By Denna Bowman

Customers who opt for cheap imported tyres while money is tight are putting lives at risk, according to a leading tyres company boss.

Mr Kennedy Mandevani, managing director of Dunlop Zimbabwe Ltd, said: ‘Consumers must resist the temptation to buy purely on price as quality considerations are very important.

‘A tyre can make all the difference between life and death.’

Mr Mandevani spoke out about his concerns over the influx of imported tyres on the Zimbabwean market.

He added: ‘The Dunlop quality product is tried and tested and in addition there is strong product support.’

Dunlop Zimbabwe is expecting to boost tyres production on the back of significant falls in international rubber prices that were triggered by the global economic recession.

In an interview with Zimbabwe Sunday Business, Dunlop managing director, Mr Kennedy Mandevani, said rubber prices had taken a knock over the last few months due to the financial crisis sweeping across the world.

He said: ‘The international market has been characterised by the global recession which has seen a significant fall in the price of rubber which will benefit us shortly once current stock piles are exhausted.’

The rubber industry was one of the hardest hit sectors by the global recession and due to the recession, global prices of rubber plummeted by more than half on most international markets.

At one time farmers were even reluctant to harvest the product protesting against the prices.

Despite the negative attitude towards 4×4 vehicles and the rising cost of running them, their popularity appears to be remaining firm.

An impressive three quarters of a million 4×4 tyres were distributed to in the UK tyres market last year, by a single distributor.

Micheldever/Southam claims the figure makes the company the largest distributor of 4×4 tyres in Europe.

Still the only UK wholesaler to operate a specialist 4×4 division (which is based at Southam), the MTS group offers next/same day delivery nationwide on all major brands.

It supplies every OE fitment, a comprehensive range of quality budget 4×4 tyres from Enduro, and the market leading mid-range replacement brands including BFGoodrich, General, Kumho, Falken, Insa Turbo and Toyo.

In these trying economic times the popularity of 4×4s is not what it once was, due to high running costs, namely road tax and fuel, but many owners remain loyal to the 4×4 market.

TV car expert Quentin Willson wrote recently that his Land Rover Defender kept him road-bound and ensured he did not need to take a single day off during the recent winter weather onslaught, when much of Britain was covered in a blanket of snow.

Oliver Hall, etyres Operations Executive

Whose heart didn’t go out to Kate Winslett’s sister after seeing the photos of her inflating her tyres at the weekend?

While her famous older sibling Kate was gearing up to accept her first Oscar, Beth was looking less A-list and more M4-stressed as she was snapped inflating the tyres of her R-reg Ford Escort.

No make-up, hair scrunched back, baggy jeans tucked in her boots, it wasn’t the most glamorous look, but she was bombing down the motorway, not sweeping down the red carpet.

But the fact her perfectly coiffed sister was squeezing herself into a blue, off-the shoulder designer number and honing her acceptance speech made it a priceless contrast.

However Beth, also an actress, gets our award for promoting the need for tyre safety!

Even though she was with her photographer partner, Henry Steedman, it was Beth who hunkering down with the pressure gauge and fixing the tyres.

Denna Bowman, etyres Head Office

By Oliver Hall

If this sounds like too much hassle, then consider this – if your tyres are not inflated enough, then you create drag which slows the car down and ruins fuel mileage, says Loan Arrangers UK.

When tyres have the correct tread and are inflated properly, they roll better and that is why handling is improved.  The safety issue is common sense.  Worn or poorly inflated tyres run the risk of either going flat, or bursting while driving.

Loan Arrangers offer simple guidelines on how to keep tyres in good shape and avoid unnecessary visits to the garage for repairs.

Rotate tyres on every second oil change. This will help make sure that they wear more evenly, which means they will probably need replacing less often.

Take a few minutes to review the tyres tread.  The legal minimum is 1.6mm.  They should look like the tread is wearing evenly.  If metal threads start appearing through the tyre wall, this means the tyres are definitely way too worn out. They should be replaced immediately

If the wear on tyres is uneven, that means the wheels are out of alignment. Another way to tell is when driving, the car tends to pull to one way or the other. If this is happening, take the car in for alignment.

Proper tyre inflation is so often overlooked. This is where lots of money gets wasted because under inflated tyres causes drag. Also stressing the tyre in the wrong place increases chances of a flat tyre.

Read the vehicle handbook to find out the proper tyre pressure. Buy a good-quality tyre gauge to check them at home when they are cold.

When shopping for new tyres, keep in mind that cheap tyres will affect your fuel mileage and may not be as safe.

Taking care of tyres is really a safety issue. While it is important to save money, if vehicle owners focus on keeping tyres safe, the money will usually follow.

Etyres offers a mobile fitting service and therefore does not have expensive garages to maintain.  The low overheads mean etyres tyres are up to 40% cheaper than leading high street depots because the savings are passed on to the customer.

By Katherine Clarkson

Pirelli tyres appears to be keeping its options open over a possible ‘friendly deal’ with German rival Continental.

Asked if the Italian tyres company still harboured any interest in a possible take-over, Chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera, replied: ‘It’s too early to say.  But if the price is right, if we are asked to be part of a transaction, it could be interesting to analyse it – but only if it’s a friendly transaction.’

The comment made in a video interview handed to the Financial Times last week comes just days after Pirelli had denied any interested in merging the two tyres giants.

