Newry-based Ross Thompson Ltd, a long established haulier in Northern Ireland, is currently monitoring the performance of the Michelin 385/65 R22.5 XTE2 tyres on the rear axle of one of its Crossland tanker trailers. Fitted as original equipment in early 2006, the tyres have already clocked up 175,000 km and still have 3-4mm of tread remaining. Over 90 per cent of the company’s fleet is fitted with Michelin tyres as original equipment.
(Akron/Tyre Review) Vredestein North America has introduced the new run-flat versions of its Vredestein Quatrac 3 and Wintrac Xtreme lines.
Aftermarket TPMS provider Advantage PressurePro and Inovex Industries, manufacturer of the Ride-On Tire Protection System brand of high-speed tyre sealants, have announced the formation of a strategic partnership to provide customers with what they believe to be a complete solution for tyre pressure problems. PressurePro TPMS works together with Ride-On tyre sealant to both alert drivers and dramatically reduce the damage and hassle caused by unexpected air loss in tyres, whether due to punctures or tyre porosity – the number one cause of breakdowns, according to the US Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
“This joint marketing relationship just makes sense”, says Mark Farkhan, president of Inovex. “PressurePro and Ride-On share the same goals of safety, asset protection and environmental protection.” Ride-On can reportedly seal 85 to 95 per cent of punctures from objects up to a quarter of an inch in diameter that penetrate the tyre’s crown area. Tyre sealants, however, can’t seal all punctures, nor can Ride-On notify motorists of low tyre pressure. This is where PressurePro steps in; to immediately notify customers of decreased air pressure in such instances.
“Working together, PressurePro and Ride-On provide a very cost effective and thorough way for everyone, from companies with large fleets to individual car owners, to add safety, savings and peace-of-mind to their travels, while also helping cut on road and tyre waste by adding tread life to tyres” says Phillip G. Zaroor, president of Advantage PressurePro.
(Akron/Tire Review) Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire has launched the new Bridgestone L320 on-/off-highway drive radial. BFNAT said the tyre features a 31/32nds deep, aggressive block design for traction, tread life and retreadability, open shoulders for traction on soft surfaces, and stabilising tie bars for tread block stability and long-term traction.
Stabilising tie bars link adjoining tread blocks. As the tyre wears and becomes shallower, the tie bars become part of the tread pattern. This creates additional edges to “bite” into soft surfaces, further enhancing soft-surface traction.
The L320 drive has four steel belts and an all-steel casing, and will initially be available in sizes 11R22.5 and 11R24.5 sizes, both in G and H load ratings, and 12R22.5 in H load rating.
Maxxis has swept the board in one of the USA’s premier professional rock racing championships, taking all three podium positions in the Eastern Division of the Maxxis sponsored XRRA series. Rusty Bray clinched victory, with Eric Childress in second place and Brian Shirley rounding out the top three. The results came after the three drivers put in strong performances at the last event of the regular season, which was held on August 18 in Badlands, Indiana.
Bray, who comes from a rock crawling background, maintained his overall victory was anything but a foregone conclusion. “We didn’t know how we’d do with the speed versus the rocks,” he said. “I ran Trepadors until this last event, when I needed a little more height. I ran the 40″ Creepy Crawlers this last time. They were good. This weekend was kind of our first time to deal with sand, but the Creepy Crawler worked well with the sand, dirt, rocks and the whole array of terrain.”
Avon Tyres has expanded its already sizeable winter range programme with the addition of new sizes to fit a broad variety of popular high performance cars and 4x4s. Introduced to tackle the precarious driving conditions motorists face from November onwards, the Ice Touring ST and the Ranger Ice have been introduced for high performance saloon cars and 4x4s, respectively.
The Ice Touring ST’s wide, low profile design combined with its specially-engineered tread pattern delivers sure-footed grip and handling in winter temperatures. Its high silica content, together with extensive siping, helps keep the tread blocks flexible at very low winter temperatures, which aids grip in the wet and traction in the snow. Wide spacing of the tread blocks also helps prevent the tread clogging up with snow.
Taiwan’s Federal Corporation has rolled out a new addition to its “Hero” brand passenger car line-up, the Atlanta AR01. Produced in China under what Federal assures are uniform quality standards, the Atlanta AR01 is marketed as a high-end product in terms of both safety and value.
The new AR01 features 4 circumferential grooves for water dispersal, improving wet surface road holding, and siping on the tyre’s shoulders is intended to minimise road noise. The quest to create a quieter tyre has also been aided by the computer optimised tread pattern.
Initially the Hero AR01 will be available for three market sectors; high performance, with 195/55R15 and 205/55R16 sizes available. For the touring segment sizes are available to fit rims between 13 and 15-inches with speed ratings up to ‘H’ available. WSW tyres are available in sizes 215/70R15 to 225/70R15, with 16 and 17-inch sizes available at a later date.
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.”
(Akron/Tire Review) Michelin North American introduced the XDA5 drive position radial, which it said has a tread design that will “regenerate” itself during use, and will “outlast the drive tyre it replaces by at least 30 per cent.”
Michelin said the tread pattern of the XDA5 is molded in three dimensions, and as the tyre wears, the tread reveals new grooves and tread blocks.
