Falken Archives - Page 27 of 31 - Tyrepress

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Falken Tyres’ mixed 24 hours at the Nürburgring

With a huge contingency of auto- and tyre manufacturers and a crowd estimated to be close to a quarter of a million, this year’s ADAC Nürburgring 24 hour race was won by Manthey-Racing – the works team’s fifth in the last six years – as Marc Lieb, Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Lucas Luhr drove the team’s Porsche 911 GT3 RSR to victory, completing a record 156 laps (3958.968km) of the Nordschleife. Tyre manufacturer and main sponsor of the event, Falken Tyre Europe – a company inaugurated in 2009 to distribute the Sumitomo-manufactured brand in the continent – also ran a highly competitive Porsche 911 GT3 R with its own team in the event, and while a change of engine and gearbox made for ultimate disappointment in terms of its finishing position, persistent top ten lap times meant the team occupied positions between 176 and 14 during the course of the 24 hours, eventually finishing 48th. Falken also supplied specially developed tyres to its eponymously named team.

27th June 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin tops Japan customer satisfaction survey. Again

For an eighth consecutive year, Michelin has come up trumps in J.D. Power Asia Pacific’s survey of customer satisfaction amongst winter tyre users in Japan. The French tyre maker has held this distinction in every Japan Winter Tire Customer Satisfaction Index Study since the first was held seven years ago; in 2011 it performed “particularly well” in all six tested factors and scored 653 points out of a possible 1,000; second-placed brand Bridgestone was, with 609 points, also ranked above the industry average of 583 points. Trailing in last place for customer satisfaction in the eight-brand study was Falken, with 515 points.

31st May 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Falken Motorsport driver anticipates quick Nürburgring 24-Hr with new Porsche

Back in January, the Falken Motorsport Team announced that it would return to the Nürburgring 24 Hour race on 25-26 June running a GT3 R specification Porsche 911, in a break from its tradition of Japanese sports cars. Peter Dumbreck, will be racing the car in this year’s 24 Hours, also breaking from Japanese manufactured cars, exemplified by his Nissan GTR drive in this year’s GT1 World Championship, though he notes that he has “driven a few Porsches earlier in my career including the Alzen 996 Turbo and 996 and 997 Cup cars in the Carrera Cup six or seven years ago. I’ve also driven an older RSR at the Nurburging in 2005”. Previewing the event for Falken, Dumbreck talked about the differences between driving Porsche models, such as the 997, and Nissan’s GTR, including his impressions of the Falken tyre specifications for the former, on which they have been tested.

13th May 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Falken reports Shirakawa tyre plant suspension after tsunami

Falken has released a statement from its finance and admin director T. Ikeuchi, reporting that its Shirakawa factory has “stopped daily manufacturing operations due to the immediate black out, and because the factory building and equipments installed have been found partly damaged. Ikeuchi also stated that the company is “investigating the extent of the damages”, intending to recommence production as soon as possible. In addition, Ikeuchi said that all “Sumitomo Rubber Industries group employees and their families have been confirmed uninjured”.

14th March 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Falken Selects Porsche 911 GT3 R for 2011 24-Hr Nürburgring

Long time participant in the Nürburgring 24 Hour race, the Falken Motorsport Team has decided to run a GT3 R specification Porsche 911 on 25-26 June. The high performance tyre manufacturer says its decision to switch to the Porsche follows a successful history of campaigning Japanese sports cars in the ADAC Zurich 24-Hour Race and ties in with increasing activity of the brand in the region. Falken says the race “will be used to develop the next generation of Falken tyres.”

24th January 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Falken-Shod Tajima Retains Title at Pikes Peak

Veteran Pikes Peak International hill Climb winner Nobuhira Tajima has secured a fifth consecutive victory at this year’s 88th running of the Colorado mountain race. Although he did not set a new record with his latest win, achieved one day before his 60th birthday, Tajima continues to hold the current overall record for reaching the peak, beating hill climb veterans Paul Dallenbach and Rhys Millen in the Unlimited Class. Tajima drove his new car, a 910-hp Monster Sport SX4 Hill Climb Special fitted with Falken WildPeak A/T tyres, a new of all-terrain, all-season range Falken launched in April, and finished with the time of 10:11.49, a few seconds faster than his winning time last year.

1st July 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Falken CEO Named Sumitomo Executive Officer

Falken Tire Corporation chairman and CEO Yasushi (Tank) Tanaka has been promoted to executive officer of Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Falken’s parent company, reports Tire Review. Tanaka will continue to head Falken’s North America business. Tanaka joined SRI in 1976, and has spent the majority of his career in the export and OE departments of SRI and SRI Tire Trading Ltd.

