As the UK braces itself for the big freeze, we are urging motorists to set aside a few minutes this weekend to check their tyres are up to coping with the the Arctic conditions.

Tyres can have a major effect on your car’s performance, improving its safety and keeping it moving in winter conditions.

Obviously fitting winter tyres will give you extra peace of mind when you are driving in snow and ice, because they provide greater grip and handling. They also reduce braking distances in cold, wet conditions.

However, if you don’t want to fit winter tyres there are some simple steps you can take immediately to ensure your tyres are in the best possible condition for maximum safety.

In winter tread depth should be checked to ensure it is well above the legal minimum of 1.6mm across the central three quarters of the tyre, around its entire circumference.

Tyre pressures should be checked at least once a month or before a long journey. Pressures should be checked when the tyres are cold (i.e. travelled less than 2 miles) against the vehicle manufacturers recommended levels.

And finally, when checking your tyre pressures, give the rest of the tyre a thorough visual inspection for any signs of damage. Look for any cuts, cracks bulges and remove any embedded objects which can cause punctures and blow outs at high speed.

Denna Bowman, Head Office

Preparations for the UK’s major tyres show are coming together really well, according to the organisers.

With less than eight months before Brityrex International 2012 welcomes visitors through Event City’s doors, ECI International has revealed that preparations are ahead of schudule compared to the same time before the last exhibition in 2010.

Tyres & Accessories attended a recent Brityrex steering committee meeting chaired by the NTDA and held in central London to find out about the progress.

It reported that: “The first and clearest indication of the show’s recent progress can be seen in the exhibitor list. In January, with three quarters of the year still to run, 60-odd per cent of exhibition space has already been booked with some well-known names and high-profile prospect in the offing.

“Then there’s the sharp uptick in available exhibition space. Now that Brityrex has moved to Event City in the Trafford Park area of Manchester (close to the Trafford Centre), the venue has made 5,000 square metres of exhibition hall available to ECI International. When you consider that the GMEX centre (which is now called Manchester Central) was unable to offer as much as this in a single hall and that that this figure represents a 100 per cent increase in space available, it is clear that there is growing momentum behind the show. Currently, the organisers explained, the show is working to fill the 5,000 square metres that was originally planned, but there is the option to add a further 5,000 square metres according to demand. And all this means that more options to attract exhibitors and visitors are available to the organisers.

“One feature of this year’s show which is already reasonably developed is the addition of topical workshops, which may even be held within the exhibition hall itself. Possible subjects for discussion include advice on tyre labelling, TPMS and new tyre repair standards amongst others.”

Denna Bowman, Head Office

The Queen ‘changing greasy tyres’ - now there’s a bunch of words you wouldn’t expect to find juxtapositioned!

But surprisingly, learning how to change tyres was one of the skills the 18-year-old future monarch learned after joining the Auxiliary Territorial Service and going on a vehicle maintenance course.

According to a riveting series by Robert Lacey in the Daily Mail, this was just one example of how a down-to-earth upbringing prepared her for 60 years on the throne.

Lacey wrote: “In the spring of 1945, with her 19th birthday approaching, she escaped court life to join the Auxiliary Territorial Service, or the ‘Women’s Army’ as the ATS was known — No 230873, Second Subaltern Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor.

“For a month, she travelled to Aldershot every morning for a vehicle maintenance course, learning how to change tyres and cylinder heads, then returned to Windsor for dinner each evening to lecture her sister and parents on the joys of the internal combustion engine.”

Denna Bowman, Head Office

By Denna Bowman

Outspoken Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has been voted the worst person to share a driving adventure with, in a poll organised by Continental Tyres.

The tyres giant quizzed 2,000 motorists about which celebrity they would least like to share a 4×4 drive across the Sahara Desert with.

Clarkson was closely followed by ex-glamour model Katie Price with the Prime Minister David Cameron in third place.

At the other end of the scale, the most popular choice among men if a co-driver were to be female would be Kelly Brook, who has a quite different set of attributes.

The women who took the survey voted for Robert Pattinson as their preferred choice of co-driver.

The ‘research’ was conducted as part of the launch of the Conti 4×4 Trophy, where people compete for a place on an epic off-road challenge; driving a Hummer through the Sahara.

Tim Bailey, spokesperson for Continental Tyres, said: “Driving thousands of miles through the Atlas Mountains and the fiery sands of the Sahara Desert makes your choice of co-driver incredibly important. It’s a long, tough and often dangerous journey.

