By Oliver Hall

A Porsche driver is facing a prison sentence after he admitted causing a crash that killed 83-year-old woman.

One of the tyres on businessman Dean Wright’s Porsche 911 was bald and he did not take adequate notice of the road conditions, Lincoln Crown Court was told.

Wright was driving along the B1188 at Sleaford Road, Dunston when he was in collision with a Suzuki Vitara killing passenger Eileen Holvey, 83, and seriously injuring her husband Horace, 84.

The prosecution also allege that Wright was speeding, although he denied that.

Wright, 48, of North Hykeham, pleaded guilty to causing the death of Mrs Holvey by careless driving on May 15, 2009.

Robert Underwood, prosecuting, said before the smash Wright had been advised by the vehicle manufacturer to change his tyres, but failed to do so.

“We say he was speeding and we say he knew he had a bald tyre,” added Mr Underwood.

Defence barrister Simon Clarke said Wright denied driving at over the 60mph speed limit on the road.

He asked for a probation report to be prepared before sentence.

Judge Michael Heath adjourned sentence for the preparation of a report and granted Wright bail.

By Denna Bowman

Most garages could be putting lives at risk by routinely failing to find basic faults like illegal tyres, according to an alarming investigation by Which?

Of 62 garages secretly tested by the consumer group Which?, nearly 90 per cent, 54, missed at least one potentially dangerous fault and five failed to fix any of the problems.

Four basic faults were presented to the garages - a nearly flat spare tyre, minimum brake fluid, a blown reversing light and low pressure in a rear tyre.

Sixty-eight per cent failed to inflate the spare tyre and 21 per cent the rear tyre. Forty-eight per cent did not spot that the brake fluid was very low while 57 per cent missed the reversing light bulb.

Beforehand Which? filled up the screenwash as an honesty test – 39 per cent charged for it anyway.

Peter Vicary-Smith, chief executive of Which?, said: ‘This is a worrying snapshot of an industry that desperately needs to clean up its act.

“Almost all the garages failed to fix basic faults. This could have endangered the lives of drivers and other road users.’

By Denna Bowman

Eco tyres were put through their paces in the latest test carried out by a leading German car magazine.

Auto Bild compared the performance of five green tyres - the Pirelli Cinturato P7, Bridgestone Turanza ER300 Ecopia, Nokian V, Goodyear EfficientGrip and Michelin Energy Saver.

The five size 205/55 R16 tyres were fitted to a C-Class Mercedes and subjected to a number of wet and dry performance tests, while fuel consumption was measured with a highly precise in-car meter at speeds of 80, 100 and 130 kph. Rolling resistance was also measured in a test facility.

According to a report in Tyres and Accessories magazine, the Nokian and Bridgestone products, along with the Pirelli tyre, received Auto Bild’s highest “exemplary” rating.

Although no outright winner from this trio was named, Auto Bild listed no weaknesses for the Cinturato P7 and described it as a “convincing all-round talent with satisfying savings potential.”

Bridgestone’s Turanza ER300 Ecopia was singled out for its “balanced characteristics in wet and dry, high safety for hydroplaning, good wet braking and low noise while providing satisfactory fuel savings,” although Auto Bild did note the tyre had a reduced fuel savings potential.”

The Nokian V was said to have “well balanced safe handling properties on wet and dry road, high safety reserves with aquaplaning, short braking distances on wet road, satisfying fuel saving potential” as positives, although on the minus side Auto Bild reported “slightly reduced ride comfort.”

However, the two most fuel efficient tyres in the test, the Michelin and Goodyear, were only “recommendable with some reservations.”

By Oliver Hall

Michelin tyres have helped G-Power, the BMW tuning specialist, set the fastest saloon car record.

The M5 G-Power Hurricane RR, shod with the Michelin Pilot Sport tyres, set the world speed record for a saloon car.

The twin-turbocharged V10 engine, producing 800hp, powered the car to 232.5mph (372.1km/h) on the record breaking run.

Michelin 255/35 ZR 19 tyres were used at the front and 305/30 ZR 19′s at the rear, instead of the standard 20-inch fitments.

