Goodyear Safety Rules Concerning Tires
Goodyear Tire & Rubber experts claim that you can totally count on your vehicle to deliver excellent maneuverability and traction in tough situation only by using a set of new tires every time you have to replace worn ones while changing only for a new pair won’t do you any good.
The research conducted by the company revealed the fact that nearly one third of car owners prefer to mount just two tires instead of four. However, you’ll get much more balanced traction and handling with both front and rear axles being equipped with new tires.
Goodyear states that traction depends on the type of tires we use and, moreover, one shouldn’t mount different front and rear tire pairs on one and the same vehicle. Winter tires deliver performance different from that of all-season tires. Some drivers, for instance, buy two new tires for the front wheels only to increase traction but still it leads to lateral skidding during cornering.
The company recommends you to change tire positions every 6000 miles of driving for it provides for even abrasion and helps the tire retain balanced traction. If you do this more rarely, it causes untimely wear and reduces the tire mileage almost by one third. In addition, new tires, and new winter tires in particular, should be mounted on four wheels at a time to optimize handling and ensure a firm grip in any situation.
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.
Hankook, Goodyear and Yokohama Become Winner of Tire Technology International Awards Ceremony
This year the Tire Technology International Awards ceremony took place in Koln (Germany). The main award was given to Hankook company who became Tire Manufacturer of the Year. Goodyear was the first in Tire Technology of the Year while Yokohama won the first prize for being Ecological Achievement of the Year.
Jury members were extremely impressed by the development of Hankook company over the latest twelve months, which would likely make it the fifth world’s largest tire manufacturer in a couple of years.
Jin-Wook Choi, the executive manager and the head of European Hankook department said that they are very glad to get such an award for it means the recognition of their philosophy of standing growth. He added that the previous year was a great success for the company, which became thanks to the hard work of their employees.
The second and the third prizes in this category were given to Apollo and Bridgestone companies.
Goodyear was awarded thanks to its high-performance UltraGrip Ice+ frictional winter tire highly praised by the jury. It was called an impressive tire designed to manage the most problematic roads in the world, the ice-covered roads of Scandinavia. Marс Junio, the general director of Goodyear Innovative center in Luxemburg – it is where the tire was worked out – said that they are proud of their tire’s performance and are glad to be the best among winter tire manufacturers.
Speaking about Yokohama company, jury members stressed that the company’s numerous ecological projects weren’t unnoticed while the most impressive one was the one dealing with bio diversity preservation. In the frames of that project Yokohama carried out a profound research on how its activities affect the environment and tried to reduce negative influence on it caused by the use of natural rubber and mineral resources.
European Winter Tire Legislation (N-S)
Winter hasn’t come to an end yet, so planning a tour around Europe it is reasonable to investigate into its winter tire legislation. There’re no common rules here, yet every country has its own norms and regulation one has to know in order to stay on the safe side.
Norway – people entering the country are not obliged to have winter tires on their vehicles, but they are highly recommended to do so. In general, all the drivers in Norway must use tires matching weather conditions and if necessary equip them with anti-skidding chains. So you feel it that you won’t do without winter tires here.
Poland – Nobody would ask you to show winter tires as you drive in into the country, but taking into account that snow removal isn’t the best here, summer tires would be problematic and even risky to use.
Romania – There’s been no particular rules as regard to winter tire there, but recently there’s appeared a law that makes the use of winter tire from November 1st till March 1st obligatory. The new law joins into force in 2011.
Slovakia – Winter tire must be used there.
Slovenia – Winter tires must be used in a period between November 15th till March 15th. Though the rules tell that tread depth of such tires should be 4 millimeters, Slovenian law-makers decided that 2 millimeters would be enough.
Sweden – You can come to this country with summer tires mounted on your car, though the Swedes themselves are made to use special winter tires. It’s worth mentioning that you’d better follow their example for snow-covered roads are not treated with sand here. The necessary tread depth for tires is 3 millimeters.
Switzerland - It’s not compulsory to change to winter tire here, but is highly recommended to do so. If for instance your summer tires would cause a road accident, you would be made responsible for it. In this case insurance won’t be paid at all. It’s your own choice whether to equip your tire with studs or chains, but they may be a must on some roads even for four-wheel drive vehicles. At the same time, studs are forbidden on major highways while on other roads you’ll have to drive slower on studded tires – 33 mph and 50 mph in the city and outside it. So, as you have already noticed, winter tires are not that bad for driving in Switzerland.
Look also - European Winter Tire Legislation (A-L)
