Consumer Reports magazine is not a big fan of new California regulations that will force all auto service centers to check and adjust tyre air pressure for any customer vehicle they service, reports Tire Review. While acknowledging the fuel-savings and greenhouse gas reducing benefits of properly inflated tyres, the magazine suggested the new law could lead to unintended confusion and results.
The UK distributor for Yokohama tyres, Yokohama HPT Ltd, has announced it will supply the market with a selection of the company’s W.drive winter tyres; this is the first time Yokohama winter tyres have been available here. Adopted by manufacturers such as Audi, Bentley, Lotus and Mercedes AMG as winter options and recommended by motoring organisations around Europe, the W.drive range is designed to provide grip and safety on snow and ice and allow drivers to maintain control in all conditions.
In April Aston Martin launched its first four-door production car, the Rapide. Bridgestone states that it proposed its latest generation Potenza S001 to Aston Martin on the grounds of its response and precision, combined with its high stability levels in the wet. The result of this offer has been the fitment of Bridgestone’s tyre as standard equipment since the Rapide’s debut.
Giti Tire (UK) Ltd representatives have hailed the firm’s latest passenger car eco-tyre as a “fuel saving champion. According to the company, GT Radial’s Champiro ECO is one of a new generation of tyres designed to meet the demands of price-conscious and environmentally aware drivers. Design wise GT Radial’s new passenger car tyre reportedly combines “excellent performance characteristics with low noise emissions and low rolling resistance.” The tyre, which is aimed at small and mid-size cars, is available in 29 sizes, with T and H speed ratings.
Crucially for the GT Radial brand – which is now distributed by leading wholesaler Micheldever, following a contract signing in April – the company says its Champiro ECO already meets the forthcoming EU tyre regulations that will come into effect in 2012. The ‘S’ and ‘W’ displayed on its sidewall confirm that Champiro ECO meets the noise threshold, ‘S’ and traction in wet conditions, ‘W.’ In the third EU category that evaluates rolling resistance and fuel consumption the Champiro ECO gets a preliminary C on a scale of A to G (measuring methodology still to be confirmed), according to the manufacturer.
Continental Tire the Americas reports that its entire regional steer tyre range has now been added to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) SmartWay Transport Partnership’s list of verified fuel savings technologies with the recent verification Conti's HSR2 (Heavy Steer Regional), HSR1 and HSR truck tyres. This brings the total number of SmartWay verified Conti steer tyres to six. The company also offers three SmartWay verified drive tyres and two trailer tyres.
GT Tyres in Forres, Morayshire is the third tyre dealer in the UK and Ireland to win a Fastest Lap Award as part of Michelin’s 2010 FLAG promotion. As in previous months, the Fastest Lap prize is made up of £2,500 in vouchers, five PS3 games consoles for fitters and five places on the Michelin-sponsored Porsche Driving Experience at Silverstone.
Iranian researchers at Amirkabir University of Technology in Tehran have reportedly prolonged the lifetime and reduced the weight of rubbers used in truck tyres by incorporating silicate nanocomposites in their blends. The Iran Nano Initiative Council says that faculty member of the university’s Polymer Engineering Department, Azam Jalali Arani, first formulated the nanosilicate incorporated rubber blend. She then analysed and determined the optimised conditions for preparation of this blend. Following this, blending and production of the nanocomposite sample and analysing and testing the properties of sample vulcanization were performed by rheometric test.
Alcoa Wheels, recently won the right to supply the wheel program for the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze Eco in the USA. The Chevrolet team awarded the contract after pursuing a wheel providing light weight performance that would further extend fuel economy for the Cruze Eco. The development team of the wheel focused on design, engineering and production techniques to lower the overall weight of the wheel.
