The June issue of Tyres & Accessories is now available to subscribers online in our virtual magazine format. This edition contains complete coverage of Michelin's recent Challange Bibendum summit plus features on high performance tyres and the exhaust market. All you have to do is click "more" to flick through the e-paper pages or click "signup" in the top right-hand corner of this screen to register for a free trial account.
Yokohama Rubber has begun original equipment supply for Toyota’s new Prius ἀ, or alpha, in the Japanese market. The hybrid car, which went on sale May 13, is fitted with the Advan dB in size 205/60R16 92V.
During the Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association Convention in Phoenix, Arizona on May 1 and 2, Amerityre Corporation introduced its new ‘high performance’ forklift tyre. The new tyre has been produced utilising a material called Kryon, first developed in 2009. According to Amerityre chairman Tim Ryan, “this new proprietary compound in our Kryon line has been designed to improve durability and load-carrying capacity as compared to conventional rubber tyres. Of special interest to electric lift users, the new Kryon tyres offer significantly reduced rolling resistance.” A particular quality of all tyres produced using the Kryon material is that they are non-marking.
Winters in Scandinavia and Russia can be extreme and drivers in these markets require tyres specifically designed for the conditions encountered there. One such product is the latest winter tyre from Pirelli, the Winter Icecontrol. This non-studded passenger car tyre will be released in mid-2011 and Pirelli says it distinguishes in a number of areas, including braking and handling on ice and in mud, traction and braking in the snow, rolling resistance levels and reduced noise levels.
Vredestein has announced the upcoming release of the Hi-Trac 2. The second-generation tyre is an evolution of its predecessor, however the Dutch tyre maker claims “the number of improvements we have now made for the Hi-Trac is so significant that Vredestein has decided to add the number ‘2’ to its product name.” Named changes are an adapted construction and a new tread compound that is said to reduce rolling resistance and noise production. The sidewall has also been given a “more modern and streamlined design,” Vredestein adds.
Toyo Tire USA has announced that its Proxes A20 tyre will be fitted as original equipment on Nissan’s new 2011 Murano CrossCabriolet, which is available for sale this week. The Proxes A20 is an all-season tyre designed to reduce noise, while maintaining ride comfort in wet and dry. It also boasts reduced rolling resistance, according to the manufacturer.
Serge Lafon, Michelin’s executive director of Agricultural Tyres World says that the company’s SIMA 2011 line-up provides “tangible proof of Michelin’s strategic commitment to enhancing the productivity of farmers and farming companies and boosting their bottom line.” The stand is presenting the CerexBib for harvesters, the SprayBib for row-crop sprayers and the AxioBib in a new size – IF900/60R42 – the market’s only 2.15-metre flotation tyre with “Improved Flexion”. Michelin says its tyres deliver “enhanced soil protection, considerably lower fuel consumption and greater longevity”, helping farms to be more profitable.
Continental has gained new OE approvals from Audi for both quattro models R8 and RS3, the luxury A8 saloon and the compact A1. The sporty models come equipped with Continental's high-tech ContiSportContact 5 P as well as the economical ContiPremiumContact 2, whilst the A1 is being fitted with the ContiSportContact 3 and the ContiPremiumContact 2. 19-inch diameter tyres have been approved on R8, with tyres up to 21 inches destined for the A8. The RS3 is being fitted with 19-inch tyres, while for the A1 has a choice of 15, 16 and 18-inch sizes.
The first retread product in Bridgestone’s Ecopia truck tyre range has been released through the company’s European Bandag dealer network. The M749 highway drive pattern was released as a retread in January 2011 and utilises the Ecopia casing, which Bridgestone says contributes around 60 per cent to the tyre’s rolling resistance qualities. In announcing the introduction of the M749 retread, the tyre maker commented that “by making the M749 Ecopia available as a retread, Bridgestone can now offer long-haul operators the double benefit of cost savings over the full tyre life and a reduction in the ecological tyre print of the fleet.”
The adaptor developed by German firm KTS Kunststoff Technik Schmölln for Continental’s CSEasy industrial tyre has received an innovation award from TecPart, the German technical plastics manufacturers’ association. In reporting the KTS product’s attainment of a TecPart Innovation Prize 2010, Continental comments that the CSEasy adaptor not only enables wheel changes without the need for mounting presses or specialist involvement, thereby greatly reducing forklift downtime and the expense involved in changing the wheel – it also lowers the tyre’s rolling resistance, gives longer mileage, and improves safety and environmental compatibility.
Team Yokohama, the Yokohama Rubber racing team, will once again enter an electric vehicle in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb event. This year the event will take place on Sunday, June 27, and the Yokohama crew is referring to it as the “Team Yokohama EV Challenge”. The company’s entry into the hill climb, or “Challenge”, is viewed by Yokohama Rubber as part of its efforts to meet its environmental responsibilities.
Nankang has developed a new environmental tyre, the Eco-1, and reports it takes further the fuel-saving performance of the company’s Eco tyre range. The Eco-1 is, says the Taiwanese manufacturer, designed with a silica ‘eco-compound’ material that reduces rolling resistance 14 per cent in comparison to a conventional tyre. Despite this, Nankang states that this focus on fuel efficiency has not sacrificed or compromised the tyre’s wet grip.
The final workshop for the 'Tyre and road surface optimisation for skid resistance and further effects' coordination action, a project thankfully more commonly known by the acronym TYROSAFE, will take place in Brussels, Belgium on June 10, 2010. The workshop will feature the development, assessment and final results of the TYROSAFE project.
Techking Tires reports that its latest generation truck tyres, scheduled for an April 2010 launch, will feature all-new design, features and performance. These features include, Techking reports, 15 degree ETL (Enhanced Tread Life) design, Techking ‘Force’ pattern design and a computer optimised shoulder design. These features, it adds, increase mileage and durability. Furthermore, heat release efficiency has particularly been taken into account in the new generation tyres.
Television audiences have the chance to pick up useful tips and information on ‘green’ driving techniques and technologies courtesy of Bridgestone and the National Geographic Channel. The tyre major and broadcaster have partnered to produce a mini-documentary series called Drive Green, which Bridgestone says is aimed at inspiring consumers to change the way they drive to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. According to Bridgestone, the series has a potential global audience of 315 million homes.
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