“Jeremy Clarkson might have motoring credentials but either his calamitous road trips on Top Gear his lack of practical skills or his outspoken views mean most people would leave him behind.”

Top ten worst celebs to go on driving adventure with:

1. Jeremy Clarkson

2. Katie Price

3. David Cameron

4. Kate Moss

5. Carol Vorderman

6. Christine Bleakley

7. Nick Clegg

8. Madonna

9. Simon Cowell

10. Lewis Hamilton

At the other end of the scale, the most popular choice among men if a co-driver were to be female would be Kelly Brook, who has a quite different set of attributes.

The women who took the survey voted for Robert Pattinson as their preferred choice of co-driver.

The ‘research’ was conducted as part of the launch of the Conti 4×4 Trophy, where people compete for a place on an epic off-road challenge; driving a Hummer through the Sahara.

Tim Bailey, spokesperson for Continental Tyres, said: “Driving thousands of miles through the Atlas Mountains and the fiery sands of the Sahara Desert makes your choice of co-driver incredibly important. It’s a long, tough and often dangerous journey.

“Jeremy Clarkson might have motoring credentials but either his calamitous road trips on Top Gear his lack of practical skills or his outspoken views mean most people would leave him behind.”

Top ten worst celebs to go on driving adventure with:

1. Jeremy Clarkson

2. Katie Price

3. David Cameron

4. Kate Moss

5. Carol Vorderman

6. Christine Bleakley

7. Nick Clegg

8. Madonna

9. Simon Cowell

10. Lewis Hamilton

By Denna Bowman

The UK’s leading tyres safety organisation is gearing to launch campaigns directed at fleet operators and drivers and young motorists.

TyreSafe will be unveiling a high profile ambassador to drive home the tyres safety message and ’steer’ young drivers in the right direction when it comes to looking after their tyres.

Stuart Jackson, chairman of the organisation, said: “Young motorists are a particular important target audience as they are still in their formative driving years and what they take on board at an early age could stay with them for the rest of their motoring lives.”

TyreSafe will also be targeting the fleet industry in the summer in a bid to reduce accident rates and running costs.

Jackson added: “Tight procedures should be put in place by all businesses, large or small, that operate cars, vans, light commercial vehicles and HGVs to ensure they regularly check the condition of their fleet’s tyres.”

“It’s also the responsibility of individual drivers to routinely check their tyres and take any appropriate action.”

By Denna Bowman

Avon Tyres has launched the latest offering in its range of van tyres – the AV11.

Complementing the AV9, the new tyre is available in selected sizes, with an expanded fitment range coming later in the year.

Designed with long life and durability in mind for typically high-mileage vehicles, the R-rated AV11 is currently available from Avon stockists in sizes 215/60R16 C, 205/65R16 C, 215/65R16 C and 235/65R16 C.

Among the AV11’s features are robust sidewalls to cope with kerbing damage and a reinforced carcass, able to handle heavier than average loads. Meanwhile, the tyre also provides optimum wet-weather handling.

Nigel Hampson, sales and marketing director of Cooper Tire Europe, said: “We know that our van-driving customers often depend entirely on their vehicles for their livelihoods. For them, the choice of a tyre is far more crucial than the average motorist and that’s why we’ve designed the AV11 with those people in mind.

“The AV11 will stand up to relatively harsh treatment, be it heavy payloads or scuffing along kerbs and other obstacles that are the everyday perils of the average LCV. And, when it comes to inclement conditions, the AV11 ensures that a bad day of weather needn’t mean a bad day for your business.”

Formula One is the pinnacle of Pirelli’s investment in worldwide motorsport - but the Italian tyres manufacturer isn’t just in it to raise brand awareness.

According the Pirelli, motorsport has consistently been the company’s most important research laboratory from which the Group has developed some of the industry-defining innovations in the tyre sector.

Pirelli will supply a total of 45,000 tyres for the entirety of the 2012 Formula One World Championship.

The tyres for the top level of world motorsport will be produced at Pirelli’s dedicated competition facility within the factory at Izmit, Turkey, which is one of the most advanced of its kind in the world.

Pirelli’s engineers have put in place state-of-the-art machinery and innovative technologies to make tyres that are perfectly suited to the demands of grand prix racing.

At races and during official tests, the Pirelli F1 team numbers 50 specialists, from engineers to technicians. Each Formula One team relies on one dedicated Pirelli engineer, as well as on the entire squad of technicians and fitters.