Hundreds of people turned out to see celebrities and politicians try their hand at eco-driving when the Bridgestone Eco-Rally travelled from Brighton to London’s Hyde Park on 7 July. F1 fans in particular lined the streets to get a glimpse of F1 heroes, such as Nico Hulkenberg, Eddie Irvine and Patrick Head, just days before the Silverstone Grand Prix. Other celebrities included Kevin McCloud, Quentin Wilson and Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Chris Huhne.
The Bridgestone Eco-Rally showcased the latest in low and zero emission vehicle technology and included a full range of eco-vehicles from the Gutsi Zero Bus to the Honda CR-Z hybrid. The Ford Fusion world record-breaking hybrid also took part, representing Ford's electrification plans for Europe.
Vipal said one of the company’s highlights for Reifen 2010 was its new range of treads. Branded ECO, they form part of Vipal’s “Transport Sustainability Project”. These products, claims Vipal, go far beyond the savings from retreading: they also contribute to a cleaner environment and benefit the transport industry. ECO treads are designed to decrease rolling resistance, thereby decreasing fuel consumption, and raising mileage performance.
Aston Martin Racing’s recent Nürburgring 24 hour V12 Vantage and Rapide entries ran Beru f1systems’ Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) to improve tyre performance and safety, the pressure systems maker has reported. “TPMS is being increasingly used by motorsport teams to improve both performance and safety,” says James Shingleton, applications engineer, Beru f1systems. “TPMS allows engineers to better understand tyre behaviour during usage. By closely monitoring tyre pressure and temperature, race engineers can optimise vehicle performance and tyre wear, while the system’s puncture detection algorithms provide drivers with warning of damaged or deflating tyres, giving them time to reduce speed or stop safely, and preventing further damage to the tyre.”
Bibendum, better known as the Michelin Man, can effortlessly wage colossal battles against evil fuel pumps to rescue motorists from high prices – but he appears to have found his kryptonite in the form of the Advertising Standards Authority. Following 15 complaints over its advertised claim that the EnergySaver tyre could save up to 80 litres of fuel, Michelin has accepted the ASA ruling that it must change the wording of its television commercial when wishing to continue with the “right tyre changes everything” campaign.
In a recent online poll conducted on behalf of Bridgestone to coincide with the company’s 2010 Eco Rally, almost a quarter of people (23 per cent) in the UK would not consider buying or driving an eco-friendly vehicle. Of that number, more than four in ten (42 per cent) believe electric or hydrogen-powered cars and motorbikes would be a hassle to fill up or charge. The 2010 Bridgestone Eco Rally takes place on Wednesday, 7 July and showcases the latest in low and zero emission vehicle technology in a convoy from Brighton – which contains the first UK constituency to elect an MP from the Green Party – to London’s Hyde Park.
Investment house Origo Partners Plc paid US$6.65 million for a 20 per cent equity stake in Jinan Eco-Energy Technology Co. Ltd on 25 June. Jinan Eco-Energy, a Chinese waste plastic and scrap-tyre recycling systems provider, designs, develops, markets and operates pyrolisis-type recycling systems that convert scrap tyres into fuel oils and other by-products. According to Origo, the company benefits from proprietary technologies that are either protected by international patents or have patents pending and an experienced management team with significant industry and technical experience. Eco-Energy's systems are provided as turn-key solutions to third party project developers or operated in joint-ventures with selected local partners.
Eco-Energy's technology is already successfully deployed in a commercial scale recycling plant in Taiwan with a processing capacity of 20,000 tonnes of scrap tyres per annum, and the company reportedly has orders from customers in Europe, South East Asia, and China for the delivery in 2010/11 of recycling systems with an aggregate annual processing capacity of 90,000 tonnes of tyre and plastic residue. In addition, Jinan Eco-Energy is said to be co-developing two plants with joint venture partners in China and Germany with an initial aggregate annual production capacity of 30,000 tonnes per annum.
Prices of certain brand products sold by Bridgestone Bandag Tire Solutions in the US have gone up by as much as six per cent. The increases, effective as of July 1, apply to Bridgestone brand truck and bus radial tyres sold by the operation.
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