Devastating news for the nation’s dogs was handed down by Kwik-Fit on July 8; the beloved practice of keeping cool in summer by winding down the car window – essential for tongue-lolling canines wishing to catch the breeze – may actually put a bigger dent in fuel consumption than turning on the air conditioning.
The biology of tree frogs could provide innovative solutions to tyre design problems, according to a Scottish academic. "Tree frog feet may provide a design for self-cleaning sticky surfaces, which could be useful for…tyre performance and even long lasting adhesives," said researcher, Niall Crawford at the University of Glasgow.
Although TecDoc has historically focussed on replacement parts providers and garages, the system has now been adapted to serve the tyre industry. Whilst individual tyre manufacturers provide tyre centres with catalogues for their particular brands, the problem for the fitter is to efficiently identify the original equipment (OE) tyre fitment for a specific vehicle, irrespective of the brand that will ultimately be selected and fitted.
The organiser of next March’s INAPA 2012 automotive parts and equipment show in Indonesia reports that a dedicated tyre industry exhibition, Tyre & Rubber Indonesia”, will be held alongside the annual event. In announcing this addition to INAPA and its associated sub-events, organiser PT. Global Expo Management says that a visitor survey of the 37,100 trade attendees at this year’s exhibition revealed a high level of interest in tyre products. Around 300 exhibitors are expected at this year’s Tyre & Rubber Indonesia, which will be hosted in its own 6,000 square metre hall within the INAPA show.
Round seven of the MotoGP World Championship is the Dutch TT at Assen, one of the longest-standing races on the calendar and a race with great history in motorcycle racing. The 81st TT Assen weekend starts on 25 June, and marks the 62nd time the race had appeared on the Grand Prix calendar having been included every year since 1949. MotoGP tyre supplier Bridgestone will take its front soft and medium compounds and its asymmetric medium and hard rear tyres to Assen for the Dutch TT.
As of October 1, Patrik Romberg will take over as the Trelleborg Group’s senior vice-president of Corporate Communications. He succeeds Viktoria Bergman, who leaves the company on September 30.
Pirelli is at the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend with its new supersoft tyre, the PZero Red, which the company says are designed to be ideally suited to the tight and twisty streets of the principality. The iconic Monaco street circuit is 3,340 metres long, and the PZero Red is designed to offer increased grip over the slippery asphalt, which is open to normal road traffic in the evenings. The evolution of the track is therefore difficult to predict, and with frequent heavy use of brakes, such as in the first corner, Sainte Devote, where cars will lose 160kph in 100 metres. The continuous heavy use of the brakes in Monaco generates extremely high temperatures which are also felt in the tyres, increasing the stress caused by heat on the tyre as a whole.
A second harsh winter in a row seems a deciding factor in the latest truck tyre range launched by Michelin in the UK. At this week’s CV show at the Birmingham NEC, the manufacturer’s XDW Ice Grip – available in size 295/80 R 22.5 – will be shown off to UK trade show visitors for the first time.
Labour MSP Rhoda Grant has called for community nurses working in rural parts of the Scottish Highlands to be provided winter tyres as standard in the colder months.
Currently the nurses have to pay for the tyres themselves under car leasing agreements. Ms Grant, the Member of the Scottish Parliament for the Highlands and Islands said it was "ludicrous" nurses were having to foot the bill.
Supertracker has told Tyres & Accessories that it has experienced “a very successful twelve months during 2010”, in which it continued “an ongoing and upward trend year-on-year since 1987” when the company was formed. The company said its presence at a number of trade shows was a contributing factor in this, including an appearance at Brityrex 2010. When asked if fully-integrated machines were seeing a rise in interest, Supertracker representatives told T&A that while the company was not seeing increases in sales of these units, “it would be true to say they form a part of Supertracker's sales”. The company then pointed to its new product releases, including the launch of the STR410 and a Steering Angle Reset Tool.
The UK's automotive components industry is at a critical "tipping point" and could vanish by the middle of the decade without urgent action, members of the Welsh Automotive Forum were warned. It wouldn't run down gradually but, like a ship sinking, would suddenly vanish, said Prof. Garel Rhys, chairman of WAF. "In 2008 the automotive manufacturing sector employed more than 163,000 people but two years later it was down to 116,000 – that's a 28 per cent cut and an absolute blood letting," he said speaking at WAF's winter networking dinner.
Autopromotec 2011 will see a new initiative introduced to the show especially targeted at the industrial sector. Named the Autopromotec Industrial Vehicles Service, the feature will include a tour designed exclusively for exhibitors in maintenance and servicing and road transport vehicles alongside a special logo to identify exhibitors of equipment, components and spare parts for trucks within the pavilions of Autopromotec. The biennial international trade fair for automotive equipment and the aftermarket will hold its 24th edition in the Bologna trade fair area from 25-29 May 2011.
Anyone possessing an eye-catching Michelin stained glass window and a guilty conscience can unburden themselves of both during an amnesty declared by the tyre maker. The windows in question were originally a feature of Michelin House, located on London’s Fulham Road. They’ve been missing for several decades now, yet with the building’s centenary fast approaching, Michelin has decided to “give people an opportunity to return the panels – or parts of them – without any fear or worries.”
Research from Kwik-Fit notes that, although the weather outside still seems relatively mild, millions of rush hour drivers are already facing winter conditions on their morning commute. This is because, the fast-fitter elaborates, when it comes to winter driving the key figure motorists should bear in mind is not freezing point; it is a much less chilly 7°C. It is at this temperature when the performance of summer tyres deteriorates and the shorter braking distance offered by winter tyres comes into its own. Comparative tests between summer and winter tyres (carried out by Continental) show that winter tyres has stop a car 4.8 metres before summer tyres on a wet road, and when ice becomes a factor this stopping distance extends to 11 metres.
The acquisition of two businesses belonging to Solutia Inc. subsidiary Flexys is intended to strengthen the product portfolio chemical specialist Lanxess’ offers its customers from the tyre and rubber industries. Pending approval from the relevant antitrust authorities, the company will incorporate Flexsys’ primary accelerator business and Perkalink 900 anti-reversion agent into its Rubber Chemicals business unit. Lanxess has not disclosed any financial aspects of the acquisitions and reports that no Flexsys employees will be transferred to Lanxess.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.