The G-Power Hurricane RR accelerated from 0 to 100km/h in a mere 4.35 seconds, 9.5 seconds up to 200km/h and 25.8 seconds up to 300km/h.

G-Power already held the record for the world’s fastest saloon with a similarly tuned M5 Hurricane RS which reached a mind-blowing 227mph.

But not satisfied with this, G-Power continued to push the car to the limit using larger twin ASA T1-316 superchargers, coupled to their further tuned version of the M5’s V10 unit.

These modifications upped the power of the Hurricane to 789bhp - however, G-Power claims that the ‘theoretical’ output could be as much as 888bhp, which means that it has the potential to beat its own record several more times.

By Denna Bowman

Continental tyres have have come out tops in the Autocar rear wheel drive tyre test 2010 with the ContiSportContact 3.

The ultra high performance tyre proved its rear wheel drive capabilities in the test conducted on a Mercedes C280.

On the dry handling track, Autocar said: “The clear winner was the Continental SportContact 3s. Not only did they provide the fastest lap time, but also the smallest variance in times… Contis had good grip and great traction exiting corners.”

The magazine tested the 225/45R17 in Uvalde, Texas. They chose a range of competitors from the main premium brands representing the tyres available in the UK market today.

The team tested tyres to the limit across a range of measured disciplines including wet braking, dry braking, straight and curved aquaplaning and rolling resistance. As well as wet and dry handling tests at the track, they considered the tyres purchase price.

Scott Benbow, Continental product manager, said: “We are so pleased with this result.

“ContiSportContact 3 has displayed its prowess in a number of disciplines. Of the two rear wheel drive tests conducted by UK magazines this year, this win means it has been a clean sweep for the ContiSportContact 3 which proves what a great performance tyre it is.”

Autocar also tested 205/55R16 on a front wheel drive VW Golf although not a winner, the ContiPremiumContact 2 finished a close second, missing out on top spot by just 1.5 points. On the ContiPremiumContact 2 test, Autocar said: “Beyond the Continental’s speed, what defined these tyres the best was that they felt the most secure.”

The ContiPremiumContact 2 shone in the individual tests winning the wet braking, wet handling and dry braking.

By Alex Kapadia

Pirelli have announced that they are ‘very satisfied’ with how their new Formula One tyres performed during their maiden two-day test.

The Italian tyres manufacturer completed their first test ahead of entering the sport next year with Nick Heidfeld behind the wheel of last year’s Toyota F1 at the Mugello circuit in Italy.

Heidfeld, who has been recruited as Pirelli’s full-time test driver, evaluated prototype versions of the PZero Formula One tyre, which will be used by all the F1 teams from next season under a three-year agreement with the FIA.

Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director, said: “This was the first step of our return to Formula One, and we are very satisfied with how the tyres performed and the information we were able to collect.

“We are on target and we came away from the test with lots of data to analyse, which is exactly the situation we hoped to be in.”

Hembery is grateful to Toyota and Heidfeld for the assistance they are providing in helping Pirelli to ensure they hit the ground running next season.

“A lot of people have made a big commitment to get to where we are today in a very short period of time, and the effort really has been incredible,” added Hembery.

“The Toyota team has also been very professional and provided a good, reliable car.

“We are also all very happy to begin our relationship with Nick, who gave us a lot of good feedback and suggestions.”

By Denna Bowman

Nearly four million UK motorists are so irritated by their passengers that they would prefer to drive alone, according to a survey by a leading tyres manufacturer.

The study by Continental tyres reveals that the Backseat Driver is the most annoying passenger to have in the car, while other infuriating companions include the Fiddler, the Crooner and the Drone.

The survey, which also shows that a further 14 million drivers prefer to travel alone most of the time, claims that as we get older we get less tolerant of others, with people in their fifties a third more likely to want to drive solo than those in their twenties.

Researchers studied the opinions of 4,000 drivers to discover that the average car-owner gets annoyed at least three times by their passengers’ behaviour during the typical car journey - taking just six minutes for their blood to boil.

Tempers have flared so much for one in five behind the wheel that they have asked a passenger to get out of the car.

Unable to keep their hands, feet and thoughts to themselves, the Backseat Driver was named the most annoying passenger to have in the car. They brake hard before every junction, slam the dashboard with their hands in panic, comment on every turn, and account for more than four in ten irritating passengers.

