At a certain point, there is little difference between -5 degrees F and -20 degrees F. Cold is just cold, and warmer shelter is the only sane answer.
Unless, of course, you’re banging around a parking lot trying out some winter tires. 
Adrenaline pumps with every twitch, helping keep the body temp in check. And each lap brings another chance to go just a bit harder to see if you can make the vehicle break loose.
Quebec City in early February is just plain cold. It is when the city’s world famous Winter Carnival is held, and every conceivable winter activity is on display, from ice skating in the park to a hockey tournament in area rinks to horse-drawn sleigh rides and cross-country skiing along the St. Lawrence seaway.
For Giti Tire USA and Giti Tire Canada, it was the perfect backdrop to roll out their latest winter tire offering – the Champiro WinterPro – and get North American dealers and media some valuable seat time over sets of Champiro IcePro radials. In all, some 50 dealers were represented, most from Canada.
It was the second driving event for Giti Tire in the last eight months; last August the company launched its Champiro HPY HP line in blistering 106F temps in Phoenix. Talk about working the extremes.
Tom McNamara, vice president of sales, gave attendees an overview of Giti Tire USA and its parent company Giti Tire, which has been a hard charger in the North American market over the last couple of years. With a development focus on safety, fuel efficiency, comfort and handling, Giti Tire has tech centers in U.K. and China, and proving grounds in U.K., China and the Netherlands.
Export production is executed at five plants in China, with a combined capacity of 142,000 tires per day. The company has two tire plants in its home country of Indonesia, but those produce tires for domestic consumption only. The China-made tires are exported and sold in China; Giti Tire exports to some 100 countries, McNamara said.
A new face at Giti Tire is Dave Shelton, director of marketing, who joined the company late last year. Shelton gave attendees a rundown on the new tire, and the planned three-station driving event.
The Champiro WinterPro – which was not used in the driving event, but was the actual new tire being introduced – features a tread compound with the company’s NanoTek Silica technology and rubber polymers that help maintain grip in frigid temperatures. According to William Estupinan, director of technical services, the special formula in this new tire is designed for optimal performance between 14F to 41F.
The Champiro WinterPro’s elliptical tread grooves help pump water and slush away from the contact patch, while hundreds of sipes also help remove water while adding traction edges for wet, snow and ice grip.
The WinterPro is available in 33 sizes covering 13- through 16-inch wheel diameters and T and H speed ratings, which Giti Tire said would fit most popular cars, pickup trucks, SUVs, CUVs and vans.
“Our message to drivers is: If you live in the snow belt, put on a set of purpose-built winter tires like the GT Radial Champiro WinterPro or IcePro for the winter,” said McNamara. This year’s harsh winter across much of North America may give drivers cause for pause and get them thinking about changing over to proper winter tires next season.
But McNamara warns drivers that four tires is the way to go. “Putting winter tires on only the front or back axle is dangerous because one end of the vehicle will have a lot more traction than the other, causing understeer or oversteer.”
Winter Stud
The Champiro IcePro has been out for one winter season already, Shelton said, and is designed for the type of severe winter driving common in Canada and some parts of the U.S. The directional IcePro is studdable with an aggressive winter tread, and event guests had ample opportunity to put the tire through its paces.
The program had three segments: the first station had matching BMW 325is to demonstrate how the IcePro performs on high-torque RWD cars; the second had studded IcePros on Toyota Rav4s to show front wheel drive capability; and on Ford Focuses on the Quebec Exposition Center rink to demonstrate braking and cornering in ice conditions. In each case, the Champiro IcePro went head-to-head with the Firestone Winterforce.
Despite the bitter, stinging cold (thanks to wind gusts), dealers and media pounded out lap after lap. The goal, said Shelton, was to show that the Champiro IcePro was a competent winter tire, at least as good as a recognized mid-level tire.
A lateral groove pattern was designed to remove slush and ice from the contact area, and Giti’s NanoTek Silica technology in the tread compound aids traction.
“The studs in the GT Radial Champiro IcePro provide very aggressive grip when you are dealing with severe ice and snow conditions,” Estupinan said.
The Champiro IcePro comes in 28 sizes covering 14- to 18-inch wheel diameters, all with a T speed rating.
“Our GT Radial winter tires are great performers at a value price,” McNamara said. “There’s no excuse for drivers not to make the switch and gain some peace of mind during the winter.”
Tire/Wheel Option
Few people know that Seyen Wheel is part of the Giti Tire family, and now the company plans to export a line of GT wheels paired with winter tires to Canada and the U.S.
These are not just “plain Jane” steel wheels, these are OE-quality alloy wheels. Seyen Wheel holds numerous OE contracts around the world, including in North America. With the upcoming 2011 winter season, Giti Tire USA and Giti Tire Canada both plan to import complete tire/wheel packages, giving dealers a unique tool to offer customers.
The company operates two wheel plants near Shanghai that will produce a combined 5.3 million wheels per year by 2013. In addition to the new winter wheel, Giti Tire is considering offering replacement alloy wheels in North America if business conditions are favorable.
