Bridgestone and Michael Schumacher Take Part In Make Cars Green Ecological Program
The goal of Make Cars Green program created by FIA is the popularization of maximum ecological use of cars.
Michael Schumacher took part in the event that was held by Bridgestone in Melbourne. “We are very glad that Michael joined us to help develop Make Cars Green Program”, - said Andrew Moffatt, chief executive of Australian Bridgestone department.
“Our Bridgestone Potenza Formula One tires are evidence of the global support of the program as they have bright green stripe that symbolizes the support. We have recently presented Bridgestone Ecopia tires in Australia. The tires ensure low rolling resistance level in order to reduce fuel consumption and harmful emission. The tires are very important to us as they will help show Australian drivers how tires can affect the environmental friendliness of their vehicles.”.
The program offers 10 items that should be followed: buy environmental friendly goods, plan trips, check the pressure in the tires more often, reduce loads and don’t install trunks on the roof, start a trip without warming the engine up, use air conditioning only in case of necessity, accelerate slowly and maintain constant speed, avoid idle running, compensate CO2 emissions.
“If the level of pressure is only 50kPa lower than the required level, the fuel consumption level rises by 2% in the city and by 10% on a highway, - noted Mr. Moffatt. – Besides this, tires with a proper level of pressure provide higher level of traction what in its turn promotes not only environmental friendliness but also safety”.
How To Store Summer Tires?
The room in which You are going to store Your summer tires must be cool enough – the temperature should not exceed +73 - +77 degrees. If the temperature is too high Your tires will get covered with microcracks what in its turn will speed up their aging. It will undoubtedly affect Your safety during next season. By the way, tires are afraid of cold too. That’s why cold garage will affect them in the same way as near-standing heater. The distance between the heater and the place of storage must not be less than 2 yards. The room for storage must also be dark and have ventilation – it means that You shouldn’t cover Your tires with canvas no matter how esthetically You are going to do that. You should also make sure that Your tires don’t have contact with oils, paints, fuel and other greasy surfaces. You should also wipe the tires dry.
If You are going to keep Your tires mounted on wheels You should hang them using the central hole of the wheel. It will also be necessary to pump them up a little bit. If You keep Your tires without wheels the technology is totally different.
You shouldn’t build a will from Your tires as the weight of upper tires will deform the beads and patterns of lower tires what will result in the decline of traction in the next season. Such tires will not only get worn faster – the wear will also be non-uniform. That’s why You should keep Your tires strictly vertical – on the floor or on a shelf and spin them every month for 90 degrees so that they can make a full circle throughout the cold season.
Some More Useful Facts About Tires
Probably, you have read and heard a lot about tire myths. You believe some of them, other you try to check yourself. Look through some more facts, concerning tires, and make useful conclusions.
Lets turn to some of them:
1.Wide tires can increase the speed of your car, if you take part in a race.
It’s true. If you have big and wide tires, your possibility to avoid slipping is higher and your car accelerates faster.
2. Automobile tires, filled with nitrogen leak out the air slower than that ones filled with the oxygen.
Yes, sure. Nitrogen molecules are bigger and that’s why iflation pressure don’t need to be checked so often.
3. Winter tires provide you with additional safety.
It’s the real truth. Especially when you have severe winter weather in your country and strong snowfalls.
4. The optimal service life of a tire – 25-35 thousand miles.
Tires becomes weary when you drive much, cover rather long distances at high speed, you are to change your tires nearly once a 4 years.
5. Overinflated tire will burst.
It doesn’t happen if you have a new tire of a good quality. Only if you have a damaged wheel the exceeded pressure on the sidewall may cause such a problem.
Top 7 Questions Most Frequently Asked At Tire Shop
We have conducted small research regarding the questions that are most frequently asked at tire shops. Below you will find the questions and our brief answers.
How noisy?
Acoustic comfort is very important for many drivers. The question can be answered as follows: if other conditions (manufacturer, price segment) are equal, V-shaped directional tread pattern will be noisier. Physical laws work here: V-shaped layout of grooves and tread blocks causes resonance in shoulder area what in its turn entails increased noise level. So, if acoustic comfort is more important for you than high-speed directional stability on wet surface, tires with non-directional tread pattern will suit you better.
How soft?
The question may be very relevant especially if one has to deal with poor-quality roads. The common principle is: the lower the profile – the worse the absorption of undulations. In case two tires have the same profile but the sidewall of one of them is softer, the tire with more rigid sidewall will deliver less comfort. The disadvantage of the tire with a softer sidewall is its higher exposure to damages.
When was the tire manufactured?
A lot of people have been asking the question lately as they look for the tires manufactured in 2010 or 2009. In theory such search is a waste of time as tires can be stored for more than three years without losing their properties. But their storage must be proper, and there the anxiousness of a purchaser is justified as he is not able to monitor storage conditions. On the other side, one can easily distinguish tires that have been stored improperly – they have dents on sidewalls, radial and circumferential curvings, worn spots and small ruptures.
Where was the tire made?
People are constantly interested in the manufacturing country. Many of purchasers are afraid of Chinese tires. But all the tire producers say that the quality of the products manufactured under their brand will always be the same regardless of the manufacturing region. The human factor has minimal influence on the manufacturing process. The main thing there is the quality of the used components and equipment that is the same at all works (China, Russia, Europe, America). The sellers confirm this information saying that faulty tires are equally rare among the products manufactured both in Europe and China.
What do color spots on the sidewall and circumferential stripes on the tread mean?
The question is asked not very often but regularly. Drivers are afraid of marks on tires because they consider them as signs of the lowering of quality. There is plenty of such information on the Internet. Here is the truth: spots on the sidewall are markers for balancing. For example, red spot marks the heaviest place on the tire, yellow – the lightest. By the way, working on the modern balancing machines makes the spots absolutely unnecessary but some producers still mark their tires. Circumferential stripes can be either traces of the testing machines that check radial wobbling of tires at works or inner manufacturing markers that simplify manipulations with different models and sizes of tires at warehouses.
Will the performance on wet surface be good?
Quite popular question. To answer it one can recommend tires with directional tread pattern. Nevertheless, premium segment tires with non-directional tread pattern also provide good water withdrawal properties.
How long is the service life?
This question is typical for those purchasers who have already chosen some particular model. Frankly speaking there isn’t a single criterion. The common principle is following: softer rubber wears faster. Such rubber is basically typical of sport tires as they are to ensure better traction performance.