Pirelli’s F1 team is made up of people who come from all four corners of the globe, but is based in Milan: Pirelli’s Research and Development headquarters. This department has always been at the heart of the Pirelli Group’s cutting-edge technology and employs 1,000 researchers, located in five centres around the world.

Pirelli is also the exclusive supplier to some of the world’s most important motorsport championships, both on two and four wheels – such as the GP2 and GP3 Series and the World Superbike Championship.

On top of this, the Italian firm supplies more than 70 national and international race and rally series, having been the exclusive tyre provider to the World Rally Championship from 2008-2010.

Alex Kapadia, Operations Team

With more and more vehicle manufacturers choosing not to fit spare tyres to their cars and instead install a puncture repair kit, motorists are having to get to grips with how this affects them.

The Sunday Times tackled the subject in its motoring supplement ingear this weekend.

MF, from Bingley, West Yorkshire, put this question to the Car Clinic panel: “After suffering a puncture, I discovered my BMW X3 has no full-size spare tyre, or even a space-saver tyre, but instead uses a tyre-weld kit. This happened on a Saturday afternoon, and I couldn’t get a replacement tyre before Monday. What are the guidelines for driving after using such a repair kit?”

Tim Shallcross, panel expert and Institute of Advanced Motorists advisor, replied: “Temporary aerosol repair kits are becoming increasingly common on new cars. Partly this is because full-scale tyre blowouts are becoming less common, so a temporary fix to a punctured tyre is considered acceptable by car makers. It is also cheaper for them than fitting a spare wheel, and saves space in the vehicle, which is a good thing.

“The punctured tyre will need to be repaired - or possibly replaced, depending on the damage - but it will be good for a few hundred miles at least. You should however, take a few precautions once you have repaired the tyre.

“First, drive the vehicle immediately for 20 minutes in order to seal the puncture. Then check the tyre’s wire pressure as soon as possible, and correct it if necessary. It is important to stick to the speed limit specified on the repair can; this will be 30mph for some products and 50mph for others - follow the instructions. If the car suddenly feels unstable, stop and check the punctured tyre.”

Denna Bowman, Head Office

By Alex Kapadia

Pirelli has got its second season as the sole tyres supplier to Formula One underway by presenting its new range of rubber.

The Italian tyre manufacturer has made all four dry-weather tyres softer and reduced the differences between them, in the hope of producing even closer racing.

Pirelli introduced faster-wearing tyres last year, leading to tight races, and now aim to improve overtaking.

Pirelli president Marco Tronchetti Provera said: “These changes will provide more opportunity for passes and help make a better show.”

The new tyres were presented for the 63rd FIA World Championship at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi. Tronchetti added: “After the positive experience of last year, the teams asked us to continue providing tyres with the characteristics that contributed to spectacular races in 2011.

“And this is what we have done, optimising the compounds and profiles in order to guarantee even better and more stable performance, combined with the deliberate degradation that characterised the P Zero range from 2011.

“We’re expecting unpredictable races, with a wide range of strategies and a number of pit stops: all factors that both competitors and spectators greatly enjoyed last year.

“The development work on the new compounds took place throughout the 2011 season, thanks to the impressive learning curve and reaction times from our engineers, who are ready to continue those evolutions during the season ahead.”

By Denna Bowman

Bridgestone has extended its agreement to supply tyres to BMW Driving Experience, the business group that provides specialised training programmes to improve individual driver skills and safety.

The tyres will be fitted to the fleet of BMW 1-Series, 3-Series, X5 and X6 vehicles, in addition to the range of high-performance BMW M models.

In its previous form as BMW Driver Training, the programme put more than 50,000 motorists through driving programmes in Europe.

BMW Driving Experience now includes training courses for safety, snow and ice, the race track and professional driving, as well as BMW M Experience events, tours and customized driving experiences.

For Bridgestone, the programme fits perfectly with the company’s long-term strategic focus on safety, exemplified by Bridgestone’s leading position in the development of run flat technology.

Tom Fukuda, Senior Vice President of Bridgestone Europe Sales & Marketing, said: “BMW and Bridgestone share many of the same goals in terms of safety and sustainable motoring. This agreement with BMW Driving Experience adds another dimension to our growing partnership.”

The extension of BMW Driving Experience agreement further strengthens the long-standing partnership between Bridgestone and BMW in the development of high-performance tyres.

Bridgestone has grown to become BMW’s leading supplier of original equipment tyres and today provides Potenza and Turanza run-flat tyres across the whole BMW series range. More recently, eco-friendly Bridgestone Ecopia tyres have been supplied for the 1-Series and MINI Countryman.