ACE and GTU Winter Tire Testing – Premium Class Segment
Winter tires are gradually becoming a must for more and more European countries since the Old World faced two severe winters in succession. The tire-makers, in turn, do their best to satisfy growing demand and launch numerous new models. But the main thing is to define how these new tires behave in the wet, on snow and slush.
In this post you’ll find the results of winter tire tests conducted by Automotive Club Europe (ACE) and German Technical Control Society (GTU). They compared eight premium-class tires on a special testing field in the Alps.
The first price was taken by Goodyear Ultra Grip 8 that a bit outperformed the Semperit Speed Grip2 tire. The “Highly Recommended” marking was given to Continental Winter Contact TS 830, Dunlop SP Winter Sport 4D and Pirelli Snow Control Series 3 tires while Nokian WR D3 and MichelinAlpin A4 were granted the “Recommended” sign. The poorest performer was Fulda Kristall Control HP.
Goodyear and Dunlop showed the best snow traction while the others also did well except for a Fulda. In terms on braking on snow it was Continental that outperformed Goodyear while the safest handling was delivered by Goodyear, Dunlop и Pirelli. The real disappointment became the Fulda tire.
When braking distance in the wet was counted, the best tire became the Semperit while the worst one was again Fulda. On a dry road it was Goodyear that won the first price.
In conclusion it should be said that the difference among premium-class tires tends to be smaller than earlier. At the same time one should congratulate Goodyear on the success of their UltraGrip 8 tire.
Continental to Be an Official Sponsor of Euro 2012
Continental is going to be an exclusive partner and an official sponsor of the European football championships that will take place in Poland and the Ukraine in 2012 and in France in 2016.
In this way the well-known European tire-maker continues the tradition it began in 1995. From then on, the company uses large-scale football events as a communication platform with its customers.
The goals remain unchanged, tells the Continental representative. The company aims at the promotion of its image around the world, its recognition and positive perception. The company wants the customers to be aware of a high safety level of their products, which in the end should lead to wider audiences of Continental adherents.
The high officials of the championship are also glad that Continental has been a football fan for a long time already. The company is a reliable one, which as well brings benefit to the image of the championship and helps make the event more breathtaking and bright year after year.
For the latest 15 years Continental has been supporting international football championships in the role of an exclusive sponsor. It has already brought great advantages to the company for European customers are highly informed about the brand. At the same time, Continental attracts attention of people around the world thanks to its active participation in such world-known events as football championships.
Tire-Makers Claim Tire Abrasion Doesn’t Inflict Harm on Human Health
World-known tire-makers has carried out a series of tests to prove that micro-elements emerging from tire abrasion is safe for human health as well as for environment in general. Neither inhaling these elements from air nor their quantity in soil and water is dangerous for their level lies below toxicity line.
The so-called Tire Industry Project (TIP) gathered Bridgestone, Continental, Cooper, Goodyear, Hankook, Kumho, Michelin, Pirelli, Sumitomo, and Toyo automotive manufacturers to work under the idea of healthy environment. Its aim is to reveal and eliminate potential harmful influence of the materials used in tire production. The project runs under the auspices of the WBCSD while the TIP participants are in charge of 70 per cent of the world tire industry.
After the elements disposed into soil and water were tested the researchers dealt with air toxicity to find out that there’s no harm in inhaling tire abrasive elements. The results have also shown that tire wear doesn’t inflict harm on the environment for the concentration of micro-elements in soil and water is too low to become dangerous for human health.
The tests were carried out in the Seine river basin in France, in the Jodo basin in Japan as well as in Chipsake gulf in the USA.
The TIP participants are also looking forward to the use of nanotechnologies in tire production. It can partly solve ecological problems alongside with bringing benefit to end consumers. For instance, innovative nanomaterials can enhance modern passenger and truck vehicles’ fuel efficiency and hence reduce the amount of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.
Moreover, the TIP community actively promotes new schemes of worn tire utilization and their recycling and further use.
Continental Celebrates Its 140th Anniversary
On the 12th of October Continental celebrated its 140th anniversary with a special evening where an exclusive collection of retro posters was shown. It also organized an excursion into a retro museum to display such legendary cars as Rolls-Royce Phantom II, Buick 57S, ЗИС-110, Mercedes-Benz 540K and many others.
The place for the exhibition is not accidental for the company can boast the same long history as that of automobile history itself. Back in 1871 in Hannover the Caoutchuc & Gutta - Percha public corporation was created. It produced goods from soft rubber, rubberized fabric, cast tires for carriages and bikes.
For one hundred and forty years of its existence the company has succeeded in a number of respects. It was one of the German companies to produce pneumatic bicycle tires (1892), than in 1921 is created the first pneumatic truck tire. It was also the first German tire-maker to unveil tubeless tires in 1955.
Now Continental is one of the leading automotive manufacturers. It produces tires, braking systems, information systems, electronic appliances and many other goods. It has been improving its products for 140 years to make roads safer with its every step.
One of the company’s proprietary technologies is the ContiSeal technology that allows for sealing punctures up to 5 mm in depth. There’s also an adaptive Black Chill rubber compound and the Brilliant Stud technology among its achievements.
Truck tires were enhanced as well. The company worked out a special lightweight and durable Airkeep casing for them to help the tire retain air pressure in it while 3D sipes and innovative methods of rubber compounding lead to the creation of the HD Hybrid, the universal tire for cargo hauling on highways as well as local roads.
