4×4 Tyres
Everything revolved around Brabus vehicles on 20 August, when the 44th occurrence of the Conti Tuning Day was held. The vehicle tuner brought ten impressive high-performance vehicles for comprehensive testing at the event, including a brand new customised Mercedes EQS and the Brabus 900 Crawler. For its part, the Brabus 900 Crawler was equipped with the Grabber X3, General Tire’s specialist off-road tyre.
Hankook has been instrumental in setting a new Guinness World Records title with Challenge4 record-breaking driver Rainer Zietlow, in conquering the South American Andes. The all-electric vehicle reached a height of 5,816 metres up the Uturuncu volcano, which has two peaks reaching 6,008 and 5,930 metres. Zietlow set the new record on Hankook’s new all-terrain tyre, the Dynapro AT2.
The Terratoura A/T from Davanti Tyres is designed to excel off-road and on-road in all weather conditions, while keeping the driver safe and in control, characteristics the brand suggests make the tyre: “unstoppable…across all terrains”. But what do its users say?
The Falken Wildpeak M/T tyre has passed one of the most gruelling off-road tests in motorsport. The tyres ran 7,500km on the 2022 Classic Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia with zero punctures for the Alves Bandeira/TH-Trucks’ ex-factory Ssangyong Musso. Competing in the 97 Intermediate Average category, the team joined more than 100 entrants on the two-week Dakar Classic, a challenge for pre-2000 rally cars and trucks within the Dakar Rally.
Arriving at Bovington Camp, a military base in Dorset, for the finale of the inaugural season of electric off-road series Extreme E, the lack of noise is the first indication that this is international motorsport done differently. When the nine fully electric 550bhp Odyssey 21 SUVs enter the arena, it is in large part to the sound of wet mud displaced by exclusive tyre supplier Continental’s Extreme E tyre, which is based on the German manufacturer’s CrossContact range. Primarily targeting a broadcast and internet audience, the teams, event staff, and small number of attendees on-site mingle under canvas, watching most of the action from the circuit unfold on big screens. During the races, teams complete the switch between the male and female drivers – another indicator of how Extreme E approaches motorsport differently – in front of this area.
After launching the Vredestein brand across North America in September 2020, Apollo Tyres Ltd presented its new tyre on a Times Square billboard in New York, USA. According to the company, the new Vredestein Pinza AT features ‘Silent Groove’ multi-pitch technology for quieter operation “than competing all-terrain tyres”; a three-ply triplex casing for enhanced durability and protection against external damage; and a “severe snowflake marking”.
The latest off-road product from Hankook Tire has arrived. The Dynapro MT2 is billed as the “the most capable and extreme off-road tyre Hankook has ever offered” and arrives equipped with the latest innovations from the manufacturer’s Technodome R&D centre. At launch this successor to the Dynapro MT is available in 19 popular dimensions that cover the 15- to 19-inch rim diameter range, with white ‘Dynapro’ sidewall lettering available on some sizes.
The complexity of the UK tyre wholesale sector has certainly ramped up considerably thanks to what may be termed an almost perfect storm of external factors relating both to the Covid pandemic and Brexit. With retail margins on consumer tyres already very fine, the wholesale sector has been key in keeping price increases under control, especially considering the spiralling cost of shipping. But as those in the sector know, the value wholesalers add within the distribution chain is a considerably wider subject than purely price. Arguably, the service dimension has never been more important than in the last 18 months, as retail businesses adapted to a market transformed by externalities. Tyres & Accessories asked Graham Mitchell, Micheldever Tyre Services wholesale director, about how the business is faring in 2021, starting with its performance this year.
Hankook Tire is expanding its Dynapro line-up in North America with the introduction of the new ‘Rugged Terrain’ Hankook Dynapro XT and next-generation Dynapro AT2 Xtreme. It will offer the Dynapro XT is 30 sizes in this market. At launch the Dynapro AT2 Xtreme will cover 32 sizes, however Hankook says it will continue adding new sizes through a phased launch, eventually reaching 98 total sizes by 2022. The tyre maker states that the introduction of the two products will accelerate its penetration into the US market.
The Giti Gazelles and Giti Tire have again teamed up to take on the toughest and most conscientious women-only cross-country motorsports event on the planet – the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles du Maroc. English born Helen Tate Wright and New Zealander Sue Alemann, their Defender 110 named Priscilla and a set of Giti AT70 4×4 all-terrain tyres will cover 2,500 kilometres of deserted Moroccan landscape from September 23-30 in the names of racing and charity.
Kumho’s Crugen HP71 tyres are original equipment (OE) on the 2021 Nissan Pathfinder SUV. Specifically, new Nissan Pathfinders will leave the production line shod with 255/60 R18 products.
Kevin Burke Tyres (KBT) has signed an initial three-year distribution partnership with Groupe Michelin brand BFGoodrich. The wholesaler will supply BFGoodrich tyres across the whole of Ireland until at least mid-2024 with the option to extend for a further two years. The deal covers BFGoodrich car, van, SUV and 4×4 tyres, all of which will be stocked for next-day delivery at KBT’s warehouse facility in Athenry, County Galway. The company has stocked “large quantities” of BFGoodrich tyres since 2015, it said, with the new deal representing the latest step in its developing relationship with the brand. The deal follows news from Great Britain that newly appointed UK BFGoodrich 4×4 wholesaler Micheldever Tyre Services has almost doubled its sales of the brand in the last year.
Micheldever Tyre Services has almost doubled its sales of BFGoodrich tyres since becoming the brand’s official 4×4 wholesaler in the UK at the start of 2020. The agreement sees the Winchester-based business – which has established a wholesale distribution network of 15 sites around the country, supplying more than 6,000 retailers nationwide – stock a large selection of BFGoodrich’s All Terrain T/A KO2 and Mud-Terrain T/A KM3 ranges, helping to ensure excellent product availability throughout the year.
Micheldever Tyre and Auto Services has become a four- time winner of the Pirelli 4×4 Key Dealer of the Year award in the sixth year of running the accolade. Each year, the 4×4 Key Dealer of the Year award gives 15 of Pirelli’s exclusive 4×4 Key Dealer Club members the opportunity to nominate one of their depots to enter for the prestigious award. As part of the process, each depot must take part in a number of independently-run mystery shop audits.
General Tire
Davanti
Hankook
Davanti
Extreme E
Vredestein
Kumho
Micheldever Tyre Services