Hamashima clarifies MotoGP tyre issues at Dutch TT
The assistant to director at Bridgestone’s Motorsport Tyre Development Division Hirohide Hamashima has released a statement discussing events at the Dutch TT last weekend. The event was lively from a tyre point of view, with riders disagreeing over whether to have the manufacturer supply new rear slicks before the Saturday practice and race – in the end they stuck to the original tyres – and cold conditions creating problems as riders chose to run a softer compound that was more susceptible to graining. Track temperatures were 29 degrees Celsius cooler than in 2010, while rain interrupted running every day and left the circuit very greasy.
Continue ReadingCooper Avon range supplying “strong demand” for mid-range UHP tyres
The high performance segment’s continued importance in Europe at a time when price consciousness is at a premium gives Cooper Avon’s brands an opportunity. Representatives of the company told Tyres & Accessories that: “The performance tyre sector of the market continues to be a core part of the brand strategy for Cooper and Avon. There is still a very strong demand from UK and European customers for products that deliver optimum grip and performance but at a less than premium price. Our commitment to this sector is illustrated by the development and introduction this March of the brand new Avon ZZ5 tyre. This is a UHP product that has been designed and manufactured in Europe for European roads and conditions… As another indication of Cooper’s commitment to the market, the Avon ZZ5 was also developed and tested on some of Europe’s most challenging roads and race circuit, including the famous Nürburgring, to help to ensure excellent high-speed durability.” The tyre will receive an official launch later in the year, but is currently available on the UK market, where it is also manufactured.
Continue ReadingVipal Rubber: "Quality knows no boundaries"
Vipal’s international presence provided the reason for the company to exhibit at Autopromotec, where the firm showed its wide range of products for the automotive segment. At the show, Vipal showcased solutions and products for tyre and tyre tube repair, with more than 6,000 items in its portfolio.
Continue ReadingDunlop joins Isle of Man TT Races commercial portfolio
Dunlop has announced it will be the “Official Tyre Partner” for the 2011 Isle of Man TT races. Allan Bell MHK, minister for economic development commented: “The TT Races commercial programme continues to grow and it is fitting that in the year of the centenary of the Mountain Course, one of the companies that has become synonymous with the event has become a commercial partner.” Eddy Geerdink, Dunlop marketing director, commented: “Dunlop is delighted to become the Official Tyre Partner of the TT Races. The Mountain Course is one of the world’s toughest circuits and our success in the event over the years has provided us with excellent recognition for the performance and technology of our tyres.”
Continue ReadingHankook launches new global TV campaign including ads in UK and Europe
Hankook has released details of a new global TV advertising campaign. The ‘Be One with It’ campaign will roll out in nine different countries in Europe including Germany, UK, Italy, Spain, France, Russia and Hungary as well as in North America (USA/Canada). Instead of showcasing only the tyres’ performance, the campaign focuses more on the drivers feeling of ‘being one’ with the tyre and the road. Extreme sports such as jumping off cliffs and airborne helicopters with specially designed wing suits, called the ‘base jump’ are utilized to present the theme.
Continue ReadingHiQ announces BTCC activities
While Dunlop may have taken the reigns as the title sponsor of the British Touring Car Championship, the franchise retail network HiQ, which was the series’ previous title sponsor, is continuing its presence as the Teams’ Championship sponsor by launching some new features. For the first time, HiQ will launch a YouTube channel, featuring footage from the paddock and the latest views from the leading lights of the track. Fans will also be able to ask HiQ’s mascot, Bertie – now a BTCC reporter – questions that they would like to be posed to the drivers.
Continue ReadingPirelli launches “eco-friendly” Cinturato P1 for small-medium segment
Pirelli has consolidated the “green” side of its range of tyres with the launch of the company’s new Cinturato P1 tyre, designed for small to medium-sized vehicles. The tyre was launched at an event in Fasano, near Brindisi in the picturesque environs of south-east Italy. Tyres & Accessories travelled to the launch to test-drive the tyre at its world premiere by the European media in Puglia, on a route winding through olive tree plantations, beautiful villages punctuated by old agricultural storehouse (or trulli) and the Adriatic coast. The P1 provides strikingly quiet running, with a reduction of around 30 per cent – or one decibel – on the tyre’s predecessor, the Cinturato P4, while improving rolling resistance was also an important factor in the tyre’s development, with reductions of up to 25 per cent quoted by the company. It has not escaped the attentions of Pirelli that both characteristics will be two of the three featured ratings on the EU’s mandatory tyre label, coming into force in 2012.
Continue ReadingPilot Road 3 aimed at growing sport touring segment
Between 2004 and 2010, Europe’s sport touring radial motorcycle tyre market grew 31 per cent. This trend is expected to continue, with some forecasts for the current year estimating an increase of about seven per cent. At the start of the year Michelin released a new tyre into this lucrative market, the successor to its popular Pilot Road 2. The official launch for the new tyre was held towards the end of March. In announcing the introduction of the Pilot Road 3, Michelin says the new tyre surpasses its 2007-launched predecessor in terms of the grip it provides on wet roads and the consistency of performance it delivers over time. Alongside this, the tyre maker adds, is a combination of “unprecedented performance with the marketplace's best-balanced overall performance package.”
