by LEO-Impact Consulting GmbH found that market volumes in this part of the garage equipment sector varied from -4.9 per cent to +0.2 per cent in the seven markets surveyed (Germany, France, Italy, UK, Spain, Scandinavia, Benelux), but were down 2.7 per cent on average compared with 2007. UK market volumes were the forth largest after Germany, France and Italy. According to the report, the most important players (in alphabetical order are: Cemb, Guilano, Nexion, Samio, Sican (Bosch), Snap-On and Werther. However, there are a lot of regional and a few overseas competitors.
Continue ReadingMazda Models Get Toyo Tyres as OE
Toyo Tire & Rubber has won OE fitment for its tyres on the new Mazda Axela, which is also known as the Mazda 3 outside of Japan. The Toyo J48 in size 205/55R16 91V and Proxes R32 in size 205/50R17 89W will be placed on the car in Japan and Europe. The North American version will get the all-season Toyo A20 in size P205/55R16 89H and the all-season Toyo A18 in size P205/50R17 88V. (Tire Review/Akron)
Continue ReadingDenman Tire Celebrates 90 Years in Business
Denman Tire is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year. The Leavittsburg, Ohio, tyre company was founded in 1919 by Walter R. Denman and a plant was built near Warren, Ohio, in order to manufacture the then-new cord style tyre. Ninety years later, Denman produces a range of specialty tyres, covering motorsports to classic tyres to OTR tyres. (Tire Review/Akron)
Continue ReadingBridgestone Previews German Grand Prix
Bridgestone’s super soft tyre proved to be the fastest rubber on the Nurburgring circuit for the first day of the German Grand Prix. In variable weather conditions, Lewis Hamilton set the day’s fastest lap time, a 1min 32.149secs, in his Vodafone McLaren Mercedes during the afternoon practice session. Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing) was the fastest driver in the morning practice session, using the medium compound to set a time of 1min 33.082secs. Conditions were cold and there was some rain today meaning that Bridgestone’s intermediate and wet tyres were seen out on track. Hirohide Hamashima, Bridgestone director of motorsport tyre development said that “maintaining tyre temperature was a challenge.” He also praised the circuit and suggested that the weekend could be dominated by tyre talk: “It’s an interesting circuit here and, as illustrated today, there is always the factor of the weather too. After the British Grand Prix there was a lot of talk of tyre temperatures and how the front running teams and drivers use their tyres. I would not be surprised if that is also a topic this weekend. If it stays cold like today then the super soft could even be the preferred race tyre. For the medium compound, getting temperature into the tyre is the challenge, for the super soft, minimising graining is the challenge.”
Continue ReadingM.I.G. Talk of New Retreading Factory
M.I.G. is a major rubber industry company with headquarters located in Anagni some 50 kilometres south of Rome. During its 50 years in existence the company has gained extensive knowledge and experience in the tyre retreading field. Consequently, it says that it has been able to establish an outstanding reputation for product quality and service excellence. M.I.G. manufactures and exports curing tubes, bladders and envelopes throughout the world. The company has recently completed the building of a new state-of-the-art factory covering an area of 30,000 square metres. From here M.I.G. says that it will be able to meet the demands of all retreaders, be it for hot cure process with tube or bladder presses or, for precure plants with double envelope, envelope/tube or a rimless envelope system.
Continue ReadingHiQ Franchisee Raises £2000 for Breast Cancer Care
A HiQ franchisee raised more than £2000 for Breast Cancer Care at the Goodwood Festival of Speed recently. Richard Whittemore, who runs 10 HiQ centres in the south of England under his Elite Garages Group company, helped to generate £2,075 at the event, while checking hundreds of motorists’ tyres in an attempt to eliminate illegal tyre usage. Richard took a team of fast fitters around the festival to check hundreds of tread depths and in return, visitors donated money to Breast Cancer Care – HiQ’s chosen charity for 2009. The initiative took place at Goodwood after a recent survey claimed that more than 3 million UK motorists are currently driving on illegal tyres.
