It is with sadness that Tyres & Accessories learnt of the passing of Ian Palmer, advertising manager of Retreading Business. Ian died suddenly on 22 September, aged 58, while working with colleagues in Belgium. He leaves a son, Stuart, and a daughter, Louisa.
The John Bean Visualiner 3D Arago aligner picked up the Bodyshop Product of the Year Award for 2005 at the Bodyshop Magazine’s Industry awards ceremony held at the Novotel in West London 16th September. The Visualiner 3D Arago fought off competition from a number of other high-tech products but obviously the features that the Visualiner 3D Arago offers bodyshop owners proved a winner in the end. “It is the only 3 dimensional digital alignment system, and the only self-calibrating alignment system in the world. The award is testament to it’s unique and innovative design. In my 30 years of selling wheel alignment I’ve never seen a product that has advanced alignment technology more so than the Visualiner 3D Arago,” commented Stewart Levitt, Alignment Specialist at UK Equipment, who accepted the award.
Continental AG chief executive, Manfred Wennemer, plans to raise tyre prices between 3-8 per cent in the fourth quarter of this financial year, various news sources have reported. The increases “will take place in the last quarter of this year, most likely in November,” Wennemer told the magazine the German Autowoche magazine.
He also said that the price increases are likely to take place somewhat earlier in the US. “It depends upon the product and the market. The way things look now, the price increases are likely to be a bit less in Europe than in North America, where we really get hit because oil is traded in US dollars so we won’t get any benefit from the strong euro there,” Mr Wennemer told the AFX news agency.
Federal’s 595 competition tyre has reportedly become something of a favourite amongst professional Japanese drifting drivers. According to popular Japanese drifting magazine, Drift Tengoku, 54 contestants participated in the recent D1 Super Challenge in Japan. Five contestants, 9.3 per cent of the total number of competitors, used Federal’s 595 on their vehicle. Second place driver Atsushi Goto used 215/40/17s on the front and size 215/45/17 on the rear. Atsushi Goto noted that the wear and tear on his 595s was minimal after the event, according to Federal.
A recent report in US trade magazine, Tire Review, has suggested lead balancing weights could be phased out from the American market in 2009. The report follows the implementation of the European End of Life Vehicle Directive, which banned the use of lead weights on passenger vehicles from July 2005.
The article encouraged US dealers to “start planning now for the same thing to happen here.” It also highlighted the fact that one balancing weight manufacturer, Perfect Equipment Co already produces zinc clip-on and steel adhesive wheel weights for GM, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler vehicles being exported to Europe.
Ever asked what proportion of used tyres are actually recovered? Ever wondered how important the so-called green angle is when it comes to selling retreads? Look no further than Tyres & Accessories recently published Retreading Special: Recycling supplement, which contains the answers to these questions and many more.
Retreading Special: Recycling, the second in our successful series of bilingual supplements, can now be downloaded from the T&A web site. Magazine subscribers can download the complete document as a PDF file by clicking more.
BMW Car Magazine has praised Goodyear for cracking the ride comfort issue of run-flat tyres. It complimented the manufacturer’s RunOnFlat tyre for not “jiggling about your internal organs as a pay-off for the extra security that run-flat technology brings.”
The publication commended Goodyear’s technology for overcoming many of the shortcomings of other run-flat tyres. According to the article, “there is no doubt that the RunOnFlats are a significant leap forward over previous run-flats… This car rode noticeably smoother than a previous Three (series) we have tested on the older Goodyear EMT run-flat tyres. Ruts and bumps were simply soaked up, the Three never losing its taut sports saloon composure or feeling anything other than planted.”
(Akron/Tire Review) Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.’s Dunlop brand has signed on as sponsor of the award-winning PBS automotive series MotorWeek, joining Stanley Works as the show’s second national sponsor.
Andy Traicoff, director of Dunlop, said the company added MotorWeek to its media mix to promote the 2005-2006 Dunlop Drivers Cup and to increase brand awareness for Dunlop Tires, already popular among performance car enthusiasts.
“Faced with increased competition for marketing dollars, we targeted MotorWeek to reach automotive enthusiasts who are likely to participate in racing, and to reach the ‘in-the-know’ driver,” said Andy Traicoff, director of the Dunlop brand. Traicoff said Dunlop added MotorWeek to help promote the 2005-06 Dunlop Drivers Cup and to increase brand awareness for Dunlop Tires.
MotorWeek is the original automotive TV “magazine series,” and has been on the air since 1982.
(Akron/Tire Review) Mining Engineering magazine reported that one of the world’s largest mining companies said it may have to reduce copper production because of a shortage of large truck tyres. An executive of Corporacion Nacional del Cobre de Chile (Codelco) said demand for truck tyres currently exceeds supply. Guillermo Vero, Codelco Norte’s vice president of mining and metallurgy, said the shortage involves tyres for 300-ton haul trucks.
The 2005 Audi A4 2.0T Quattro has a new sport suspension, electric power steering and Dunlop ultra-performance tyres – the latter of which have been praised by Car and Driver magazine in its recent tests. The magazine drove the optional sport package and reviewed the car’s tyres, 235/45ZR17 Dunlop SP Sport Maxx, on two fronts; comfort level and steering response.
Following the first indications that the company would launch a new brand earlier this year, the Sibur Corporation has now officially launched the new “Cordiant” line. The launch took place at a media event on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, where journalists had the opportunity to get some first impressions of what is supposed to be Sibur’s new flagship brand. Sibur expects Cordiant to lay the foundation stone for the future success of the new tyre holding company which is due to be founded by the end of this year. Sibur also plans to use its modified brand strategy to focus more closely on the European markets, with the first successful step having already been taken in Eastern Europe.
The Volkswagen Golf GTI, which fits Bridgestone Potenza tyres, has been voted the ‘Greatest Drive’ of 2005 by Auto Express magazine.
“This is excellent news,” said Andy Lane, consumer marketing manager at Bridgestone UK. “The Golf GTI is an exciting, top-of-the-range car that requires the very best in grip and control, and this is just another example of how the UK’s top cars can perform at their best on Bridgestone rubber.”
(Akron/Tire Review) Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.’s successful Assurance Triple Tred line has already been honored with several awards. Recently, the tyre earned recognition as “one of the most innovative ideas of the year” from R&D magazine. The magazine staff selected the product as recipient of an “R&D 100 Award.” The 43rd annual awards summary will appear in the magazine’s September issue, with an awards presentation scheduled for October in Chicago.
Auto Express magazine has named the Vredestein Sportac 2 as tyre test winner in its 2005 Product Honours report. Goodyear’s Hydragrip and the Barum Bravaris were also commended.
“Think tyres and Vredestein is unlikely to be the first name that springs to mind, but the Dutch firm’s rubber certainly is impressive,” the consumer magazine wrote, adding: “Vredestein has always made products that perform well in the wet, and the Sportrac 2 was no exception, recording a series of top-three results.”
(Australia/Australian Tyre Dealer) The Goodyear Eagle Revspec RS-02 has won the best overall performance tyre award in the annual Wheels magazine tyre test for the second year running. The 235/45R17 performance tyre joins the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 as a Wheels award winner.
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