Keskin Tuning Europa GmbH has taken on a new wheel brand, just in time for the winter season. According to the company, these MAM alloy wheels are not only designed for the warm season but are also for winter season applicable and therefore suitable for all-year use. Keskin representatives report that the trademark of the MAM alloy wheels is the good quality, long life and the extraordinary design.
Formula One tyre supplier Pirelli has announced the tyre compounds it will take to the Grands Prix in Belgium, Italy and Singapore. The two European races will see the P Zero Yellow (soft) and White (medium) tyres used, while Pirelli will take the P Zero Red (super soft) and Yellow to the Asian night race to take on the streets of the island’s major city, where grip will be at a premium.
Korean tyre manufacturer Nexen Tyre has announced an increase in its activities within the European luxury SUV segment, with a range of high performance products including the Roadian HP in the size 325/35R28. This is the largest Roadian HP tyre, specially developed for tuned SUVs or high-performance recreational vehicles, such as the Car Film Components Hummer presented at the beginning of May the the Tuning World Bodensee 2011 show in Germany.
Pirelli may now be the brand most associated with a definition of “high performance” most concerned with high speeds and quicker lap times thanks to its high profile role in the UK’s highest profile motorsport series, Formula One. Having said that, the high performance tyre segment has for a long time taken a much broader definition in commercial terms, forged by the long-term move to larger sizes and faster speed ratings on small medium and even supermini segment vehicles; Pirelli say it remains optimistic about the future of the segment, since “the word ‘performance’ is taking on a new and more relevant definition in today’s world”. The brand says its range of high performance products “has never been more relevant than it is now… there really is a high performance tyre for everyone”.
In order to meet the global trend towards tyres with a stronger ‘green’ emphasis, Continental Matador Rubber states its factory in Púchov, Slovakia is gearing up for the production of low rolling resistance tyres. This production transition is scheduled to occur in two stages, the first of which is already underway with the gradual introduction of the ContiEcoContact 5 and ContiSportContact 5 into the plant’s production mix. Continental Matador says several sizes are already in serial production at the Púchov plant and further sizes will be introduced throughout the year.
Maxxis has described a record attendance at Japfest on Saturday, 14 May, as having “cemented the event’s reputation as Europe’s biggest Japanese car show.” The tyre manufacturer’s heavy involvement in the event as an Official Partner allows it to promote its range to enthusiastic buyers of performance, tuning and styling products and increase brand awareness within the Japanese car scene.
Wheel brand Calibre has announced the release of its new nine-spoke alloy wheel, the Vertigo, in 15”-18” diameters. The brand says the wheel is inspired by classic designs from the tuning scene, with “a deep bolt bowl and finely sculpted spokes.” The Vertigo “offers superb caliper clearance and light weight in a stunning heat treated package”, with a lacquered sparkle silver finish.
Chelmsford mechanic John Tinham has been named the winner of Top Technician 2011, winning the prize a second time after his victory in 2005. Tinham won the prize after completing a series of online, practical and written tests set by chief judge Ian Gillgrass, accreditation manager at the Institute of the Motor Industry and his team of expert judges including 2008 Top Technician winner Mark Banks and Delphi trainers Rob Lewis and Tim Roberts. The annual competition aims to recognise and reward the best automotive technicians in the UK.
Summernats 2011 in Canberra, Australia has become Federal Tyres’ first name-sponsored automotive show, alongside distributor National Tyre Wholesalers. The precision driving event at Canberra Showgrounds is a motorkhana style grass event where courses are set up with varying degrees of difficulty. It tests different aspects of both the car and driver to see who can better accelerate, turn, brake and manoeuvre their way through the course in the quickest way possible.
Taiwan’s Federal Tires is calling 2011 its “year of motorsports” as it continues to develop its product portfolio, which includes the FZ-101, FZ-201, FZ-202 on track and the Federally G-10 and G-11 rallying tyres. The FZ-201 is used in four motorsports series – the Nippon Challenge in UK; the Rally Tarmac Championship; Malaysian Super Series Championship; and the Sepang 1000km (S1K) Endurance and Touring Car categories.
This coming spring Bridgestone intends to release its latest production motorcycle racing radial, the Battlax Racing R10. Featuring an all-new tread, structure and compound, the R10 is described by the tyre maker as a product that “offers enhanced user-friendliness and better lap times, benefiting production motorcycle racing worldwide as well as users who enjoy riding high-performance super sport bikes on circuits.” Bridgestone adds that the new tyre was developed with European market use in mind and the end product is one that “provides superb dry performance and handling performance.”
Hankook Tire has celebrated five years as main sponsor of the TUNE IT! SAFE! initiative at the Essen Motor Show. On November 26, Hyun-Jun Cho, managing director of Hankook Tire Germany, and Dietmar Olbrich, the company’s sales and marketing director, joined Dr. Andreas Scherer, Germany’s state secretary at the Ministry of Transportation, and German Federal Ministry of Transport and Automobile Tuners Association (VDAT) president Bodo Buschmann in a contract signing ceremony covering this year’s campaign. Following the ceremony the 2011 campaign vehicle, a customised German police car to be used for raising public awareness about safe and legal vehicle tuning, was handed over to the German police.
International-orientated wholesaler De Klok Banden knows the importance of private and exclusive brands; the company is the exclusive importer of Nankang for Germany and the Benelux countries, a brand it says provides a “high quality”, extensive product range, including popular sizes in the tuning segment. De Klok is also the exclusive Benelux importer of another strong mid-range brand, GT Radial. The Dutch wholesaler says it is experiencing “an enormous increase in Nankang and GT Radial sales and sees great potential for more from these mid-range products; a segment that latest figures suggest is – and has been for some time – on the rise (see this section’s lead article).
An eight-month mystery has come to a grisly close, yet the discovery of Uwe Gemballa’s body in South Africa opens the door to a number of fresh questions. The 51-year old owner of the German company Gemballa, best known for its Porsche tuning parts, disappeared shortly after arriving in South Africa in February. Late that month media reports indicated Gemballa had telephoned his wife, instructing her to transfer a million euros into his bank account. It was suggested he had been involved in an accident of some sort.
ACDelco notes with pride that its batteries described as “the best dressed and the business”, and this distinction may be one of the reasons why batteries remain one of the company’s flagship product groups. And with ACDelco looking to focus on fine-tuning its part offering across all main product groups this year, the company will be shortly enhancing its battery range with the addition of a number of new parts references.
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.
