Good news for Goodyear tyres!  The African charity expedition they support has completed its 6,500 mile journey to supply educational and medical materials.

The team of Land Rover enthusiasts set out from the tyres company’s Birmingham headquarters early last month and has just arrived in Timbukto having donated their vehicles, along with other vital supplies, to good causes along the way.

In total eight vehicles were donated to help the charities conduct their work, all fitted with Goodyear’s market leading 4×4 tyres, the Wrangler MT/R.

For such a dynamic range of terrain from roads and gravel to deserts and flood plains, the vehicles really needed high performing tyres for their journey.

Having been used previously on the Land Rover G4 Challenge, the Wrangler’s ability to traverse the toughest of terrains with its reinforced side walls and aggressive shoulder blocks gave the required performance in the vast range of conditions the team encountered.

The charities that benefited included Sightsavers International in the Gambia and Mali, Operafrica in the Gambia and Village by Village and Sabre Charitable Trust in Ghana.  In total eight vehicles were donated to help the charities conduct their work.

Katherine Clarkson, etyres National Accounts Executive

By Alex Kapadia

Bridgestone has ended months of speculation and revealed the final details of its tyres for the eagerly-awaited Grand Prix season.

F1’s sole tyres supplier will spice up the racing by introducing a bigger difference between the two designated rubber compounds that will be used in each race.

And it will use green painted markings so that spectators can visually differentiate between the two types of tyres selected for each Grand Prix.

Bridgestone had been asked by the FIA to widen the differential in the hope that it will encourage greater tactical variety and, due to differences in grip and wear rates, facilitate overtaking.

Now instead of having two compounds with relatively close grip levels and durability (for example, soft and medium), the gap in characteristics has been widened (for example, soft and hard).

The Japanese tyre manufacturer also ended speculation about how it would visually distinguish the different tyres.  The answer is green painted markings, as opposed to the white stripe method used on the grooved tyres over the past 11 years.

Green is also in keeping with Bridgestone’s commitment to FIA’s Make Cars Green campaign.

Hirohide Hamashima, Bridgestones director of motorsport tyre development, said: ‘We hope that the change in allocations gives competitors a good challenge and the fans entertaining racing.’

By Ben Cann

The number of online shoppers who watched retail videos has grown by a staggering 40% in a year, according to a new report.

TV presenters Eamonn Holmes and Vicki Butler Henderson have always been a huge hit with tyres buyers who visit the etyres website.

Eamonn explains why etyres, the UK’s leading online tyres retailer, is up to 40% cheaper than other high street tyres depots - because its mobile service has low overheads which means cheaper prices for consumers.  The news presenter also interviews an etyres customer about the benefits of using etyres.

Vicki’s motoring background makes her a perfect host for guiding vehicle owners through checking the tread depth on their tyres, advice about fitting tyres and she also outlines etyres green police.

Now a new report into online retail video confirms that it brings products to life in a way that static images and text can’t, according to eMarketer,a recognised authority on business online.

Worried Pirelli workers in Carlisle are sitting at home on a two-week shutdown due to a drastic drop in demand for their tyres.

But workers at the Italian tyres firm plant in Catalonia have been dealt a bigger blow after Pirelli announced it is going to stop making tyres in Spain from the end of this year.

There is a small glimmer of hope for the Spanish workers because the firm said it was committed to the region and told union officials that it will consider alternative projects there.

One possible concept is a logistics centre for tyre distribution. 

But the future of its 550-strong Spanish workforce remains in the balance.  Pirelli have already laid off 200 staff at the Manresa plant, but will not reveal how many of the remaining workers will lose their jobs until April.

The factory, which makes low and medium-end tyres for the European market, opened in 1924 and covers 211,000 square metres. Production at the plant totals 41,900 tonnes of UHP passenger and SUV tyres a year.

Alex Kapadia, etyres Operations Executive

Consumer watchdog magazine Which? has important advice for vehicle owners feeling the squeeze – look after your tyres.

