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TÜV SÜD Highlights Michelin Energy’s Braking and Fuel Efficiency

Michelin is promoting its wet-braking and fuel efficiency qualities following glowing research from independent test centre, TÜV SÜD Automotive. Tests conducted by TÜV SÜD in April and May 2008 show that the new Michelin Energy Saver combines one of the shortest wet-road braking distances of any tyre in the market with the biggest fuel savings.

The braking tests were carried out by the German organisation using three different tyre sizes (195/65 R15 H, 195/65 R15 V and 205/55 R16 V), which it purchased in tyre outlets. The comparative tests demonstrate that in challenging road conditions, such as on wet surfaces, the Michelin Energy Saver brakes in shorter or equal distances compared with six of its main, major-brand competitors (slowing from 80 km/h to 20 km/h).

8th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Hankook Debuts 4 Tyres at CV Show

2008 is shaping up to be a yet another year of growth for Hankook. The South Korean manufacturer arrived at the CV show armed with several new products, indicating it is indeed taking its plans to increase market share in the commercial sector very seriously. During the three days at the Birmingham NEC visitors had the opportunity to inspect no less than four brand new truck tyres, products Hankook says kick off a series of tyre launches planned for the remainder of the year.

An all-new low profile premium steer axle tyre, the size 295/80R22.5 AH22, headed the list of new products displayed by Hankook. Company representatives report that this tyre, which also serves as an all position fitment for coach and bus fleets, delivers excellent performance in both wet and dry conditions. In terms of the tyre’s durability Hankook points to its tread depth of 16mm as one of a number of features making the AH22 a genuinely robust choice of tyre for heavy vehicles that cover considerable distances. The tyre is also available in size 315/80R22.5.

6th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Aftermarket TPMS from Tyresure

Tyresure remind us that a car tyre’s contact with the road comes courtesy of a patch of rubber usually no bigger than a child’s footprint. Yet while we rely on them to transport our most precious of cargos, most of us rarely give them the attention they deserve. But an aftermarket solution is at hand; the company’s products allow crucial tyre pressure and temperature data to be displayed in an instant, enabling drivers to check its status without even leaving the driving seat.

Tyresure’s TPMS, says the company, utilises military-spec technology on each road wheel to display an accurate tyre pressure and temperature reading for each tyre, direct to the driver in real time. This can be accessed permanently, or set as a ‘pre-flight check’, which then updates the driver if preset safety parameters are breached. This is displayed through a compact display screen that shows safe pressures in green, changing to red if the pressure or temperature moves to a dangerous level. The system works on any type of vehicle, from family saloons to the full-size SUVs, and once the sensors have been fitted to the wheels the system is a true ‘Plug & Play’ fitment.

2nd May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

New Semperit Midi-Trailer Tyre

Semperit has introduced a new 385/55 R 22.5 tyre for midi-trailers, the “EuroTrailer”. This tyre is the first in the brands new Euro product range and offers the benefit of around 5 cubic meters more cargo volume – and reportedly better mileage – for heavy road freight. The new EuroTrailer is available now in the 385/55 R 22.5 size with 160/-K and 158/-L indices.

A conventional trailer, i.e. a trailer with standard 385/65 R 22.5 tyres, has an internal height of 2.70m. The 385/55 R 22.5 version of the new Semperit “EuroTrailer” allows an additional internal height of at least 10cm and therefore increases the possible cargo volume by up to 5m³.

29th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Kwik-Fit Aims to Increase Fleet Share With ‘While U Wait’ Servicing

Kwik-Fit Fleet is officially launching a new “while u wait” servicing option at the UK’s first Fleet Business Show, at the Business Design Centre, London, (29-30 April). The service will be available a roughly half of quick fits 700+ depots.And the first company to sign up to use Kwik-Fit Fleet’s new ‘While U Wait’ manufacturers’ service initiative is Lex, which, with 278,000 vehicles on its fleet, is Britain’s largest contract hire and leasing company. Lex is making the service available to all of its drivers and is the first ‘While U Wait’ service that it has adopted. The service means customers will be able to book a service at a minimum 48 hours notice, significantly quicker than at franchise dealers where up to 14 days notice could be required.

Head of Kwik-Fit Fleet Mike Wise said: “Our new vehicle servicing offering will radically shake-up the entire fleet sector as an increasing number of vehicle owners look to reduce costs and speed up service scheduling by turning to Kwik-Fit.”

29th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Cambridge Researcher Develops E-Spring Suspension

Cambridge University PhD researcher Salah Elmonselhy, from the University’s Department of Engineering, has proposed a kind of E-shaped suspension design. The new form of suspension promises to “revolutionise the experience of people who drive heavy goods vehicles” enhancing driver control, improve comfort and increase safety. It is also said to reduce fuel consumption and cut the cost of fitting specialist equipment to vehicles so that they can cope with different loads.

At the moment, commercial and heavy good vehicles need to have their suspension fine-tuned in accordance with the load they are carrying, so that drivers can control them. For example, a vehicle with soft suspension is suitable for light loads, but becomes difficult to control if it has to carry extra weight. On the other hand, giving a vehicle hard suspension can make it easy to handle with a heavy load, but the driver and passengers will be in for a bumpy ride once the load is removed.

28th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

US States Lent Support to 2008 NTSW

The RMA says that 25 states in the US issued proclamations or statements supporting National Tire Safety Week, which comes to a close on April 26.

Across the nation, more than 19,000 tyre retail, auto dealer and automotive repair facilities distributed tyre care RMA-produced NTSW brochures, and many of these also offered free tyre care service to motorists. “Proper tyre care is essential to vehicle safety and optimum fuel economy,” said Dan Zielinski, RMA senior vice president of public affairs. “We are grateful to states that are helping to educate motorists to take just five minutes every month to check their tyres.”

States supporting NTSW this year included: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, and Virginia. (Tire Review/Akron)

25th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Hankook Launches “Kontrol Technology”

Hankook Tire has chosen the Auto Beijing 2008 show for the global launch of ‘Kontrol Technology’ – the company’s research and development philosophy. It is the South Korean manufacturer’s aim that, through Kontrol Technology, understanding the technology that goes into Hankook’s tyres will become easier for customers and dealer to understand. Kontrol Technology also represents a set of proprietary innovations developed by Hankook to ensure – in the company’s own words – controlled driving experiences. The result of Kontrol Technology, says Hankook, will be products that provide a range of driving benefits across four areas customers identify as vital when choosing quality tyres: performance; safety; comfort; and a tyre’s impact on the environment.

At Hankook’s Kontrol Technology information booth at Auto Beijing the tyremaker also premiered a new environmental tyre – the enfren – a product that has completed the Kontrol Technology development cycle and is due for its commercial debut in Korea during early summer. The tyre combines a number of technologies including a silica compound and an efficient structural design, and production facility technologies that enhance the tyre’s rolling resistance have been utilised in its production. According to test results from the Korea Automotive Technology Institute, the enfren improves fuel economy by 3 per cent and reduces CO2 emissions by 4 kg/km. The manufacturer says the tyre has the potential to save consumers on average of approximately 34.5 litres of petrol per year in comparison to a current generation Hankook tyre.

25th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama, AAA, RMA Team up in US to Promote Safety

In the US the Automobile Club of Southern California, Rubber Manufacturers Association, California Highway Patrol and Yokohama Tire Co. are joining forces during National Tire Safety Week to encourage drivers to check their vehicle’s tyre pressure in order to save fuel and increase safety.

The groups are distributing 13,500 “tyre tread depth cards” to consumers this week through the Auto Club’s local offices and Roadside Assistance providers. The Auto Club and RMA are also distributing “Tire Smart” brochures in AAA offices. AAA Approved Auto Repair facilities also will check tyres and pressure free of charge for members and the public during the week.

24th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Shrinking a Giant

Michelin has in the past year launched a range of initiatives that contribute to the company’s aim of substantially reducing the carbon footprint of its tyres from the first stage of production, to their use on the road, right through to the tyre’s eventual disposal at the end of their lives. These end-to-end efficiencies will require continuous investment, but are expected to create great environmental benefits.

One initiative is the MEF (Michelin sites Environmental Footprint) programme, which includes a number of ambitious objectives for Michelin’s factories to reach by a target deadline of 2011. These include a reduction of energy consumption by 7 per cent, water usage by 10 per cent, CO2 by 10 per cent, other harmful emissions by 25 per cent and materials going to landfill by 60 per cent.

The first step towards these goals was taken at Michelin’s headquarters in Stoke-on-Trent, where a combined programme of heat and power reduction was implemented. The tyre major followed this up with the installation of two wind turbines at its Dundee manufacturing plant, greatly reducing the site’s dependency on fossil fuels. In the time they have been running, the turbines have generated enough carbon free electricity to power the nearby city for a month. The use of green power generation methods is currently under consideration for other Michelin sites in the UK and abroad.

24th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental to Sell Fuel Supply Business Unit

In order to focus more on core business Continental intends to sell its fuel supply business unit. As part of the company’s Powertrain Division, this business unit produces fuel transport and tank bleeding systems, and Conti reports that it is both profitable and a market leader. In spite of this, it must go: “As this business is not among the core activities of the division, which focuses on components for motors and powertrains, we have decided to sell it after an in-depth analysis,” explained Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann, the Continental Board Member responsible for the Powertrain Division.

Dr. Neumann mentioned that a key element of Continental’s strategy is active portfolio policy: “This means that we always continually assess both the possible acquisition of companies as well as options for selling company units. We take into consideration the market position and size of a business, its sustainable profitability, its strategic positioning and how much the current unit counts towards the core business of the company,” he explained.

24th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Joins US SmartWay Partnership

On April 22 Goodyear announced its entry into the US Environmental Protection Agency’s SmartWay Transport Partnership. SmartWay is a collaboration between the truck transportation industry and the EPA to increase energy efficiency and significantly reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and air pollution, and the organisation has previously endorsed using Goodyear’s Fuel Max line haul tyres on SmartWay tractors and trailers.

“We continue to do our part for the environment with our innovative technologies that reduce tyre rolling resistance and energy use at all facilities and eliminate all waste disposal in landfills. We also offer solution-based business tools that calculate fuel consumption and help fleets lower their costs of operation,” said Steve McClellan, Goodyear vice president of Commercial Tire Systems.

“Through the SmartWay Transport Partnership, we see opportunities to further our relationships with America’s fleets and truck and trailer manufacturers in the pursuit of even greater gains in fuel efficiency and emission reductions. The savings are substantial,” McClellan added.

23rd April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

DC PowerSystems Develops Compressor With 65% Fuel Savings

With diesel costing more than a pound a litre, DC PowerSystems claims to have designed mobile tyre van compressor that offers a potential fuel of £10,000 over the course of the van’s life. The figure is based on the typical service life of a mobile truck tyre fitting van. Want to know how this works? The trick is that the DC PowerSystems compressor only needs the host vehicle engine to run at 800 rpm rather than the 1700 rpm typical PTO driven systems require. As a consequence, the reduction in fuel usage equates directly to a reduction in carbon emissions.

Working with the Power Train and Vehicle Research Centre at Bath University, DC PowerSystems aimed to establish the level of fuel savings that could be achieved. A simple test enabled the fuel consumption of the host vehicle to be determined while the compressor system was running on load, by reading the data directly from the vehicle’s ECU.

22nd April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

We Are Not Alone….

It appears it is not only UK motorists who don’t fully appreciate the importance of tyre safety. A nationwide US survey commissioned by the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA) has revealed 85 per cent of American motorists do not properly check tyre inflation pressure.

The RMA survey coincides with National Tire Safety Week, sponsored by the organisation and held between April 20 and 26. The RMA hopes that through the nationwide campaign it can share the basic message that spending five minutes every month checking tyre pressure can save both time and money.

“Record high gas prices should be an incentive for motorists to take every step possible to help make their cars and their money go further,” said RMA senior vice president, public affairs Dan Zielinski. “While our survey found that 61 per cent of motorists agreed that checking tyre pressure is very important to maximising fuel economy, only one in seven drivers properly perform this easy task.” And money will not only be saved at the petrol pump, Zielinski notes – premature tyre wear can be avoided by maintaining correct pressure. “Consumers can help their wallets and the environment by paying attention to their tyres so they last as long as possible, reducing disposal needs,” he commented.

22nd April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

TyreSafe Issues Motorhome Tyre Safety Leaflet

TyreSafe has published a new leaflet providing essential information for owners of motorhomes. Topics covered include: fitting the right tyres; advice to prevent overloading; and tyre sidewall marking explanations. The leaflet also advises care should be taken when replacing tyres and recommends “changes in tyre size or type should not be undertaken without seeking advice from either the tyre supplier or the vehicle manufacturer. The consequences could have an effect on handling, safety and wheel arch clearances.”

The leaflet also goes on to warn that in certain European countries it is illegal to use replacement tyres which differ in certain respects from those fitted originally by the vehicle manufacturer. The leaflet also reinforces the importance of correct tyre pressures to ensure maximum tyre life, optimum fuel consumption and reduced CO2 emissions.

17th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors