Hi-Q, is offering free motoring health checks this winter in an effort avoid the kind of car problems that leave drivers out in the cold. With this winter forecast to be one of the coldest in over a decade, many more demands are going to be made of drivers and vehicles.
Varta has warned that recent mild winters could lead to an air of complacency in the trade and that severe weather conditions could have a marked effect on aftermarket battery stocks.
The warning comes as the Meteorological Office is predicting the coldest UK winter for at least a decade and Varta’s managing director Paul Matarewicz believes that many independent and franchised workshops may not have sufficient stocks to meet increased demand, saying: “Even though improved battery technology and a succession of mild winters have had the effect of lessening peaks and troughs in battery sales across the year, there can be no doubt that the return of a hard winter would lead to a substantial surge in battery failure, especially in older cars.”
Michelin has launched its Alpin, Pilot Alpin and Latitude products on the Bulgarian market. While the Alpin will provide a new winter option for the Bulgarian market and the Pilot Alpin will provide a higher specification winter option, the Latitude SUV tyre is seen as something of a novelty, the Sofia News Agency reported.
Avon Tyres has launched Ice Touring, a brand new winter tyre range. Designed to cope with the demands of winter motoring, the Avon Ice Touring range comes in a variety of sizes to fit most small to medium-sized vehicles, from the Vauxhall Corsa to the Volkswagen Golf.
According to the manufacturer, engineers developed the bespoke tread, and high silica content rubber, in some of Europe’s most challenging winter conditions. The end result is a tyre that provides exceptional braking in the snow, grip on ice and resists aquaplaning in the wet. The Ice Touring is the result of an 18-month extensive test programme conducted in the demanding Kaunertal glacier region of Austria. The new range will be available across the UK.
Battery manufacturer Varta has highlighted an anomaly regarding automotive batteries – with today’s products vastly superior to those of a few years ago in both performance and longevity, how come the battery is still the cause of most calls to motoring organisations and breakdown service providers?
The answer, says Varta, is that there are so many power consumers on today’s cars that these can adversely impact on the ability of the battery and alternator to provide constant energy, particularly in winter where the nominal output of the alternator can be easily exceeded in even the shortest journey. And we are talking about modern cars with healthy batteries with comparatively low power consumers, such as lights and heaters.
As the busy summer holiday motoring season draws to a close Kwik-Fit is offering motorists a free battery check-up, explaining that even though most batteries die in the winter, it’s actually the summer that inflicts most of the damage.
According to Kwik-Fit, on a hot summer’s day – with the engine running – temperatures under the bonnet can reach up to 90 degrees centigrade. This extra heat causes the chemical reaction within a car battery to speed up and in older batteries this can lead to a total failure.
While the ripple effects of the e-commerce revolution continue to filter down through the tyre trade, some businesses are already looking to the next big thing.
While email marketing and online tyre retail might be new to some people, in Norway tyre dealers are trying to maximise sales amongst an increasingly technologically aware population. The answer? Communicate with consumers through their mobile phones.
Having recently released its latest winter catalogue, Belgium-based wholesaler, Deldo, is claiming that it is a leading player in the tyre market. “Our winter catalogue is once again the benchmark,” with strong prices on a broad range of premium brands, said a company spokesperson. Copies of the new catalogue have already been shipped to Germany and Austria with other countries set to follow shortly.
According to company spokesman, Tom Van Dyck, Deldo can “clearly feel the trend of the current markets – many have realised that ordering with the industry is no guarantee for success.” Each year too many important sizes fail to arrive, he observed adding: “Furthermore, traders can find any brand within our stock. It is no longer necessary to maintain expensive business relationships and buy large minimum quantities, just to get the goods you need. With only one contact, you can get your hands on any brand you want.”
Matador divides its winter tyre portfolio into three levels – mild winter for use in Western Europe; mountainous, for central and Eastern Europe; and, for the most extreme winters, the Scandanavian/Siberian range. According to Matador, the company’s Western European products (MP 59 Nordicca and MP 58 M+S Silika) are “renowned for good driving properties on snow, wet snow as well as on wet roads.”
(Akron/Tire Review) Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire (BFNAT) has added the Blizzak Revo1 to its line of winter tyres. Designed for severe ice or snow conditions and allow a solid grip on wet and dry roads, said BFNAT, the Revo1 features “tube multicell” compound that has embedded particles to improve grip, a cross-rib surface for ice traction, and zig-zag siping for traction and water and slush dispersion. The Blizzak Revo1 is available in 11 Q-speed rated sizes, and has a non-directional tread design for 65- and 60-series sizes and a directional tread for 55- and 45-series sizes.
Snow-covered roads, icy tarmac, wet, slush – those who want to be able to drive as safely as possible even in wintry conditions will need special tyres. The better the tread is able to transmit the traction forces, the less the vehicle will be likely to skid – regardless of whether it is a car, a truck or a bus.
Retreading specialist Kraiburg Austria’s range of products includes a variety of winter tyre profiles specially developed for commercial vehicles – both in the Kraiburg standard range as well as in the Kraiburg plus premium range.
(Akron/Tire Review) Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC (BFNT) is preparing for the winter months ahead with size additions to the Bridgestone Blizzak LM-22 RFT, Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25, Bridgestone Blizzak DM-Z3 and Winterforce tyre lines.
The Transport Research Laboratory is trialling a project to turn roads into collectors of energy. In summer, the sun’s heat absorbed by the road’s surface is collected by water circulating through pipes installed below the surface and retained in insulated heat stores in the ground. The heat will remain stored ready for recovery in the winter. The trial is being carried out on a road near Toddington Services (M1 Junction 12) and will last two years.
Kenda Tires has completed the long-term test of its latest snow tyre. According to the company, the Polar Trax KR19 is designed to supply the grip and traction on the ice, snow, and wet road conditions. The new product will now be launched into the European market.
Kenda reports that it has produced its latest offering with winter road conditions in mind. The Polar Trax features what the company called a “premium twine construction” and drainage grooves for more efficient water clearance. Handling ability is said to have been enhanced by a special silica compound, which Kenda claims is an essential element when it comes to preventing aquaplaning. The tyre’s zigzag sipes also provide traction and grip to cope with the winter roads.
Nokian Tyres is improving the safety and comfort of driving by introducing the runflat property to its most important winter tyre models. If a flat occurs, the driver can drive on runflat tyres for about 100 km to reach a tyre store or service station where a new tyre can be fitted. The runflat property allows drivers to avoid danger and difficult tyre changes amid busy traffic.
Use of runflat tyres in increasing at a very quick rate. Although runflat products held only a small share of the European tyre market in 2004 (about 0.25%), sales saw a threefold increase over the previous year. Half of the runflat products sold were winter tyres. This year sales are expected to increase even more.
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