Continue ReadingPirelli Announces 2009-10 SUV, Van Winter Tyre Roster
Pirelli has announced its range of winter tyres designed for the 4x4/SUV and van segments. The Scorpion Ice & Snow is designed to work particularly well at low temperatures and is produced in aspect ratios 35 to 75 Series, wheel diameter codes 15 to 21 and speed codes T, H and V. The Chrono Winter, meanwhile, is available for vans in aspect ratios 60 to 75 Series, wheel diameter codes 14 and 16 and speed codes R, S and T. Both tyres are emblazoned with the “Snowflake” symbol in the North American market, which is embossed on the sidewall of winter tyres that indicates their specialisation for snow.
Continue ReadingPirelli to Release Microchipped “Intelligent” Tyre
The Energy Harvesting Journal has reported that Pirelli is close to releasing its latest innovative tyre technology – a microchip to supply tyre and road condition information to the car’s electronic control system. It is designed to increase safety. The new product is expected to become available in the company’s Cyber Tyre Lean and Cyber Tyre in early 2010. The Cyber Lean will register tyre pressure and temperature data, noting too the average load of the vehicle. It is attached to the inner lining and can store information such as the tyre’s production date and site. It derives the energy necessary to work from vibrations, further enhancing its environmentally friendly credentials. The Cyber Tyre, which will be released later, will have the electronic sensor inserted directly into the tyre structure. A triaxial accelerometer will, according to the Journal, “give data on the actual and potential friction coefficients, the force of the contact between tyre and road, and on the load, instantaneously.” It supersedes current tyre sensor technology by being able to “correct wrong behaviour in advance.”
Continue ReadingAlabama Health Department Fines BFGoodrich
BFGoodrich Tire Manufacturing in Tuscaloosa, Alabama is to be fined $650 civil after violating state environmental health rules. According to local newspaper reports, Alabama Department of Public Health official identified the violation when BFGoodrich reported in May that “two devices containing radioactive sources were missing from the Tuscaloosa plant site.” WHNT news explained that they were discovered missing in April and were last accounted for in October 2008 and report suggests the devices might have left the site when “the production line they were on was dismantled and removed as scrap.” Such devices are used in gauges that measure the thickness of rubber during production.
Continue ReadingIndustrial Tyre Association Makes Best Practice Plea
The Industrial Tyre Association (ITA) has called for more action to reduce the risks of making false economies when it comes to fitting industrial tyres. Len Sambrook, ITA chair explained: “When money is tight it can be tempting to buy cheap tyres or to delay replacing worn ones. But tyres are such an integral part of a forklift or industrial truck that by taking responsibility and following strict standards of specification and fitting of tyres users can significantly reduce the lifetime cost of the machine. Most of the time economies made around tyres are false economies in the long run.” ITA points out that tyres are often the most overlooked part of a truck. But specifying the right type of tyre can affect the lifting, stability and braking distances of an industrial truck, as well as improve its fuel economy. The use of an inferior product will severely impact not only the truck’s performance but also the health and safety of the operator.
Continue ReadingKraiburg Complies Early With New Directive
On January 1st 2010, European Directive 76/796/EEC comes into force. The new Directive prescribes limits on the permissible percentage of processing oils containing PAHs (polycyclic aroma¬tic hydrocarbons) which are subject to declaration. It will be illegal to produce tyres which do not conform to the specified limits. Processing oils plasticise the rubber compound, making it more flexible and pliable during the blending process. However, Kraiburgs retreading partners neednt worry, as the company started to adapt all its precure retreads back in 1997 and completed the process at the beginning of 2007. The aim was to ensure that customers adhering to the Kraiburg three-year shelf life policy for precured treads would not have non-compliant goods in stock at the beginning of next year.
Continue ReadingEllerbrock Mixing Plant Doubles Output After Fire
Earlier this week Ellerbrock Reifenrunderneuerungs-Technologie GmbH puts its new North Hamburg (Henstedt-Ulzburg) mixing facility into operation. As a result of the six million euro investment, the plant has also taken on a completely new role within the Marangoni Group.
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