In North America, Michelin Retread Technologies has introduced an all weather traction retread, optimised for severe winter conditions. The Michelin XDS 2 Pre-Mold drive tyre retread, according to the company, can provide a 10 per cent improvement in tread life over the XDS Pre-Mold.
Continental AG’s industrial tyre division has launched a new range of pneumatic industrial radial tyre products. The company, which is positioned as number one in the European industrial tyre market, second in the UK and is a key player globally, has also rationalised its complete product offering in order to focus on a smaller selection of products that the company believes are more versatile than their predecessors. Explaining the strategy behind the launch, Continental UK executives and representatives from the industrial tyre division’s research and development team met journalists for a launch conference on 30 June near Egham in Surrey.
Cooper Tire’s rugged Discoverer STT 4×4 tyre opens the door for vehicle choice in the adventure 4×4 market, according to UK off-road driving centre, Kankku.
The Lake District-based centre fits the Discoverer Super Traction Tread (STT) on its fleet of Land Rover Defenders, traditionally the vehicle of choice for adventure off-road driving. But it also operates a fleet of Mitsubishi Shoguns on its corporate and private events, and says that is only possible thanks to the Cooper rubber.
“A 4×4 vehicle on Cooper Discoverer STTs can easily upstage the vehicles you might reasonably expect to see in this kind of environment,” said Kankku’s Nick Fieldhouse. “The toughness and extreme durability of the tyre makes it perfect for our operation, which runs almost every day of the year.
“Our regularly-used fleet of Shoguns proves that the STT means you can now consider 4x4s other than Defenders for this type of driving, which opens up the activity to a huge number of new 4×4 owners.”
The Lone Wolf Transglobal Expedition has successfully crossed the border into Pakistan, marking the completion of four months on the road during which the team’s Land Rover Wolf Defender, shod on Cooper tyres, has traversed a multitude of demanding terrain. The versatile Cooper Discoverer STT (Super Traction Tread) has carried the Lone Wolf team over thousands of miles of unpaved mud roads, snow covered mountain paths and desert dunes, as well as proving remarkably comfortable on western motorways.
Having left the UK on 2 January, the Lone Wolf Transglobal Expedition aims to circumnavigate the globe in just 12 months. With the help of Cooper Tire, the eighth largest tyre maker in the world, the expedition will travel through 40 countries in a vehicle originally designed and built to the specifications of the famous explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes.
Cooper Tires has made another tough addition to its renowned Discoverer off-road range of tyres with the new Super Traction Tread (STT). Designed with the adventurous pursuits of rock-climbing, mud-eating and terrain-taming in mind, the Discoverer STT also offers great traction, enhanced durability and increased puncture resistance on the road thanks to its innovative and uncompromising design and tread compound. The bold, aggressive tread of Cooper’s new tyre has been extended down the sidewall to enhance soft surface traction and provide additional clawing power in rocky, off-road situations. The notched shoulder lugs have been scalloped, guaranteeing that one part of the tyre always has a clear shot at fresh ground.
Until recently, Bandag’s winter traction product range featured five treads. However, changes in winter driving conditions in the north of Europe prompted Bandag to develop a new winter traction tread that would be perfectly suited to the emerging requirements in this region; the BDR-W.
When Bandag was developing its new winter traction tread, it relied extensively on the expert advice of the best consultants in winter tyre technology: the end-users in the Nordic region who battle winter conditions for almost six months a year. In addition, research had highlighted a series of other needs and problems, which were also tackled in the development of the Bandag BDR-W.
Continental agricultural tyres has presented a new tyre concept at Agritechnica. According to the company, the SuperVolumeTyre is an innovation aimed at more demanding machinery. “SuperVolumeTyre: We designate tyres with this name which have a larger volume than standard tyres” explains Ralf Krieger, manager of research and development for Continental agricultural tyres. “The larger volume is achieved through a larger tyre width or a smaller rim diameter with the same tyre diameter,” he added.
Across the Texas prairie, in a place where the staff occasionally encounter rattle snakes, Cooper’s 1000 acre Tire and Vehicle Test Center can be found. Originally constructed in 1999, the site has recently been upgraded through the addition of 4×4 and off-road testing facilities. Tyres & Accessories travelled to San Antonio to experience Cooper’s newly enlarged test centre first hand.
The most recent developments at Cooper’s Tire and Vehicle Test Center (TVTC) prove that the $13 million it originally spent on the facility was just the beginning. Now the company has 4×4 testing capabilities and it is likely that there will be further additions in due course. For now the centre’s primary work is product testing and competitor benchmarking.
Kraiburg Austria is expanding its high-performance standard range with five additional profiles. Two new designs of the Kraiburg brand are now available for the application “Mixed Application/Off-road” – namely the K208 and K212. These are joined by three new designs for special applications –the K213 as a traction tread specifically for use in winter, the K75 as a Unimog tread and the K63 as a forklift truck or gantry crane tread. Altogether, the Kraiburg standard range for 2005 now includes 59 tread designs. For the second half of the year, the company is planning to introduce further tread designs for long distance applications.
As such, the company can offer its retreader partners all the latest products currently in demand in Europe and, with more than 50 years of expertise, Kraiburg can offer the right tread design and the optimum compound for every application.
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