Continue ReadingMichelin Latitude Cross a “perfect match” in WRC debut
Following the snow and ice encountered in the opening round of the 2011 World Rally Championship, round two gave drivers the opportunity to become better acquainted with their Michelin Latitude Cross tyres. Rally Mexico, held between March 3 and 6, took place in temperatures of up to 35°C and featured rough, rocky stages along with narrow, twisting sections that proved a worthy test of driver skill. Despite the heat encountered, Michelin reports its tyres were “particularly competitive and even enabled the drivers to beat 2010's benchmark times on certain stages.” The tyre maker notes this is an especially remarkable achievement given that under new regulations the latest-generation WRC cars are less powerful than their predecessors which contested last year's event.
Continue ReadingMarch Editorial: Driving distribution forward
The last time Tyres & Accessories reported at length on EDIWheel the coverage provoked a welcome reaction. The healthy debate on the implementation of EDIWheel followed our publication of a report on the subject just over a year ago (January 2010), which featured a TIF hosted summit on the protocol. More than a year after the event, and after systems suppliers such as Tyreman made recent efforts to promote their EDIWheel compatible wares, Tyres & Accessories thought it was time for an update.
Continue ReadingKinergy Eco ‘a new era’ in tyres for Hankook
A new passenger car tyre range released by Hankook Tire in Europe is one the manufacturer says heralds a “new era in the tyre segment.” The range is called Kinergy Eco and takes its name from kinetic energy, or energy of motion – a clear nod to the tyre’s focus on reducing rolling resistance. Hankook states the Kinergy Eco “combines state-of-the-art Hankook tyre technology in the areas of safety, handling, and comfort with the environmental consciousness that is becoming an increasingly important criterion for today’s vehicles.”
Continue ReadingMichelin launches Taiwan Green Guide
Taiwan is the latest country to be given the Michelin Green Guide treatment. Information for the guide, which will be released in both English (on April 1) and French (during March), was prepared by a ten member, international, English speaking team that included Taiwan residents and “inveterate travellers” who explored the island for several months in order to verify information and select featured sites. The Michelin team also received assistance from the Taiwanese Government Information Office.
Continue ReadingStill going strong: 4×4 tyres continue to overcome obstacles
While the UK economy as a whole has taken a battering over the past two years or more, the overall size of the passenger car tyre market has remained relatively stable, which is good news for the 4x4 sector too. In 2010 the UK car, 4x4 and van tyre market totalled some 33 million units. There is always some dispute about the precision of figures like this – the argument usually focuses on questions like Where do you draw the line between 4x4 and four-wheel Navarro-style van? Do the figures include grey imports? How many part worn tyres are sold each year? and how do you know that? But while you can determine what you define a 4x4 tyre as by product size, there will always be a degree of uncertainty when it comes to things like grey imports and part worn sales. The received wisdom is that annual part worn sales total something like 2 million tyres a year, but there is some support for the figure being considerably higher during 2009 and 2010 due to increased cost pressure on motorists during the credit crunch.
Continue ReadingMichelin becomes official tyre of Sebring
Michelin has become the official tyre of Florida’s Sebring International Raceway, a move that coincides with the US launch of the Pilot Super Sport – a product featured on the new signage displayed around the Sebring track. The signage will make its debut in front of an audience of over 175,000 fans attending the Twelve Hours of Sebring race weekend on March 16 to 19. “It is very fitting that we begin the North American launch of our outstanding new Michelin Pilot Super Sport tyre here at Sebring, the home of America’s premier sports car endurance event, the Twelve Hours of Sebring,” commented Don Byrd, vice-president, marketing, Michelin Americas Small Tires.
Continue ReadingTrelleborg to Pursue Service Goals through Dealership Network in 2011
Having taken the reins of Trelleborg Wheel Systems UK in September 2010, managing director John Westwood believes there is an important job to do in the distribution of agricultural tyres at the dealer level. As a whole, Westwood explains that TWS’s philosophy has undergone a “change of focus”, altering the emphasis “from products to solutions”. The implication of this attitude is that TWS will try to find ways to show the value of choosing its self-professed premium products, which often include the mounts in addition to the tyres. When Tyres & Accessories met with Westwood at the company’s Ashby de la Zouch office, he looked back on the successes Trelleborg has experienced with original equipment partnerships, such as that with New Holland Agriculture and AGCO, the company behind Challenger, Fendt, Massey-Ferguson and Valtra tractors, while explaining that the next step forward would be to forge partnerships with “progressive tyre dealers” who want to engage in technical conversations with end users, creating a “premium dealership network” to deliver “solutions rather than just products”. As well as what the dealers can offer Trelleborg, Westwood explained that the company would seek to “become proactive in helping dealers sell out”, a fact underlined by the company’s commitment to spending four per cent of its annual turnover on communications.
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