The first Michelin tyre engineered to meet the specific handling and range requirements of electric sports cars will come to market from 1 April. Announcing the imminent launch of the Pilot Sport EV, Michelin shares that the tyre excels in a number of areas of key importance to drivers of electric performance vehicles – notably grip on wet and dry roads, resistance to wear, low rolling resistance and reduced noise.
Its market launch was actually planned for last autumn, but Continental postponed the introduction of its new WinterContact TS 870 until 2021 for corona-related reasons. The wait is now almost over, as a company representative has confirmed that “preparations to bring the WinterContact TS 870 to market are on schedule” with a launch range that consists of almost 20 SKUs in 14- to 17- rim diameter sizes. And this winter tyre isn’t the only new product that Continental is bringing out – a number of online retailers have already made space for a successor to the SportContact 6.
Falken owner Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd has begun supplying Falken Azenis FK510 tyres to Toyota Motor Corporation for use as factory standard tyres on its new model Mirai, a fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV), which went on sale this December.
Goodyear has launched its new EfficientGrip Performance 2 with a bold claim. The manufacturer believes the new tyre can reach around 50 per cent higher mileage than the first edition of its car tyre product line. In internal tests, driving open roads in Luxembourg and France in a VW Golf fitted with 205/55R16 91V size tyres, this is what Goodyear says the second edition EfficientGrip Performance achieved.
Pirelli says its tyres will be become safer and greener in the coming five years, and will come to market more quickly, too. The company has outlined its performance targets for the Pirelli passenger vehicle range within its new 2020-2022 Industrial Plan, which was approved on Wednesday
At the same time released its Eagle F1 SuperSport range, which is unashamedly pitched at the ultra, ultra-high performance segment (UUHP). The range is comprised of three tyres for the three main sub-sections of the UUHP segment – the Eagle F1 SuperSport, the SuperSport R and the SuperSport RS.
In addition to introducing the ‘three-season’ Wetproof today, Nokian Tyres has unveiled another key product in its new generation of summer tyres – the ultra-high-performance Powerproof.
The UK’s high performance tyre sector – in this case defined by tyre diameters of 17” and above – has continued its growth trend, but at a very much slower rate than in 2017.
Lassa Tyres presented its recently developed Driveways series to Italian drivers at the Bologna Autopromotec Fair. Lassa Tyres are currently offered to end-users at 5,000 points of sales in 63 countries, according to the company.
Currently experiencing a boost in its brand awareness thanks to its partnership with 2016/2017 Premier League champions Chelsea FC, demand for Yokohama’s range of high performance tyres which allow drivers to push the limit reportedly continues to soar.
Leading independent national wholesaler Grouptyre offers a wide range of high performance and ultra-high performance tyres from all the major manufacturers. Massive developments in research and technology over the last few years, has enabled Grouptyre’s exclusive brands to develop alternatives within this competitive market at realistic and affordable prices.
In recent years, demand for high performance and UHP tyres has increased considerably (see GfK data earlier in this section). However, this trend has also resulted in greater complexity in the market. Current trends see more small cars and family saloons being fitted with 16, 17, 18 and 19 inch rims, and as a result, motorists are requiring bigger, but better performing, tyres. Such demand indicates the need for manufacturers to offer a broader range of tyres, in a variety of tread patterns and load and speed ratings, to satisfy the market.
The UK ultra-high performance sector (defined as 17-inch diameters and above) now represents some 38.8 per cent of the UK tyre market. That’s according to the latest market data produced by experts at GfK whose Point of Sales Tracking data compared sales in the period between May 2015 to April 2016 with May 2016 to April 2017. In order to better understand the high performance sector, Tyres & Accessories took a close look at the latest GfK information.
Cooper Tires has launched two new products in its high performance range over the last 18 months, something the company describes as an indication that the firm is “committed to offering customers the latest tyre technologies.”
According to the company, Cooper’s knowledge of the motorsport industry and the demands of high performance driving enable the tyre manufacturer to develop road tyres that are optimised for high performance vehicles.
In any sphere of driving, from motorsports to day-to-day motoring, peak performance doesn’t come cheap – and that goes for the tyres as much as for the vehicles themselves. After all, when you’ve invested in a prestige, state of the art vehicle you won’t want to sully its perfection with tyres that are in any way inferior to those fitted as original equipment – especially since they’re the parts transmitting your vehicle’s raw power to the tarmac and turn it into adrenaline and acceleration.
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Goodyear