With parts of the UK having experienced their first significant snowfalls, and forecasts predicting up to three weeks of winter weather, Vauxhall offers a solution to keep vehicles moving safely through the snow.
Roy Bromfield, former head of Q Tires, Inc., the US firm that developed and patented a winter tyre with retractable studs, has taken on the role of chief operating officer at Toyo Tire U.SA. In his new position, Bromfield will work in collaboration with US subsidiary president and CEO Tatsuo Mitsuhata to develop and oversee strategies for sales, product development, and all elements of the marketing mix. All departments, including Sales, Price Management, Marketing and Product Planning/Technical Services will report directly to Bromfield.
According to Pirelli, during the 2012 Formula One season the tyre maker supplied teams with a total of 31,800 race tyres (22,500 dry tyres and 9,300 wet tyres) plus an additional 6,600 tyres for testing. A quarter of all tyres delivered were soft compound, while medium proved the second most popular fitment and accounted for 21 per cent of all tyres. Intermediate tyres accounted for a further 18 per cent, while hard, wet and supersoft supplies were 17 per cent, 11 per cent and six per cent respectively. Two per cent of all tyres supplied were development tyres. The average lifespan of dry compound tyres this season was 180 kilometres, while wet compound tyres lasted 140 kilometres on average.
Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa finished his most successful MotoGP season with victory at Valencia, having started in the pit lane after making a late decision to swap to slick tyres. He crossed the finish line in spectacular style, 37.661 second ahead of his nearest competitor, Yamaha Factory Racing’s Katsuyuki Nakasuga, gaining his first ever MotoGP podium. In third place was Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner, ending his MotoGP career with a podium. San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Michele Pirro scored the best CRT result of the season by finishing in fifth place, having dared to start the race on slick tyres. Immediately after the MotoGP, Bridgestone kicked off developments for 2013, with a test somewhat compromised by continuing damp weather.
Of course, white road markings are only effective if you can see them and, in a comment issued before the RSMA report came out, Matthew Mycock, MD of Autoglass, referred to forthcoming DfT statistics that are predicted to show that over 1,000 more road accidents are reported in November compared to the average month, with November 19th being the worst day.
Ellisons Travel is fitting Michelin cold weather tyres to its entire fleet this winter. While the company has fitted winter tyres from a variety of manufacturers for more than 20 years, this is the first time it has selected Michelin cold weather tyres exclusively for its fleet of 42 cars and 25 luxury coaches and people carriers.
UK motorists will waste nearly £50 million of fuel this winter by leaving their cars to idle with the engine running in order to defrost them, a new study of regular drivers by Direct Line Car Insurance has discovered.
The fuel wasted equates to over 300 million road miles and would enable someone to drive an average size car more than 13,000 times around the world.
This year, Vauxhall is offering a wide range of winter tyres through its MasterFit winter tyre programme. All MasterFit Retailers nationwide will supply and fit tyres for all popular Vauxhall models so that motorists are prepared for the winter ahead.
The East Midlands Ambulance Service is to spend £80,000 on 1,000 new winter tyres to try to avoid being caught out by plummeting temperatures this season, reports the Skegness Standard.
While financial analysts were not more than satisfied with what they characterised as an “in-line” set of third quarter financial results from Continental AG, a spell of cold weather could be just the tonic for the German tyre maker which is strong in winter tyre sales.
Continental has launched a new winter tyre for coaches, the Scandinavia HSW 2 Coach, saying that an increasing number of transport companies are now using its latest seasonal heavy commercial vehicle products. In several European countries, the use of winter tyres on trucks is a legal requirement with, in some cases, a minimum tread depth requirement of 6mm.
This year’s Malaysian Grand Prix was red-flagged after thirteen laps in an intense tropical downpour, with Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa claiming victory ahead of Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo in second place and teammate Casey Stoner, who finished third. With varied track conditions over the weekend, riders experienced every specification of tyre brought to Sepang by Bridgestone. All riders opted for the hard compound front wet tyre during the race, while rear tyre choice was equally divided across the grid with ten riders each selecting the soft and hard compound wet tyre. Masao Azuma, chief engineer in Bridgestone’s Motorsport Tyre Development Department speculated on why riders may have experienced less grip at Sepang, even before the rain came.
The September issue of Tyres & Accessories is now available online in our e-paper format. This edition contains the latest tyre news and views as well as features on Truck Tyres and Winter Tyres, plus a complete preview of Brityrex 2012. Subscribers can read this online now. Simply click more below.
The automotive and tyre industries will soon be able to conduct winter tyre tests at the Ivalo test centre in Finland all year round. This new development has nothing to do with climate change; in May Test World Oy began work on an indoor facility; this hall, which resembles those used for indoor skiing, is expected to be completed in November and ready for use by the end of the year.
Maxxis’ range of winter tyres is designed to cope with conditions across Europe, where the manufacturer says they have “proved their reliability”. Designed to disperse snow and deliver improved grip, Maxxis has developed its winter weather tyres with Virtual Intelligent Prototyping technology, engineering them to cope with the most extreme temperatures and slippery surfaces. The range currently includes the MA-PW, the MA-W1, MA-W2 and MA-SPW Wintermaxx range tyres, and the MA-SW Victra Snow tyres.
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.