It states: ‘You can minimise your maintenance costs by driving your car sympathetically and maintaining the correct tyres pressure, both of which will reduce tyre and brake wear.’

Etyres advised motorists to check in their vehicle handbook to see the manufacturers recommended pressure level and always keep your pressure at that rate.

If the pressure is too low more rubber comes into contact with the road.  This increases the force of the resistance between the tyre and the road, so more fuel is needed to keep the same speed as with firmer tyres.  It can also harm the cars suspension.

Excessive air pressure results in faster wear on treads and a hard, bumpy ride.

Running cars on tyres with the correct pressure is also good for the environment because it reduces CO2 emissions.

Oliver Hall, etyres Operations Executive

by Denna Bowman

Volvo is expanding its environmentally friendly DRIVe range by adding eco versions of the V70, S80, XC60 and XC70.

New engines, a package of aerodynamic tweaks and low-resistance tyres have helped to drive fuel efficiency up and CO2 emissions down.

Low resistance tyres are a must now for ‘green’ motoring and the new models witll be unveiled to the public at the Geneva motor show next week.

The Volvo S80 DRIVe and V70 DRIVe manage a combined fuel economy figure of 57.6mpg, with CO2 emissions of just 129g/km.

The DRIVe versions of the Volvo XC60 and XC70 make do with two-wheel drive rather than four-wheel drive. Both SUVs also feature a new 173bhp version of Volvo’s 2.4-litre five-cylinder turbodiesel.

The result of these changes in the S80 and V70 DRIVe models is combined fuel consumption of 47.1mpg and CO2 emissions of 159g/km. This makes them the first SUVs to slip below the threshold for the new Writing Down Allowance for company car users, which comes into force on 1 April.

The new arrivals on the scene bring the total of Volvo’s fuel-efficient DRIVe models on show in Geneva to seven.

Stephen Odell, President and CEO of Volvo Cars, said: ‘Our dedicated focus on DRIVe models in 2009 demonstrates Volvo Cars’ ability to quickly respond to customers’ increasing demands for products with low fuel consumption and low environmental impact.’

We knew it, Darren and Abi knew it, even Channel 4 grasped it and now the viewing public have confirmed it – tyres are interesting!

This weeks Grand Design property programme, which showed a couple building a house out of old tyres and mud, pulled off a primetime coup boosting ratings by around a million on the previous week.

And the big news was with 4.2 million viewers it even overtook BBC One’s David Attenborough series, according to unofficial overnight figures.  

The property show, this week focusing on a house in Brittany built from old tyres and mud, won the primetime 9pm-10pm slot with 4.2m viewers and a 17.5% share. Including Channel 4+1 figures it reached 4.4m viewers.

It pulled ahead of BBC One’s ‘Nature’s Great Events’, which dropped 700,000 viewers to 3.7m and a 15.7% share of the audience.

Viewers saw Darren and his partner Adi create a single-storey family house built from tyres ram packed with earth – a concept which originated in Mexico more than 30 years ago to create buildings which are dubbed ‘earthships’.

While the couple chose to build their dream home in France, because planning regulations are more relaxed and it was cheaper, there are already two eco-friendly ‘earthships’s in the UK and plans for a third.

The ‘earthships’ have already landed in Kinghorn, Fife, and Brighton, and now a feasibility study has now been commissioned into the possibility of creating an ‘earthship’ centre at Merkinch Local Nature Reserve.

 Katherine Clarkson, etyres National Accounts Executive

By Katherine Clarkson

Global demand for tyres fell dramatically by 35 per cent last year, according to a leading manufacturer.

French tyres company Michelin reported that the huge fall was prompted by a 50 per cent drop in original fitment (O/E) demand, but also suffered a 20 per cent dip in replacement tyres.

