Reifen 2004 the Most International Yet
This year’s Reifen 2004 exhibition was the most international yet. Exhibitors and visitors alike are already looking forward to the next show, which will take place from 23 to 26 May 2006.
This year’s Reifen 2004 exhibition was the most international yet. Exhibitors and visitors alike are already looking forward to the next show, which will take place from 23 to 26 May 2006.
Workers at Ronal’s plant in St. Avold, France, have gone on strike in a protest against restructuring plans. The aluminium cast wheel manufacturers angered employees after using redundancies as a way of cutting costs. Part of the restructuring programme would have meant producing wheels for the high-quality aftermarket segment, but would have led to decreases in annual output.
In an ambitious test project, the american consumer magazine “The Aviation Consumer” has undertaken, the magazine bought 11 aircraft tires and subjected them to 200 simulated landings, plus a skid test. “Sometimes the cheapest tire isn’t the best deal. What matters most is tread depth and the more, the better,” the magazine said. In tread depth alone, Goodyear’s “Flight Custom III” was the winner in the June issue.
Pirelli’s P Zero Nero has emerged as the winner of a summer tyre test carried out by the German magazine auto motor und sport. Ten well-known brands in tyre size 225/45 R17 Y were tested. The Pirelli tyre was top points scorer in seven out of ten categories tested and performed particularly well in wet testing, scoring 99 out of a possible 100.
Tim Chesney, the Managing Director of Romney International Limited, the exclusive distributors of GT Radial brand tyres in the UK and Ireland, would like to state unequivocally that the recent story about PT Gajah Tunggal Indonesia (GT) being acquired by Michelin, is untrue. This story first appeared earlier this month in the US based ‘Modern Tire Dealer’ magazine. It was subsequently reported on the Internet sites of other trade press. Tim Chesney says that this account is without foundation and it should be disregarded. The extent of the inaccuracy of the story is shown in the supposed facts given by Modern Tire Dealer magazine. They quoted Gajah Tunggal’s daily radial tyre production capacity as being just 12,000 pieces when the correct figure is around 25,000 pieces, says Tim Chesney. He goes on to say that the reality is Gajah Tunggal has embarked on a major and exciting expansion programme. This will see the introduction of many new sizes, series and tread patterns, including the all new GT Champiro BAX asymmetric series and the Champiro BXT.
Consumer Association magazine, Which? put the leading UHP tyres through their paces recently with the Goodyear Eagle F1 coming top of its category
again. A convoy of cars were driven over 6,000 miles each in order to compile the results, with the spotlight turned on performance in both wet and dry conditions, ride comfort, noise creation, rolling resistance and wear. The Which? test saw the Goodyear Eagle F1 competing in the 17 inch category, a tyre that would normally be fitted on sporty versions of cars such as BMW 3 Series, Ford Mondeo and VW Golfs. The extensive testing saw the Eagle F1 given an impressive score of 70 per cent across all categories, with Which? reserving special comment for its grip in both wet and dry conditions, as well as declaring it the quietest in its section.
Falken tyres came top in a series of tests conducted by US magazine Consumer Reports. The Falken Ziek ZE 512 scored best among a number of US, European and Japanese brands, with the tests including wet and dry braking, handling, rolling resistance, aquaplaning, ride comfort and noise.
Gerhardt Kalwitz, a freelance editor for the German Tyre magazine Gummibereifung, died in Hurghada/Egypt where he was on vacation. Kalwitz was 59 years old.
Goodyear’s most high-tech truck tyre ever has received recognition that labels it as “terrific” and “one of the best product introductions of 2003,” according to Truck Sales & Leasing publication. The Goodyear G395 LHS steer-axle tyre for long-haul applications was honoured as one of “Terrific 20” of 2003 by the magazine. Winning products are chosen for their innovation, serviceability and performance, according to the magazine. Dave Beasley, Goodyear’s director of sales, commercial tyres said, “We are honoured to have this new tyre recognized as one of the best products in the trucking business. The tyre was designed to be a product that its users could rely on, mile after mile.”
When Goodyear’s Global off-the-road business unit formally launched the Two Piece Assembly this summer it called the new product “revolutionary”. Now it can be called “award winning.” The Two Piece Assembly has won Construction Equipment magazine’s Top 100 award for 2003.
Darren Wells, vice president and treasurer of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, has been recognised by Treasury & Risk Management magazine as one of the nation’s top finance executives under the age of 40. Wells’ responsibilities include Goodyear’s financial risk management, treasury policy, and the company’s relationships with the banking community. He was one of the key participants in renegotiating the company’s credit agreements in early 2003.
Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. has been ranked 19th in the list of Most Successful Engineering Companies, compiled for the trade publication The Engineer. The performance of 900 companies with facilities in the UK were rated on such criteria as percentage change in turnover and operating profit and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA). The survey also concluded that the most successful companies view R&D as a function vital to the success of a company rather than an expense off the bottom line.
US consumer magazine Consumer Reports’ has issued its annual UHP and all-season tyre ranking and Goodyear and Falken head the listings. The Falken Ziex ZE 512 came first out of 18 H-speed rated, all-season performance tyres and the Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3 topped the ranks of 13 Z-rated, ultra-high performance summer tires. The Bridgestone Turanza LS-H came in second on the magazine’s all-season list, and the Toyo Proxes T1-S ranked second in the ultra-high performance list.
T&A has looked at the waste tyre issue several times recently. In fact retreading and recycling is hardly ever missed from the magazine. Our focus has largely been on the legislation, the collection, the mass disposal of tyres and the issues surrounding the problem. There is nothing to say that those issues will go away any day soon. Some of the solutions being wholeheartedly supported at present are not universally popular, and may themselves in time become problems. Most solutions only extend the life of a tyre, or its constituent parts, ultimately the waste will either be burned or buried. The key to winning ground in this battle is to extend the life of the product before it is disposed of. Some say, closing the loop.
If you try asking a granulating company what their products get used for, they will usually admit to Equestrian surfaces, or sports surfaces, but little else. Yet we are told that rubber crumb has a multitude of uses, but what are they?
The article in October’s issue looks at some of the wider uses for waste tyres, serious and not so serious.
The Alcoa Wheel and Forged Products team that developed Dura-Bright(R) surface treatment was honored earlier this month with the 2003 Visionary Award. Presented at the Innovation in Business Conference in Cleveland, by Ohio-based business magazine Smart Business Network and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Ohio, the Visionary Award was created five years ago to recognize Northeast Ohio businesses and arts for innovative ideas and applications.
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