“This regenerating tread design keeps the tyre in service longer before retreading, an impressive 30 per cent improvement in tread life over other drive tyres that are commercially available,” the company said. “That translates into improved safety and lower costs for fleets and owner operators across North America.”
The tyre’s “double-wave matrix” sipes give the tyre’s 30/32-inch tread blocks the ability to lock together in all directions, Michelin said, for rigidity, resistance to scrub and minimised irregular wear.
Wilson McCurdy Haulage from Ballymena in Northern Ireland has recently become a fan of Michelin’s XDN2 Grip tyres after fitting a set to the drive axle of a 580 hp Scania 6×2 tractor unit. The Michelin rubber is just what Wilson McCurdy Haulage needs as the days become cooler towards the end of the year, as the XDN2 Grip offers increased traction in wet conditions and excellent performance on hard packed snow and icy surfaces.
The Scania operates at 44 tonnes with a Heil petrochemical tanker and had previously encountered a slight loss of traction when running empty on wet roads, particularly whilst negotiating roundabouts. “We need a powerful tractor unit as this vehicle operates in a very rural area, but the driver reported that in wet conditions the traction warning light would be flashing on and off repeatedly,” says Bill McCurdy, a partner in Wilson McCurdy Haulage.
Avon Tyres has increased the range of its general purpose Roadrider range to 33 sizes, and the company now claims there is a Roadrider tyre for every bike from a Triumph T140 Bonneville right through to Honda’s CB500.
Drawing upon the company’s sports pedigree and construction methods developed from its high-performance range of tyres, the technicians at Avon have designed a multi-arc tread profile for the Roadrider that Avon says forces the biggest possible contact patch onto the road, whatever the lean angle. The need for light and precise handling whilst moving at slow speeds through traffic also called for an advanced casing design to give low rolling resistance and positive feel.
The cold months present a particular challenge to manufacturers with a reputation for delivering performance products – how does one combine the superior handling qualities buyers of the brand have come to expect with those needed for safe winter driving? How can a single tyre fulfill these two seemingly contradictory roles? This is a task that researchers and designers at Pirelli have grabbed by the horns, and the tyremaker’s strong work towards developing a better product in the early stages of the modern winter tyre’s development continues to this day. The result is a range of winter tyres with an enviable reputation.
The reigning sovereign of Pirelli’s winter performance range is indisputably the Winter Sottozero, a tyre whose test results have earned it lavish yet deserved praise from several leading European motoring magazines. The Sottozero – Italian for ‘below zero’ – is, as Pirelli’s cold weather addition to the Planet Zero portfolio, the most performance oriented winter tyre yet offered by the Italian manufacturer. Promoted by Pirelli as the “first real dual season tyre,” the Sottozero is a product that deserves the attention of performance car drivers in the UK. Pirelli states that the Sottozero is suitable for fitment from mid-autumn to early spring, regardless of what condition the weather may throw in our direction; the Sottozero, while obviously designed for cooler conditions, will also safely take unseasonable weather in its stride.
Goodyear has added another two feathers to its OE cap following the selection of its Excellence tyre range as standard equipment on two new UK vehicle launches. Toyota and Mercedes have both approved the tyre on their respective highest-volume models, the Auris and the C-Class.
The Toyota Auris replaces the Corolla, for many years the world’s best selling car, and Goodyear Excellence will be fitted as standard on models delivered with 15-inch wheels. The latest Mercedes C-Class, new for Summer 2007, will wear Goodyear Excellence in 225/45R17 and 245/40R17 sizes on those cars fitted with its popular 17-inch alloy wheel option.
The Goodyear Excellence was launched two years ago, and its asymmetric tread design combines sure footed wet weather grip with high levels of comfort. Goodyear says that the Excellence is particularly popular with OEMs seeking to reduce vehicle road noise, a reported strong point for the tyre.
ATS Euromaster has secured a contract with Lancaster City Council to supply Michelin tyres and provide related service to the council’s 160 vehicle fleet. The three-year deal includes tyres for a mixed bag of vehicles ranging in size from lawn mowers through to refuse and recycling collection trucks.
“The varied nature of our fleet means that a fully managed approach like this is key to delivering best value for money for the taxpayer,” commented Graham Powell, fleet manager for Lancaster City Council. “ATS Euromaster and Michelin are also committed to ensuring that tyre-related downtime is kept to an absolute minimum, and helping the Council to achieve additional cost savings by maximising the performance and life of every tyre on the fleet. Selecting a partner with the skills to support our wide-ranging fleet was also crucial, with ATS Euromaster technicians as proficient at servicing the tyres on some of our more unusual pieces of equipment as they are on regular cars and trucks.”
(Akron/Tire Review) Maxxis International has in the US introduced the Victra Z4S, an all-season UHP. The new Victra Z4S features a solid centre rib and reinforced steel belts for stability, grooving and siping for snow and slush traction, four circumferential grooves for wet traction, five-pitch tread blocks and special groove designs for reduced road noise, V-shaped unidirectional grooves for wet and dry handling, and hard bead filler for cornering, acceleration and handling, Maxxis said.
“The Victra Z4S will undoubtedly be one of our most popular and best-selling passenger tyres,” said Maxxis’ Doug Addis. “Our engineers have developed one of the finest all-season ultra high performance tyres on the market. This tyre now gives us coverage in all aspects of UHP.”
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