‘Breakfast Cruises’ Bring Added Customers to Tire Dealerships
Most red-blooded Americans will agree with me – many rather enthusiastically – that doughnuts are great, in almost any form. Even vegans enjoy a Boston Cream doughnut. And although most of the officers in blue I know cringe at the old jokes about cops and doughnuts, park a cruller near their cruiser and soon they’ll
Keeping Race-Tuned Vehicles on the Road Requires Dedicated Tires
An eerily maniacal grin emanated from my buddy Steve Lobel’s face, giving me only a hint of what was to come. I arrived in the small burg of Canton, Ga., earlier that morning to see his car – recently retrieved from the tuner shop Forged Performance just down the road in Marietta, outside of Atlanta.
Revised CAFE Standards Afford Tiremakers New Opportunities
In the August issue of Tire Review, I began to address Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for vehicles sold in the U.S. and what the legislation means for the tire industry. Now we’ll take a deeper look at how tire manufacturers are responding to changing legislation – and consumer demand – with their own
Vehicle and Tire Changes Caused by CAFE Standards
Thirty-five years ago, the U.S. government enacted the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards to improve the average fuel economy of cars and trucks sold in the U.S. The legislation came after several events – most notably the oil embargo of 1973, which drove up pump prices for gas, which in turn drove U.S. drivers
Tire-Destroying Drifters Raise Tire Hungry Crowds – and Opportunities
Clutch drops. Trail braking. Line. Feint. Tansou (speed attack) and Tsuiso (chase attack). Oversteer. Oh, and tire smoke. Lots and lots of tire smoke. Drifters blend the entertainment of flash driving with the discipline needed to control a car at 11/10ths – just past the absolute limit of adhesion – and into a
Digital Revolution Makes Information Available Anytime, Anywhere
About two years ago, I made the big leap into the 21st century new media by buying an iPod. At the time, I was driving about 1,000 miles per week – and I thought the novelty of listening to my album collection without having to lug a couple hundred CDs with me in the car
‘Performance’ Tires Are Everywhere: Do They Still Stand Out?
What is performance? A recent commercial by stalwart automakerMercedes-Benz asks the question – and then sets about answering it ascompletely as 30 seconds of prime-time television can. Sparing their hyperbole, arguably performance is action – it is doing.Whether something is doing well is an altogether different point. Tiremakers develop what they term “high
Pirelli’s Intelligent Cyber Tire ‘Speaks to the Car’
As with all tiremakers, Pirelli’s R&D department in Milan, Italy, works to deliver increased active and passive safety to drivers. But one new tool in its arsenal is a computerized chip installed in the carcass of what has been dubbed “Cyber Tire.” Development of the Cyber Tire began several years ago. Unlike previous “tire chip”
Reassuring and Serving Customers Suffering From Sticker Shock
There was never a doubt in my mind that I would own a BMW one day. Call it fate, call it kismet, karma…whatever. I’ve had my eye on that propeller badge since infancy and nothing could stop me from buying that car. Well, almost nothing. I put off ownership of a small BMW for years