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Kwik-Fit Offering a SMART Solution to Dents and Scratches

A good set of tyres can perhaps minimise the risk of accumulating dents, scratched bumpers or scuffed alloy wheels, but most motorists are unable to avoid ‘battle damage’ entirely. To take care of these inevitable dings and scratches, Kwik-Fit Fleet is expanding its one-stop shop service portfolio through the launch of a SMART (Small to Medium Area Repair Technology) service. At present this facility is being trialled at six Kwik-Fit locations – and the company believes it is the first time a fast-fit company has moved into offering SMART repairs.

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The Sky’s the Limit

Kings Road Tyres, in conjunction with Michelin, has helped a team of British explorers carry out an unlikely journey from London to Timbuktu – not by plane or train, but by flying car. The Parajet Skycar is a road legal version of an off road buggy that can be set up to either drive wheels when on the road or power a rear mounted propeller when it takes to the skies. In flight a large fabric wing gives the Skycar lift whilst the propeller provides the necessary forward thrust.

The Parajet Skycar set off from London at the end of January and travelled down through France and Spain before flying the Straits of Gibraltar to Morocco in North Africa. From Morocco the team travelled through the disputed lands of Western Sahara, into Mauritania and across the Sahara to Timbuktu in Mali.

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STL Notes Growing Interest in Rolling Resistance Reduction

Ohio, US based Standards Testing Laboratories (STL), the world’s largest independent testing facility for tyres, wheels and related automotive components, presented an overview on wheel testing during the 2009 Tire Industry Conference, held in South Carolina between April 1 and 3. The company’s director of technology, Guy Edington, examined various types of wheel testing – from rotary and radial fatigue to impact tests – during the conference, focusing on commonly used Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) test methods. He also discussed wheel history and manufacturing methods as well as changing industry standards.

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Kei Racing Aiming New Tachi Wheel at Modified Market

Kei Racing has released a new wheel design aimed at the “modified market.” The Tachi (pronounced Tar-Chee), is said to be named after a deadly instrument favoured as the weapon of choice for many Samurai warriors in feudal Japan so, say company representatives, “it’s highly appropriate for Kei’s cutting-edge wheel technology and design.”

The new Japanese design features a matt-gunmetal finish and uses a strong and a simple 10 spoke design to offer good looks with wide calliper clearance for brake cooling. Size wise, there’s something for everyone, with 15 x 6.5, 17 x 7 and 18 x 7.5 all available in a huge array of 4 and 5 stud patterns, covering nearly all core Jap, Tuner and Euro cars. The 15-inch variant is set to retail at just £86.69 each. While the 17 and 18-inch wheels come with £122.50 and £150.34 price tags respectively.

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Vanstyle Encourages Van Owners to “Tame the Beast”

We’ve been bombarded with a multitude of Trinny & Susannah style homely to comely shows and home renovation programmes along the lines of ‘Changing Rooms’, but to date vans have been largely left out of this makeover mania. One UK company – Vanstyle – intends to change all this. While it won’t be coming to a television near you any time soon, the company is calling upon all van, SUV and truck drivers to join its campaign to give the nation’s vans the once-over with new wheels and accessories.

Ultimately every van or truck driver chooses his or her vehicle for its functionality, and this naturally shouldn’t be overlooked at makeover time. But Vanstyle says this “doesn’t mean the beast can’t be tamed”. In other words, why not make your machine look good?

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Wolfrace Announces 5-Year Aftermarket Rim Warranty

Wheel designer Wolfrace is confident in the quality of its aftermarket rims – so much so, that it is now offering them with a five-year warranty. This move, which the company claims is an industry first, applies to a number of lines in its 14 design GB range, namely the Porto in silver, Milano, Como, Modena, Oslo, Flair, Campo, Salerno and Riga. A number of designs, the Porto in black/ polished, Trenta, Lugano, Ravenna, Bari, Nogaro, Porto and Ancona in full chrome, are covered by a two-year warranty.

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T&A Interviews Cooper European Technical Centre Head

Cooper Tire has launched a new ultra-high performance tyre which, the company claims, offers all the performance of the Zeon range, but with the addition of much improved tread life. The new Cooper Zeon CS6 replaces the Cooper Zeon XTC’s V and W-rated sizes. The product’s enhanced tyre tread life is achieved by virtue of a new silica compound which, thanks to computer-aided design technology, offers enhanced grip in wet weather braking and handling situations. However, arguably the greatest claim the company is making about the CS6 is the suggestion that the new tyre offers up to 12 per cent longer tread wear than the XTC.

What’s more, the new tyre has hit the road courtesy of development work at Cooper’s European Technical Centre. Tyres & Accessories recently visited the ETC, which is based on the company’s Melksham tyre production site, and discussed the CS6 and evolution in the company’s tyre development strategy with tech-centre head Marcus Hancock.

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Totrax Sales Manger Appointed

Totrax Ltd is pleased to announce the appointment of Alan Glen to the position of OEM Sales Manger. The company said that Glen has a long history of working with the specialist Manufacturers of Hi-Speed trailers, Caravans, Turf and Lawn care Machinery, Agricultural Implements, Ground Support Equipment. He joins an experienced internal and external sales team based in Boston, Lincolnshire.