Tim Bailey, safety expert for Continental Tyres, said: “It is worrying that so many motorists are irritated to such extremes by their passengers. Driving is the time we need to be most alert, so a distraction such as an annoying passenger is likely to mean a driver losing concentration.

“We would suggest calmly letting the passenger know that what they are doing is distracting you, trying to calm down and most importantly, focusing on the road ahead.”

By Denna Bowman

The Michelin Pilot Sport 3 tyre has come out on top in a tyres test conducted by What Car? magazine.

The test was conducted to highlight the difference in performance between premium and budget brand tyres.

The tyres tested alongside the Pilot Sport 3 using a Vauxhall Meriva were equivalent products from Arrowspeed, Continental, Goodyear, Ovation and Sunew.

While the Michelin tyres led the field in the wet and dry braking, and lateral grip tests, it was the poor braking performance of the three budget brands (Arrowspeed, Ovation and Sunew) which was most disturbing.

The magazine reported: “We pitted three premium tyres against three budget alternatives in a series of braking tests, and the results were shocking. In the wet, the budget tyres took an average of 14 metres – the length of an articulated lorry – longer than the premium tyres to pull up from 70mph.

“In the dry the differences weren’t as vast, but the worst budget tyre still took up to five metres longer to stop than the top premium brand. That could easily be the difference between a nasty accident and escaping with just sweaty palms.”

Jianni Geras, Michelin Car Tyre Marketing Manager, welcomed the result of the tests. He said: “Although we are obviously very pleased that the Pilot Sport 3 was the clear winner in this test, the poor performance of the budget brands is very alarming.

“It’s clear from this that the large investment we make in R&D is hugely beneficial to drivers and this doesn’t even take into account the environmental performance of our tyres in terms of improved fuel efficiency and class leading longevity.”

By Denna Bowman

The majority of UK motorists are putting themselves at risk when they drive their cars, because they are not checking their tyres pressures regularly, it has been claimed.

Up to 80 per cent of cars on British roads have either over or under-inflated tyres, according to Schrader Electronics, a manufacturer of direct tyre pressure monitoring systems (TPMS).

Alfonso Di Pasquale, of Schrader Electronics, suggested that car dealers need to explain to customers the safety benefits of TPMS.

He said: “The safety credentials for TPMS are well-known, accepted and supported by the European Union together with other independent research and safety organisations.”

And he added that up to three per cent of road accidents could be avoided if tyres were inflated to the correct levels.

Di Pasquale was responding to an article published by motoring magazine Auto Express which claimed that a number of car companies in the UK have voiced criticism of the European Union’s decision to make TPMS fully mandated by 2014.

The criticism focused on a suggestion that they are an unnecessary piece of technology and one for which some motorists have suggested that they would rather not pay, that car industry was “furious” and there was a “backlash” as a result.

Some of those quoted in the piece said drivers should take responsibility and check tyre pressures on weekly basis.

By Alex Kapadia

Pirelli confirmed Nick Heidfeld as their full-time test driver today as they launched their maiden tyres development test.

The Italian tyres manufacturer have been out of the sport for 20 years, but will return in 2011 as sole suppliers to F1 after signing a three-year contract with the FIA.

Veteran German racer Heidfeld got the testing underway at Mugello earlier today after he was granted a release from his contract as Mercedes GP reserve and test driver in order to take up the position with Pirelli.

Paul Hembery, motorsport director for Pirelli, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Nick into the Pirelli family, and we’re confident that he’ll do a great job for us.”

“The role of test driver is a crucial one, so we were looking for a driver who had plenty of recent Formula One experience, the speed to push our new tyres as hard as possible, and the consistency to provide reliable simulations, as well as the analytical skills to relay information accurately to our engineers.

“Nick fits the bill in every respect and we’re very pleased to have secured his services and obviously thankful to Mercedes GP Petronas for agreeing to release Nick from his contract.”

With 169 races under his belt, Heidfeld is confident that he’ll be able to deliver useful data during his testing stints behind the wheel of the Toyota TF109, the car the Japanese manufacturer used in 2009 - their last season in the sport - which provides a perfect model for the testing.