Marangoni’s much delayed official launch of the Zeta Linea came at Italy’s Adria race Circuit at the beginning of June. Already, the Zeta Linea has been receiving considerable press coverage in Germany where tyre tests are popular features in motoring magazines, and with the tyre trade. In most tests the Zeta Linea is performing at least as well as the benchmark tyres from leading manufacturers and in some tests exceeding their performance. These test included excellent results from the ADAC UHP tyre test.The presentation of the tyres was led by Christophe Huss, Marangoni Tyre Export Manager. Mr. Huss began by highlighting the sluggish growth in the European tyre market over the past decade, an average of 3.4 per cent. Plant facilities had fallen in number from 111 to 83, a drop of 25 per cent. This he compared with Marangoni Tyre’s growth rate over the same period an average of 22.4 per cent; a performance that he put down to Marangoni’s specialisation in high value products; snow tyres, and UHP for example.Before taking the tyres to market they were thoroughly tested by TÜV in Germany, RDW in the Netherlands and by German tuning expert Franz Engstler. Marangoni tyres have also been used in the Marangoni Junior Trophy Championship on VW Polos racing in Italy. On the Scuderia del Portello Alfa Romeo in the Carrera Panamericana. The sporting heritage of the Marangoni product is growing rapidly alongside its market success in Europe.T&A has already discussed the marketing process using local dealers as equal partners in the marketing team in the November 2002 issue. However, to recap, some 200 local distributors and agents all take part in the decision making process with Marangoni. They have the close contact with the market and by listening to them Marangoni can work with the market, as it is developing.Angelo Priori, R&D Director for Marangoni presented the key PST issues, the tyre cavity design; processing development; and materials development. Mr Priori explained the new tyre profile with a narrower section and tread arc width for improved aquaplaning and more controlled progressiveness (the adaption to changes in road surfaces); reduced ply length for improved response, reduced weight and greater construction flexibility. A larger curing width to the tyre improves rim seating and minimises moulding defects. The deflection point in the side wall is also higher than before giving a larger response are.The tread has pitch sequence optimised for noise control, whilst the cap/ base is a combination of three compounds. A firmer cap layer to give the required characteristics for the tread pattern, a cushioned base layer for comfort and a wing compound to give the required shoulder and sidewall compounds. This required the development of tyre building machinery specifically adapted to the needs of Marangoni, and although the underlying tyre builder is one used by many tyre manufacturers, Marangoni’s equipment division has developed modifications to the plant to specifically handle the production of the new Vanto and Zeta Linea tyres.