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Fedima Offers ”Widest Product Line-Up“

The retreading market is – just like the new tyre market – highly diversified. A retreading market segment that usually doesn’t automatically spring to mind, even though it offers retreaders good sales opportunities and kudos aplenty, is motorsports. It is this specific market segment that the leading Portuguese retreader, R31, with focusing on with its “Fedima” retreading brand. Furthermore, as the company’s German distribution partner points out, Fedima – a Bridgestone Qualitread retreading partner – has in particular acquired a reputation for its 4×4 and light truck tyre retreads for road and off-road applications. R31, or rather Fedima, as the company is usually and simply called, continues to invest into these market segments.

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Corghi Sees the Blue Light

In the motor vehicle workshop equipment segment, Corghi reports that it is responding to today’s global economical crisis by investing in product innovation, infrastructure and new commercial facilities. The company says that it is committed to constant research in innovative solutions to meet the demands of an increasingly discerning market, an aim that the brand hopes to address through its participation in the Autopromotec show, where it will display a wide range of its newest products.

For the wheel balancer segment, Corghi presents Blue Light, a sophisticated wheel balancing machine developed in response to the needs of the upper end of the market. This high-tech system includes touch screen, real time, blue light and touchless technologies, which aim to simplify significantly the operator’s job.

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Mondolfo Ferro Spreads its Wings

Founded in 1963 with the image of an eagle with its wings spread, Mondolfo Ferro specialises in the production of car tyres changers, wheel balancers, lifting platforms, wheels aligners, brakes and suspensions test benches, and exhaust systems analysers. Keen to publicise its innovative qualities, Mondolfo Ferro will be at the Autopromotec 2009 with its new wheel service products.

The Aquila Raptor is the new tyre changer with lever-less technology for mounting and demounting, making it possible, the company claims to eliminate risk and fatigue for the operator. It also believes the machine is operated intuitively helping to increase efficiency, rapidity and safety when operating on the rim or on the tyre. The Raptor boasts a centralised control console, a double-disc vertical bead breaker unit, which allows the bead breaking operation in the work position, and a safe and rapid wheel blocking pneumatic system.

The TBE 160 Matic truck tyre changer will also be presented. Conceived with lever-less technology, the machine can work with wheels with a rim diameter of up to 60” and a blocking system for the central hole of up to 110 mm. The main advantages of the TBE 160 Matic consist of the automated demounting tool and bead breaker. The machine also includes a self-supporting frame that guarantees greater freedom of movement for the operator by increasing the spaces around the machine.

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Goodyear Commemorates Centenary of Taking to the Skies

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It’s been a century since Goodyear introduced the first specialised aviation tyre and made travel by aeroplane – at least the part involving contact with the ground – a simpler and more comfortable affair. The Goodyear Wing Aeroplane Tire, introduced in 1909, was designed by Goodyear’s engineers to be lightweight, puncture resistant and easy to remove. A hundred years later the company remains strongly involved in the aviation tyre business, and has observed its centenary with the introduction of a new innovation and expanded product range.

“Nobody could have envisioned that Goodyear’s aviation business would last at least 100 years,” said Pierre Jambon, general manager, Global Aviation. “But we’ve prospered by doing the same things that we did at the beginning: develop innovative new products to fulfil the changing needs of the aviation industry.”

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BF SRL Offers New Designs

B.F.srl, the ISO 9001:2000 certified wheel balancing weight maker, is offering an increasingly wide range of balancing weights made from zinc, lead, steel and tin, which it exported to more than 50 countries throughout the world last year. Recent investments in technologically advanced plant and machinery, have resulted in the establishment of a new factory for plastic coating treatment and the introduction of adhesive weights in steel galvanized, plastic coated with epoxy powders of grey and black colour. The latter comes in response to the company’s “constant attention and curiosity” of what is new in the wheels field. However, according to company literature B.F.srl’s offers another key strength to – it offers “a quality product at a very competitive price.”

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MAK to Show Complete 2009 Wheel Range

MAK S.p.A. reports that the wheel production company is to show a wide range of new and existing products at Autopromotec 2009. First of all, the Brescia-based Italian producer will exhibit the brand-new MAK Mistral, the first directional wheel the company has launched on the market. The interesting thing about this five-spoke design is that while they have a straight structure and they are perpendicular to the external rim, “there is a diamond insert that points the to the design’s left side”. This visual illusion gives the wheel movement and lightness, making it appear slimmer.

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Italmatic Produces 51-inch Tyre Buffers

Retreading machinery maker, Italmatic, recently celebrated a success in the development of PL 80 buffers for OTR tyres. The latest technological milestone means the company’s latest (standard model) machinery is now capable reliably buffing OTR tyres in of up to 51 inches.

According to the company, Matic PL 80 makes “perfect buffing profiles both for hot retreading and for cold retreading,” but is likely to be particularly useful for retreaders who rely on both methods. The machine can be equipped also with a building group and grooving group on request.

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