Tag: tread depth
Sigmavision wins venture capital from Mercia Fund Managers consortium
Sigmavision Ltd has announced that it has gained a major financial investment, which the company says will be used to “further accelerate the company’s rapid growth”. The funding comes from a consortium led by Mercia Fund Managers, which has invested “a significant undisclosed sum”, with the option of “substantial follow-on funding”.
Nokian Tyres: SnapSkan shows dangerously low tread on more than 1 in 10 cars
During the summer months of June to August, the SnapSkan tyre scanning technology from Nokian Tyres measured the condition of tyres fitted to almost 200,000 cars in Finland’s largest cities. What these free tests showed is that up 13 per cent of all cars scanned were fitted with summer tyres that have what the tyre maker calls a “dangerously low tyre tread depth.”
Pirelli deploys Groove Glove technology in Middle East
Pirelli’s Middle East tyre retail operation has adopted Groove Grove technology as a way of improving its service offer. According to local news reports, Groove Grove was created by Tire Profiles, a partner of MAHA Maschinenbau Haldenwang GmbH & Co., the German supplier of high-end garage and vehicle inspection equipment. Using the technology, motorists can get tyre-related information, including suspension, pressure, alignment, wear and tear and replacement recommendations. The technology also has the capability to calculate the tread depth of the major grooves on a tyre to a tenth of a millimetre.
TyreSafe: Check your tyres before Bank Holiday, half term
The Spring Bank Holiday weekend is fast approaching and for most schools in England and Wales, it also means half term, signalling millions of drivers loading up their cars to get away for a week’s well-earned rest or a visit to family and friends. Around 30 per cent of Britons stayed in the UK for their holidays in 2017, and this figure is expected to be similar this year. The message from TyreSafe is – whether your car is packed for the day or the week, it’s vital to check your tyres before you leave to minimise the risk of a tyre-related incident.
GEM voices support for 3mm tyre changes
Change is inevitable, but it’s important to time it right. Michelin claims its tyres deliver safe performance down to the legal tread depth limit of 1.6mm and considers changing tyres beforehand unnecessary, costly to motorists and fleets, and harmful to the environment. The tyre maker has heavily promoted this point of view in recent times, but its message isn’t finding an audience with everyone. In a statement issued today, GEM Motoring Assist recommends that motorists change their tyres earlier.
Michelin raises worn tyre issue at Detroit show
The argument against prematurely dismounting tyres voiced by Michelin here in the UK and in Europe has become a topic of conversation at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week. The tyre maker’s global initiative to promote consumer awareness was presented at the show yesterday by Michelin North America’s recently-appointed chairman and president, Scott Clark.
TyreSafe supports national roads policing tyre safety initiative
TyreSafe has announced substantial support for the national roads policing initiative to increase awareness of tyre safety to motorists on Britain’s roads. This will begin with the charity’s handover of 2,000 digital tread depth gauges for use by traffic officers across the country when they conduct stop checks at the roadside. It’s the first time tyres will be included on the list of recommended visual vehicle checks carried out by police officers, and is considered as a significant step forward in carrying the tyre safety message directly to motorists. With accurate digital gauges to precisely measure the tread depth, drivers can immediately be made aware of the amount of tread remaining on their vehicles’ tyres. All those drivers will be reminded of the 1.6mm minimum legal limit for tread depth.
69% of motorists don’t know minimum tyre tread depth
Taking the results of a survey conducted by Venson Automotive Solutions, we can safely conclude that driver knowledge about tyre tread depths isn’t what it should be. The independent fleet management specialist shares that 69 per cent of survey participants weren’t aware of the 1.6mm minimum legal tread depth limit.
Hand-held laser tread-depth scanners come to the fore
As our environment becomes increasingly technologically driven, it is no surprise to learn that as many as 15 per cent of tyres are being bought online. At the same time tyres are becoming more and more “intelligent” with built-in sensors such as TPMS. However, for a long time the business of checking tyre tread depth has been a relatively imprecise affair. A few years back standards improved with the development of digital tread depth probes, some of which even bluetoothed data to cloud-based systems. However, the latest technology takes routine tread depth checks and fleet audits to the next level.
NTDA reiterates 3mm tread-depth call after 2nd Northern Ireland tyre survey
The NTDA’s regional meeting held in Templepatrick on 17 May reported the results of the associations 2017 tyre tread depth on replacement survey showed. It showed that in one week in March, members had removed 1,200 tyres from cars and light commercial vans that were already below the legal tread depth limit of 1.6mm. This follows on from a similar survey carried out over a longer period in 2016, where more than 3000 tyres removed were already under 1.6mm.
EY: Most EU tyres changed at 3mm
An Ernst & Young (EY) report commissioned by Michelin has found that – within the European Union most tyres are replaced at 3mm. Indeed, citing a study published in 2014 in the journal Tire Science and Technology, the report writers found that the average and median tread depths of removed tyres are 3.1 and 3mm respectively.
Michelin: Planned obsolescence is ‘quite developed’ in the European tyre market
Michelin further re-affirmed its opposition to increasing minimum tyre tread depths (and of those that recommend changing tyres at 3mm) on 11 May when the company held a “The truth about worn tyres” demonstration at its ultra-modern Ladoux global research and development centre near Clermont-Ferrand in France. But what is the truth about tread depth? Tyres & Accessories spent a day experiencing some of the differences between tyres currently available in the European market and spoke with the Michelin senior vice president responsible for the firm’s whole-life tyre strategy, Bernard Delmas, in order to find out more.
Butts of Bawtry to launch Bartec tyre tread depth tool at CV Show 2017
Bartec’s TAP200 tread and pressure reader will be unveiled at the CV Show 2017 by its new distributor, JHM Butt & Co Ltd (Butts of Bawtry). The TAP200 will be on display at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) between 25 and 27 April, on stand 4E111.
Kwik Fit: Blue light a good tyre care example
Although the legal tread depth limit is 1.6mm, only 16 per cent of the UK’s ‘blue-light’ services allow the tread on their emergency vehicles’ tyres to go below 2.5mm of tread before being changed. In fact, Kwik Fit claims that on average the emergency services change their vehicle tyres at a tread depth of 2.74mm.
The ethics of tread depth
At the end of last year, during the Paris Motor Show, Michelin reaffirmed its position on tread depth. The leading French tyre manufacturer believes a tyre should perform well throughout its whole life. And seeing as the European legal tread depth limit is 1.6mm, this means all the way down to this particular tread depth. Taken in isolation, this is a strong argument that basically no-one would contradict. So why did we immediately receive strong feedback from companies and associations? What are the counter arguments? And what are the implications of adopting such a stance?
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