However, later that day, Pirelli issued a statement clarifying the early stage of its interest, which is rumoured to centre around the truck tyres unit: “With regard to comments on possible Pirelli transactions on Continental, the company declares that no transaction has been defined even along general outlines.

“The company also points out that, consistent with the financial rigor foreseen by the guidelines of the recent 2009-2011 industrial plan, any possible future transaction of a strategic nature would not comport any recourse to the market.”

However, while the press department’s statement may have played down Tronchetti Provera’s words, earlier in February Il Mondo claimed Pirelli executives had conducted - on separate occasions - meetings with JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank, Mediobanca and a number of advisers.

If you want to keep your car insurance down, protect your no-claims bonus by looking after your vehicle- especially its tyres – a price comparison website urges.

‘While some accidents cannot be avoided you can reduce your risk by ensuring the car is well-maintained particularly over the winter months. Check all tyres for condition, pressure and tread depth,’ advises moneysupermarket.com.

It continues: ‘Just as you take pride in your car, take pride in your no claims record. Building up a no-claims bonus could potentially save 70% on your car insurance premiums over five years.’

According to moneysupermarket.com we’re coming up to one of the busiest times of the year for buying car insurance. However, most drivers will fail to shop around for cover and as a result, will end up paying over the odds. Motorists can make an average saving of £152 a year by taking the time to shop around and compare premiums.

katherine Clarkson, etyres National Accounts Executive

By Denna Bowman

The automobile industry has come under attack for its failure to get a handle on low-carbon cars from the world’s leading environmental magazine.

Citing lower-resistance tyres and thinner engine oils as moves in the right direction, the Ecologist asks why the industry hasn’t done more to improve energy efficiency.

But tinkering with tyres is seen as the tip of the iceberg as the magazine throws the gauntlet before the motor industry with its cover story proclaiming: ‘The Car is Dead – Now Let’s Talk Sustainable Transport’.

‘Why can’t the automobile industry get a handle on low-carbon cars? The answer’s in the profit margins…’ states writer Harriet Williams.

She adds: ‘Drivers would save a lot of carbon and money if automakers applied their technological know-how to reducing fuel consumption. Instead, it has been used to add power and bulk, as well as peripheral accessories such as aircon or seat-back LCD screens – each one comprising a ‘parasitic’ fuel loss, in the language of auto engineers.’

The latest issue of the Ecologist is available to buy now.

By Alex Kapadia

With the Formula One series just a month away, BMW Sauber have been revealing some interesting facts and figures about everything from tyres temperatures to gear ratios from their 2008 season

Here are just a few fascinating insights to keep you in the know:

Formula One tyres may heat up to 130 degrees Celsius. Beyond this level, there is an increased risk of blistering.

A driver sheds an average of two kilos in weight per Grand Prix.

In extreme braking manoeuvres, drivers are briefly subjected to 5g.

It takes around 40 working hours to assemble a new BMW gearbox.

In a gearshift process, the existing gear is released and the new one already engaged in a matter of 0.004 seconds. It takes 50 times as long to bat an eyelid.

The car’s engineer can choose from more than 50 different gear ratios when adjusting the individual gears to a particular track.

 After a race, it takes the team at least eight working hours to dismantle the car, test and replace individual components, and reassemble the car.

It takes some 120 working hours to assemble the BMW engine, which consists of approximately 1,100 different parts and around 5,000 parts in total.

Maximum piston acceleration is 10,000 times the speed of the earth’s rotation. Peak piston speed is 40 metres a second - or from zero to 100 km/h in 0.3 milliseconds. A force of almost three tonnes is exerted on the conrod. The average piston speed is around 25 metres per second.

We had a job this week for a gentleman who had all four of his tyres slashed during the night.  Unfortunately, we are seeing an increase in this sort of mindless, random vandalism. 

It’s bad enough when it happens because it’s going to cost the vehicle owner money to put right, but as our customer said, his first thought was how on earth was he going to get 4 new tyres delivered and fitted that day, since he couldn’t drive anywhere?  Luckily, he found etyres on the internet and our fitter managed to get the tyres he needed that afternoon, so by the end of the day he was mobile again.

At the time when our customer was surfing the net to find a solution as quickly as possible, he wasn’t too worried about the price, he just wanted the job done.  But it was only when he’d placed the order with us, he realised we were offering the best price!

Alex, National Call Centre

It sounds too good to be true, but the Self-Inflating Tyre (SIT) has just scooped the tyres world equivalent of an Oscar – the Tyre Technology of the Year Award!

Devised by Czech firm Coda Development the SIT system could revolutionise the tyres world, because it is primarily designed to aid fuel economy and safety.

And the big advantage for vehicle owners is it eliminates tyres pressure checks and the need to manually inflate tyres.  It also helps to address the serious drawbacks of incorrect tyre pressure which causes pollution and costs money at the fuel pump.

The SIT system uses atmospheric air to inflate the tyre automatically when a vehicle is in motion, compensating for natural loss of pressure, thus ensuring maintenance-free, constant tyre pressure over the lifetime of the tyre.

‘It’s a fantastic technology, yet remains a simple, inexpensive solution designed to be manufacturer-friendly,’ says Adam Gavine, editor of Tyre Technology International.

‘Production costs for incorporating this component will increase only marginally compared to regular tyres, but the benefits the technology provides are considerable.’

Coda Development, which is based in Prague, Czech Republic, plans to develop the system further into a proven production model in joint cooperation with partners from the automotive and tyre industries.

Alex Kapadia, etyres Operations Executive