However, etyres, the UK’s leading online tyres retailer, is bucking this trend and experiencing soaring sales due to its low price – up to 40 per cheaper than the traditional high street tyre depots - and mobile fitting service.

The gloomy global picture figures were supplied to Deutsche Bank where analysts concluded that they are the worst for 30 years, compared to a 3.5 per cent fall in 1991 and a 16 per cent drop in the fourth quarter of 2008.

The figures, supplied to Deutsche Bank by Michelin, show the huge fall was prompted by a 50% drop in OE demand, but could also be seen in a 20% drop in replacement sales.

The analysts put the falls down to people driving roughly 5% less and postponing their tyre purchases, while dealers have been reducing their inventories.

Michelin sales volumes are expected to be approximately 15% lower than 2008 in the first quarter of 2009, according to Deutsche Bank.

The marked collapse in demand is said to be reflected across both the truck tyre and passenger car tyre segments and in both Europe and North America. Only China attained single digit growth, according to Tyres and Accessories magazine.

By Alex Kapadia

Millions of motorists could be risking death by driving on illegal tyres to save money, according to the latest research from the National Tyre Distributors Association.

As many as 3.6 million UK motorists may be taking to the roads in vehicles that have at least one or more bald tyres.

Figures from the NTDA show that of nearly 60,000 cars checked in January 2009 by retail members, 7,000 were being driven on at least one illegal tyre.

Extrapolated across the population, this could amount to 3.6 million cars in the UK whose owners are at risk of causing serious road accidents.

The disturbing findings are reflected by another recent survey conducted by TyreSafe, revealing that nearly one in ten motorists expects to spend less on tyres in 2009 compared with last year.

Rob Beddis, chairman of TyreSafe, stated: “When you consider that there are over 30 million cars on the UK’s roads, learning that one in ten motorists admits they plan to spend less on tyres shows an alarming lack of awareness among drivers towards their own road safety and the safety of the others.

“Many tyre dealers have indeed reported that more drivers are letting their tyres run below the legal tread depth before they replace them as they feel the financial pinch. This is a worrying trend which sadly may result in more accidents and road deaths as a result of the loss of grip and longer stopping distances associated with illegal tyres.”

The TyreSafe research reveals that motorists in London are most likely to decrease their spending on tyres in 2009 with one in ten drivers expecting to spend less, while drivers in the East Midlands have the most responsible attitude towards replacing tyres, with less than 3 per cent expecting to spend less on tyres over the coming year.

During 2007 more than 1,000 accidents occurred on the UK’s roads where illegal, defective or under-inflated tyres were a contributory factor, resulting in the deaths of 43 motorists. Under the current law, car tyres must have a minimum tread depth of 1.6mm in a continuous band throughout the central three-quarters of the tread width and over the whole circumference of the tyre.

Motorists found to be driving on illegal tyres face a maximum penalty of three penalty points and a fine of up to £2,500 per tyre.”

Q: What’s green and spins round and round really fast?

A: Kermit in a tumble dryer?

Wrong! 

The correct answer is the tyres on a Formula One car of course!

Bridgestone tyres announced today that it will supply ‘Make Cars Green’ tyres to every team at every Formula One race this season.

The initiative means it can combine its duel responsibility as the official sole tyres supplier to Formula One along with its role in the ‘Make Cars Green’ campaign.

And now the race teams are revving up for the arrival of Bridgestone’s soft dry weather and extreme wet weather tyres which have been marked in the grooves with the campaign colour – you’ve guessed it - green!

Bridgestone aims to spread the message of the ‘Make Cars Green’ environmental campaign which it has been promoting globally with the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile since last year.

World Champion Lewis Hamilton offered his support for the initiative saying: ‘Since it first launched I’ve been happy to help promote the very positive messages of the Make Cars Green campaign.

‘It is a subject that goes far beyond racing. The car is an incredibly positive thing and I think the messages of the campaign help to show us that we can all choose to drive in a greener way.’

Alex Kapadia, etyres Operations Executive