23rd April 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Stamford Tyres to Introduce New Performance Tyre

Singapore based Stamford Tyres plans to use its appearance in Essen to promote a new high performance tyre. The company also gave details of the latest addition to the company’s international sales team. Rob Henderson, who is well known in the tyre industry and previously worked for London-based Eskay Tyres and Goldspark Trading, was recently appointed business manager (UK and Europe) for Stamford’s Sumo Firenza brand.

However, taking centre stage will be the new Sumo Firenza ST05A ultra high performance tyre, which is based on an asymmetric pattern and comes in a range of 34 sizes inclusive of 19 and 20 inch diameters. According to the company, the Sumo Firenza ST05A has been specifically developed and manufactured for the European and UK tyre markets and its official introduction has been targeted for Reifen 2010. This latest product from Stamford Tyres has been designed with low noise and rolling resistance in mind together with high grip levels in wet road conditions complying with all the latest European tyre standards.

14th April 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Major Manufacturers Testing Ekoprena

Two years ago Sumitomo Rubber subsidiary Dunlop Falken Tyres Ltd releases the Enasave 97, a tyre containing only three per cent petroleum derived materials. The substance enabling this close to total freedom from synthetic rubber in the Ensave 97 is Ekoprena, an epoxidised natural rubber. Significant development work on compounds based upon this rubber has been undertaken by TARRC, the UK based laboratory operated by the Malaysian Rubber Board. TARRC’s consultancy arm, Rubber Consultants, recently attended Tire Technology Expo in Germany and reported on the latest Ekoprena developments.

11th March 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Micheldever/Southam Sold Over 750,000 4×4 Tyres in 2009

Micheldever Tyre Services (MTS) and its Southam specialist 4×4 division reports that it distributed more than three quarters of a million 4×4 tyres in the UK tyre market during the course of 2009. According to company representatives, this means Micheldever is “probably the largest distributor of 4×4 tyres in Europe.” From MTS’ perspective, the largest ongoing growth sector remains mid-range 4×4 product (see “Was Winter of Discontent Good News for 4×4 Market?” elsewhere in this feature for more discussion on this subject), with General, BFGoodrich, Kumho, Falken and Toyo said to be leading the way.

25th February 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Get Going With Falken Tire

Falken Tire has launched a new slogan it says ‘personifies’ its mission – We get you going. This phrase, explains Falken in a press release, holds multiple meanings and purposes for the tyre maker: “Over the years, the company has made every effort to capture the essence of a valued product in a highly competitive market. Falken has consistently taken a leaps-forward approach in how it designs, produces, markets and sells its tyres. From the sophisticated tread and carcass designs, engineered in Japan, to the most important facet of sales: Customer Service.

5th November 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Falken Tire Releases WildPeak A/T

The latest addition to the Falken Tire family in the US is said to be all-terrain, all-season and all-purpose. These words of confidence from the California based Falken Tire Corporation refer to the company’s new WildPeak A/T for SUVs and light trucks. The tyre features a symmetric five-rib pattern and rigid block design that Falken says allows for exceptional on-road response and optimised off-road handling. Stability, Falken adds, comes courtesy of two stiff, extra-wide steel belts. In addition, the tyre’s four wide multi-angled grooves are intended to maximise water, mud and snow evacuation, while biting block edges have been included for traction and control.

5th November 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Falken Distributing Ohtsu Truck Tyres in USA

Falken Tire Corp. is back in the medium truck tyre business in the USA, Tire Review reports, once again becoming the North American distributor for Ohtsu brand medium truck radials. Falken will take over marketing, sales and distribution of the Ohtsu brand as of 1 March, 2010. The Ohtsu brand is owned and produced by Sumitomo Rubber Industries, which also controls the Falken brand.

30th October 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Falken Tyre Promotes Key Executive

Falken Tire Corp. has promoted Ron Papcun to vice president of operations. Papcun joined Falken Tire in October 2002 as director of operations, and will now be responsible for managing the company’s distribution centers, logistics, facilities management, customer service and supply chain functions. (Tire Review/Akron)

17th July 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Falken Dealers Visit Germany

Three dozen Falken customers from all over Europe recently visited the world famous Nurburgring race track in Germany. The Falken customers from the UK were hosted by Micheldever Tyres, Falken’s sole supplier in the UK, at one of the continent’s most prestigious motorsport events, the annual 24 hour ADAC endurance race. Falken tyres were one of the main sponsors of this year’s event with the company’s branding prominently positioned around the 13 kilometre race track, on every car and on in-car television coverage.

The Falken car, a Nissan 350Z eventually finished in 11th place and was the first non-German produced car to complete this arduous event. The customers themselves were treated to five-star hospitality and entertainment throughout the duration of the four-day trip, culminating in a ride with the European Drift car Champions.

19th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors