Labelling Archives - Page 30 of 31

T&A Interviews Cooper European Technical Centre Head

Cooper Tire has launched a new ultra-high performance tyre which, the company claims, offers all the performance of the Zeon range, but with the addition of much improved tread life. The new Cooper Zeon CS6 replaces the Cooper Zeon XTC’s V and W-rated sizes. The product’s enhanced tyre tread life is achieved by virtue of a new silica compound which, thanks to computer-aided design technology, offers enhanced grip in wet weather braking and handling situations. However, arguably the greatest claim the company is making about the CS6 is the suggestion that the new tyre offers up to 12 per cent longer tread wear than the XTC.

What’s more, the new tyre has hit the road courtesy of development work at Cooper’s European Technical Centre. Tyres & Accessories recently visited the ETC, which is based on the company’s Melksham tyre production site, and discussed the CS6 and evolution in the company’s tyre development strategy with tech-centre head Marcus Hancock.

7th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

EU Adopts Noise, Rolling Resistance, Wet Grip and Labelling rules

Product News

The EU has rubber-stamped the tyre noise, rolling resistance, wet grip and labelling regulations that have been the subject of public discussion since the beginning of 2008. Despite complaints from some leading premium tyre manufacturers that the balance of improvements demanded is simply unworkable in the timeframe given, the commission said it should assess the feasibility of “strengthening the requirements for wet grip for tyres, and if appropriate, propose an amendment to this Regulation.” The decisions follow the EU’s adoption of a report which includes calls for tyre rolling resistance, noise and safety regulations as part of “a simpler, standardised system for the type-approval of motor vehicles.” The new regulation will reportedly apply from 1 November 2011, a year earlier than the commission proposed.

Some of the rules on tyre standards have also been revised. Measures to regulate tyre rolling resistance and monitor inflation pressures appear to have been made stricter. The rule also makes the installation of tyre pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) compulsory on new private cars. MEPs did not vote to extend this TPMS requirement to trucks, but they did beef up the rules on the effectiveness and reliability of such systems, without preferring either direct or indirect pressure monitoring technology.

11th March 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin US Recalling Mislabelled Pilot Alpin Tyres

Product News

A recall of US market Michelin Pilot Alpin tyres is underway in the US. A total of 784 Pilot Alpin PA2 ZP 225/50R17 94H tyres manufactured between September 17, 2006 and June 14, 2008 are included in the recall. These tyres, reports the NHTSA, fail to conform to US labelling requirements as the “DOT” symbol is not present of the sidewall and therefore the tyre contains no declaration as to its certification.

Michelin will notify owners and replace the noncompliant tyres free of charge, including mounting and balancing. The recall is expected to begin during January.

30th January 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental “Welcomes” EU Tyre Label Standardisation

Product News

Continental has released a statement welcoming the proposal by the European Commission to introduce an energy efficiency labelling scheme for tyres (see ‘European Commission Proposes Tyre Labelling Scheme’ on Tyrepress.com). The manufacturer approves of the plan to provide motorists with standardised information about tyres’ braking performance, rolling resistance and rolling noise. However, the firm also warned that leading European manufacturers have reservations about the system, namely about “inadequate implementation to the disadvantage of the consumer.”

This concern is a response to a study by the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, which in 2001 showed that self-certification measures are often abused due to a lack of inspection mechanisms and sanctions. Over 50 per cent of the electrical appliances checked in 320 German stores were incorrectly labelled or not labelled at all. “That simply may not happen with passenger tyres, considering how important they are for safety,” stressed executive board vice chairman of Continental, Dr Alan Hippe, the man responsible for the Passenger and Light Truck Tyre division.

25th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

European Commission Proposes Tyre Labelling Scheme

Product News

The European Commission has proposed a draft directive to introduce a tyre labelling scheme aimed at encouraging sales of more energy efficient (low rolling resistance) tyres. The proposed scheme will feature the introduction of a point of sale labelling system scheduled to take effect by the end of 2012.

The commission’s EU Transport & Energy Directorate General draft proposal also highlights the fact that there are wide performance variances when it comes to wet grip and external rolling noise. “Lack of reliable and comparable information on tyres’ performance makes it difficult however for consumers to take these elements into account in their purchasing decision, in particular when the time comes to replace a used set of tyres,” the commission said in a memo dated 13 November 2008.

14th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

UK Batteries Embrace REACH Legislation

Legislation

UK Batteries reports having fully embraced the new ‘REACH legislation’ that came in to effect on September 1, 2008 and requires battery producers and distributors at different levels in the supply chain to meet strict labelling criteria that ensures customers are not mislead. Specifically, the REACH legislation requires all battery products to display a specification label that generally relates to the CCA (starting power) and the Ampere Hour (durability) of the unit. All batteries sold after September 1 must display the correct label, and UK Batteries, said to be the UK’s fastest-growing independent distributor, says it is proud that all of its products are now fully REACH compliant.

24th October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti Introduces Security Features to Prevent Counterfeiting

Product News

In future, ATE branded aftermarket automotive products from Continental will be absolutely identifiable as ATE original replacement parts, the manufacturer promises. To ensure workshops and retailers know that they are using original ATE replacement parts, and passing these on to end customers, the products now feature a two-stage security concept that enables their unique identification. The TecIdentify security code gives products on the open replacement part market a worldwide unique and piece-individual identification number, and the tesa Holospot security technology protects this code from being reproduced or imitated.

17th September 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

US Congress Orders Rolling Resistance Information Campaign

Premium, Product News

Following some 12 years during which it blocked any attempt to introduce a tyre rolling resistance standard, the US Congress has responded to climbing fuel prices by ordering a consumer information programme by next year to inform consumers what to expect from tyres in terms of fuel economy. Since 1996 a congressional ban on adding such information to existing grading standards has been in place and renewed annually.

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27th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Seeks Exemption From US Recall

Premium, Product News

In spite of determining that some 82,000 tyres produced between 2007 and March 2008 featured sidewall labelling not fully in compliance with US safety standards, Goodyear has petitioned the National Highway Transport Safety Authority (NHTSA) to exempt the products from a recall. The tyres in question incorrectly identify the number of plies in the tread as being ‘3 polyester and 2 steel’ rather than their actual ‘2 polyester and 2 steel’ manufacture, an error Goodyear believes to be inconsequential to vehicle safety as the tyres were correctly manufactured with the intended number of plies.

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1st July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

A New Breed?

Product News

It has both the M+S mark and the Snowflake, but its rolling resistance is said to be comparable with a summer tyre. It reportedly has the slush grip of a premium winter tyre, but weighs 700 grams less and is quieter. No it’s not a riddle, I am of course referring to the new Optimo 4S, a tyre that manufacturer Hankook is promoting as the first in the next generation of all-season tyres.

Hankook’s decision to place the Optimo 4S centre stage on the company’s large Essen show stand (situated right opposite the entrance to Hall 3) is particularly resonant in light of the difficulties the winter/cold weather tyre market has been facing in supposedly safe ‘winter’ markets like Germany. From the talk going round Essen it was clear around 7 million of last winter’s unsold cold weather tyres were still floating around the German market in May. Could that be why Hankook decided to promote the all-season tyre, its hybrid silica compound and its built in ice/snow/slush/rain performance properties?

19th June 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Chicago Pneumatic Increases Socket Range

Product News

Chicago Pneumatic has announced a large extension to the company’s existing range of sockets. The addition of 500 individual sockets and 16 new sets represents a large increase in the product range available, encompassing in total 44 socket sets and 774 impact sockets.

Gary Rigg, the company’s UK business line manager comments that the update has been prompted by customer feedback: “we had some feedback from customers and distributors that a good impact socket line needs to cover all their needs in term of types and sizes. This is the reason why we drastically expanded the range. We also took this opportunity to improve the quality of the new impact socket line”.

5th June 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti’s Burkhard Wies on EU Enivronmental Labelling

Product News

(Tire Review/Akron) The European Union plans to reduce both CO2 emissions and noise pollution from road traffic with a range of planned regulations. As part of that EU program, an environmental labeling program is being considered, which would identify tyres with particularly low rolling resistance (greater fuel efficiency). And a new requirement for noise emission from tyres is also planned.

While this sounds good in principle, said officials of Continental AG, the resulting conflicts in tyre development would cause significant reductions in traffic security. Company experts criticise the rolling resistance label in particular, warning against tyres designed for low fuel consumption only would be significantly worse at braking on wet roads than today’s tyres.

13th December 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti UK: EU Labelling Scheme May Compromise Safety

Product News

Continental Tyre in the UK has added its voice to comments made by executive board chairman Manfred Wennemer in mid-November regarding EU plans to introduce an environmental labelling scheme for tyres. The scheme, which forms part of the EU’s drive to reduce CO2 emissions and noise pollution from road traffic, aims to identify those tyres considered to be most energy-efficient and label them appropriately. The most efficient tyres would be classed as those with a particularly low ‘rolling resistance’.

However, Peter Robb from Continental Tyre Group UK comments that “Quite simply a low rolling resistance tyre isn’t necessarily a safe tyre and we want to make sure manufacturers do not think they can get away with supplying tyres deemed to be energy efficient, yet which pose a potential safety threat to motorists.” Conti believes that tyres that focus only upon low rolling resistance would be significantly worse at braking on wet roads.

12th December 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Introduces New US Light Commercial Tyre Range

Product News

Goodyear has introduced several commercial-duty light truck tyres featuring what the manufacture calls ‘Armor Max Technology’; the new tyres have been designed with steel-reinforced sidewalls and steel belts, providing long mileage and casings for multiple retreads, which help drive down overall life-cycle costs and deliver value to fleets. Four new load-range E tire models have been developed: Unisteel G949 RSA and G947 RSS all-position tyres and Unisteel G933 RSD and G971 drive tyres for heavy pickups, delivery vans and trucks up to 14,000 pounds gross vehicle weight (Class 3). A complete line of retreads also is available for use with Armor Max tyres.

6th December 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Counterfeit ContiTech Drive Belts Seized and Shredded

Product News

In ContiTech’s second recent success against product piracy, roughly 19,500 counterfeit drive belts and packages with ContiTech labelling were seized by customs authorities in Malta and then destroyed upon release by the courts. The counterfeits entered the Mediterranean country along with other automotive aftermarket fakes via container shipment. “To underscore our determination to rigorously pursue product piracy, we took legal action in this matter at our own expense and had the fakes destroyed,” said Jürgen Grefe, head of automotive aftermarket sales in the ContiTech Power Transmission Group. At the beginning of November the counterfeits were tossed into a gigantic shredder and reduced to rubber shavings.

As reported in early November, ContiTech has stepped up its efforts to curtail trade in product forgeries. The company intends to send a strong message, a move it believes in the interest of consumer protection. “As a rule phoney products are not made of the same material and do not exhibit the same quality workmanship as ContiTech drive belts. If a belt tears, this could result in costly engine damage,” commented Grefe, citing the reason for taking this step.

21st November 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

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