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.
Continental Tyre South Africa is marking its 75th anniversary in South Africa with its sponsorship of Cars.co.za’s four-part ‘Continental Icons’ video series. Available on the Cars.co.za YouTube channel, one of the largest branded channels in South Africa with more than 320 000 subscribers, the videos highlight the tyre manufacturer’s original equipment heritage. The General Tire and Rubber Company South Africa was founded in January 1947 and acquired by Continental AG in 1998, after which it was renamed Continental Tyre South Africa. The company said the acquisition helped cement it as one of the country’s leading tyre manufacturers.
Tradition-rich tyre brand with an American heritage, General Tire is extending its range of tyres suitable for light commercial on and off-road use. Vans are used in a variety of scenarios and terrains, General says, which is why it is important to choose the right tyre for the job. Leading the brand’s range for this segment in the newly introduced size 235/65R16C 121/119R Grabber AT3, which it calls “the first true all-terrain tyre available for vans.” General Tire 4×4 tyres are available exclusively through Micheldever Tyre Services in the UK.
Isuzu has approved the General Grabber AT3 as the original equipment tyre for top models of its latest generation Isuzu D-MAX. The 4×4 tyre is thus exclusive original equipment for the Isuzu D-MAX LSE Extended Cab and Double Cab models on 18-inch tyres, as well as for top-of-the-line versions of the D-MAX V Cross Double Cab.
While Continental’s General Tire brand may be best known for its off-road and all-terrain products, General Tire offers a wide range of road tyres. The Grabber GT Plus is the latest tyre to join the General Tire line-up. Replacing the Grabber GT, the Grabber GT Plus offers “a marked improvement in performance in all areas including economy and safety”, according to its manufacturer. Specifically, this means a 12 per cent reduction in rolling resistance and a five per cent improvement in mileage along with “enhanced wet-weather performance”.
Continental Commercial Specialty Tires is repositioning itself in the industrial solid tyre segment by clearly defining the role each of its three brands play. Going forwards, the Continental brand will serve as its range of premium solid tyres, General Tire will provide a home to the company’s medium intensity portfolio, and it will sell solid tyres for low intensity use under the Barum brand name.
Continental launched its first earthmoving tyres under the General Tire brand name early last year, and is now expanding its General Tire portfolio for the earthmoving industry with the General TE95. The tyre maker says the General TE95 “impresses with high traction, especially for soil compaction work” in road and construction applications, and the tyre is equipped – as is the entire product line – with V.ply technology.
The Ford Ranger Raptor is now exclusively fitted with General Grabber AT3 tyres as standard. The high-performance off-road pickup from Ford features a specially developed motorsport-friendly chassis. And its particular performance qualities come to the fore at high speeds away from paved roads.
Like all vehicle manufacturers, Ford defines a wide range of requirements, which Continental (the manufacturer of the General Tire brand) reports the Grabber AT3 “more than met during intensive testing”.
General Tire has announced a voluntary exchange programme involving a maximum of 612 passenger vehicle tyres that were produced at the company’s Mt. Vernon, Illinois plant and sold in the UK replacement tyre market. The affected tyres are specific DOT and mould numbers of these products: General Tire Grabber AT³ LT235/85 R16; General Tire Grabber X³ LT265/70 R17. Affected tyres will be replaced free of charge.
Continental Tire the Americas is recalling more than 90,000 Continental, General Tire and Barum tyres in North America that have been over-cured and are thus at risk of developing breakages in the sidewall area. A separate recall of approximately 12,000 Cooper and Mastercraft tyres in North America is taking place due to a possible low tread gauge in the tyres’ shoulder slot area which could cause tread separation and sidewall failure.
Continental Tire the Americas has announced plans to increase prices on select Continental and General passenger and light truck tyres in the US market.
In the USA, General Motors has issued a safety recall for certain 2020 and 2021 model-year Chevy, Cadillac, Buick and GMC pickup trucks and crossovers. According to GM, the affected vehicles were delivered with Continental brand tyres that were overcured during the manufacturing process. The news follows Continental’s recall of 12,000 Continental and General Tire branded products earlier in November. The GM recall affects over 7000 vehicles in the US market.
Following Continental’s 5 November recall of roughly 12,000 Continental and General brand passenger vehicle tyres sold to vehicle manufacturers and the North American replacement markets, company representatives have confirmed that the UK and European markets are not affected. Continental estimates that approximately 39 of the 12,000 tyres recalled in the USA are defective.
General Tire is expanding the Grabber X3 line-up. The tyre now offers a total of 38 versions of the off-road tyre, nine of them with red sidewall lettering.
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