Cornwall-based Geoffrey Harris Tyres has become the latest independent tyre dealer to join BFGoodrich’s UK Off-Road Centre network. The Liskeard retailer is already reaping the benefits of the partnership, bolstering the centre’s all-terrain expertise and its widespread reputation for being the go-to place for 4×4 tyres across Cornwall and Devon.
LRO magazine has conducted a test to demonstrate the performance of mud-terrain tyres, and the difference the make to driving in deep mud, rough areas and unpredictable slippery surfaces. The magazine fit the General Tire Grabber X3 and BFGoodrich’s MT KM2, two of the most prominent mud-terrain 4×4 tyres available in the UK, to a Land Rover Discovery 2 (245/75R16) at the Snugg’s Pit off-road proving ground in Suffolk, which features some of the UK’s toughest and muddiest conditions. The tyres were tested over 10 gruelling stages in the independent test, with the results verified by LRO’s experienced team.
Off-road tyre specialist BFGoodrich is throwing its weight behind a team of budding young engineers who are vying for global glory at the world finals of the Land Rover 4×4 in Schools Technology Challenge.
A settlement has been reached between Michelin North America Inc. and Tire Mart Inc. regarding alleged design patent infringements. Terms of the settlement, which centres on design patents for the BFGoodrich Mud Terrain T/A KM2, have not been disclosed.
At present, BFGoodrich commercial vehicle tyres are available in all markets around the world except for Europe, and sales of these tyres exceeds 1.6 million units per year. The brand is set to go global at the start of next year with the introduction of a BFGoodrich range of tuck and bus tyres in the UK and Ireland, as well as in the wider European market.
idverde, Europe’s largest provider of green services, has adopted a joint Michelin and BFGoodrich tyre policy across its entire UK fleet as it strives to streamline operations on the road.
The French-owned grounds maintenance and landscape construction company runs contracts from the Isle of Wight in the south to Wick in northern Scotland and has a 1,200-strong fleet ranging from 3.5 tonne light commercial vehicles (LCVs) travelling short distances – including panel vans, crew cab tippers and machinery transporters – to company cars operating nationwide.
Four ATS Euromaster branches from across the UK are among the first to join BFGoodrich’s new Off-Road Centre programme. The ATS Euromaster centres – in Perth and Forfar, Scotland; Abergavenny, Wales; and Tavistock, England – have been selected to become BFGoodrich specialists based on their locations in popular off-road parts of the country to offer all-terrain tyres and services. The four ATS Euromaster centres are joined by independent North Yorkshire retailer, and NTDA Tyre Centre of the Year 2017, Ian Brown Tyres in the new Off-Road Centre initiative. BFGoodrich states that it carefully selected tyre retailers recognised by enthusiastic off-roaders as leaders in the field to become ambassadors for the company.
In order to build on its successful performance during the 2017 Dakar, BFGoodrich has prepared for the next edition of the world’s most demanding cross-country rally by developing a bespoke new tyre: the BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KDR2+.
On 26 September, Michelin North America, Inc., filed suit against Tire Mart Inc., doing business as Braven Off-Road, alleging the company has infringed a design patent covering the BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T/A KM2 tyre.
Michelin’s latest tyres for the 4×4 segment exemplify the ongoing trend for the increasing focus on road handling characteristics, following the sustained strong growth of SUVs across Europe. While the manufacturer has extended its successful CrossClimate “summer tyre with winter capabilities” to the larger fitments required to supply the segment, the latest tyre from its off-road specialist brand BFGoodrich is the most indicative of this developmental direction. It states that the BFGoodrich Urban Terrain T/A is made for “taming the urban jungle,” offering increased toughness to SUV and urban crossover drivers.
Southern German Tuning Experts delta4x4 have developed a complete wheel and tyre combination that reportedly “optimizes the performance of the VW Multivan T6 on the road, as well as out there in open terrain”. The set consists of four tyres from the all-terrain line by BF Goodrich on KlassikB alloy wheels, which have a screwed-on guard ring for protection that can be replaced when it is damaged.
The 2017 Dakar Rally finished on January 14, and Peugeot Sport and BFGoodrich – which returned to the world’s most famous cross-country rally after a four-year absence – monopolised the podium following the two-week event’s conclusion in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Michelin has begun selling tyres at MichelinMan.com, expanding its online tyre retail trial in North America. As a result, online retail tyre sales for consumers in Southeast markets through MichelinMedia.com. The site aims to simplify the tyre-buying process so consumers can research, select and purchase tyres, as well as schedule installation with a local Michelin service partner all in one location.
Michelin’s Fort Wayne plant in Indiana, USA may benefit from a US$100 million investment in efficiency and quality. Local television channel WANE-TV states that Michelin is looking to spend $20 million on upgrading processes and equipment, $23.5 million on improving production and efficiency, $18.5 million on improving quality verification and $38 on tooling and moulds. It adds that no new jobs will be created as a result of the investment.
BFGoodrich Tyres will return to the 2017 Dakar Rally as the official tyre supplier. The news marks a return of the brand as a major force in the rally, which starts in Asunción, Paraguay in January; BFGoodrich tyres will be back on a wide range of competitors’ vehicles for the first time since 2012. In support of this, the brand will roll out the BFGoodrich Dakar Service Center, through which competitors will benefit from 24/7 technical expertise. The rugged terrain and unpredictable elements racers face over two weeks and more than 5,000 miles of punishing competition across three countries is described as exactly the sort of proving ground BFGoodrich seeks. The brand that created the first radial all-terrain tyre in 1976 and has since claimed many off-road racing victories around the globe will equip roughly 300 vehicles at Dakar with race tyres designed and constructed to withstand the punishment of the terrain.
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