Victory in the all-season tyre test carried out by several European motoring organisations is, says Nexen Tire, proof of the superiority of its N’Blue 4 Season. The Nexen rubber was ranked first in the test of nine 175/65R14 T/H tyres thanks to its good performance in wet and icy conditions.
Kenda Tires is keen to replicate the success it has enjoyed with its car tyre business in North America over the last decade in European markets, and last year it introduced its first passenger car tyre specifically designed for the region, the Kenda Emera A1. This was followed by the Wintergen 2 winter tyre and Komendo Winter KR500 van tyre. The Taiwanese tyre maker is bringing its latest made-for-Europe product to The Tire Cologne, the Kenda Kenetica 4S all-season tyre.
It was a victory for Goodyear in the all-season SUV tyre test published by Auto Bild Allrad this month. The publication voted the Vector 4Seasons SUV Gen-2 the winner of its six-tyre comparative evaluation, honouring the Goodyear rubber with the only ‘exemplary’ rating of the test.
Michelin has launched a new CrossClimate tyre to take on the demanding conditions in which European van drivers increasingly operate. Having successfully rolled out the “summer tyre with winter capabilities” to the consumer market with two iterations of CrossClimates for cars and an SUV version, Michelin has extended the concept to light commercial operators with the Agilis CrossClimate. To mark its launch, Michelin demonstrated the tyre’s winter characteristics at a special test site in the French Alps. With the so-called Beast from the East providing the most extreme winter driving conditions the UK has seen in more than a decade as Tyres & Accessories goes to print, the appeal of products to handle such conditions while also suiting the mostly moderate climate in a market disinclined to fit winter tyres seems likely to receive at least a short-term boost.
In what was a world premiere for the company, Yokohama launches the BluEarth-4S AW21 at the 2018 Geneva Show. The tyre is Yokohama’s first European market all-season tyre and will be available from Autumn 2018. The tyre will initially be available in over 30 sizes, ranging from 255/50R19 107W to 175/65R14 82T and the company plans to gradually expand the line-up of available tyre sizes.
Another German car magazine’s summer tyre test has thrown in a handful of all-season tyres for good measure. Autozeitung evaluated a total of nine size 225/45 R17 tyres (W/Y speed rated and 91/94 load indices), six summer and three all-season products. Fitted to a Seat Leon, the tyres were tested in both wet and dry disciplines, with a maximum 150 points up for grabs in each of these.
Summer tyres share the limelight with all-season tyres in the latest test from Gute Fahrt. The German car magazine has evaluated the merits of nine V-speed rated size 205/55 R16 summer tyres and, perhaps for those who’ve noticed that winter isn’t quite over yet, three all-season products that are also approved for speeds of up to 149mph or 240km/h. The tyres were mounted on Volkswagen Group cars – the VW Golf, Seat Leon and Skoda Oktavia – for testing, and this was carried out at the Pirelli proving ground in Vizzola, near Milan. Testing covered the usual criteria – braking and handling in the wet and dry, aquaplaning, wet circular track performance as well as characteristics such as rolling resistance, comfort and noise.
Mileage is a quality that consumers in North America look at closely when buying replacement tyres, and therefore the following superlative from Goodyear Tire & Rubber is significant. With its new Assurance MaxLife, the tyre maker has “introduced the highest-mileage tyre in its nearly 120-year history.”
Winter tyres have always been something of a non-issue with most British motorists, but for years our counterparts in Germany have diligently switched from summer to winter rubber every autumn and then back again in the spring. The head of Michelin considers this largely unnecessary.
Compromise is a word often associated with the all-season tyre segment, and in its 2017/18 all-season tyre test, Auto Express has endorsed the product it views as representing the smallest compromise in year-round UK conditions. This tyre is the Michelin CrossClimate+
According to a study carried out for Kumho Tire, sales of all-season tyres in the UK are only a little over half the European average. Kumho contracted market research institute GfK to look at all-season tyre sales in ten European countries; GfK found that four per cent of tyre buyers in the UK opted for all-season products.
Goodyear’s Vector 4Seasons Gen-2 all-season tyre has won German magazine Auto Bild’s latest tyre test. According to the magazine, the tyre demonstrated the best driving performance in all weather conditions, especially in wet and snow conditions.
Hankook Tire has released the Kinergy PT (H737, the first tyre made exclusively at the company’s Clarksville, Tennessee plant in the USA.
Car service operator Addison Lee’s adoption of a Michelin CrossClimate+ policy, managed by Universal Tyre and Autocentres, has resulted in a reduction in its annual tyre bill of 20 per cent, the operator of the UK’s largest passenger car fleet states. Justin Patterson, head of operations at Addison Lee, says: “We’re currently fitting around 5,000 fewer tyres per year than we did prior to introducing the first CrossClimate tyres.”
Demand for all-season tyres suited to both summer and winter driving conditions is rising in Europe, and in response to this trend an all-new Landsail range was brought to market last year. The Landsail 4-Seasons is produced in car and van tyre patterns, with a total of 25 dimensions available.
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