- Wet Grip Performance
- Fuel Efficiency
- Exterior Noise
From November 2012, new EU tyre laws will come into
force which will affect all tyres being sold being sold throughout Europe.
The new EU tyre regulations will mean that all tyres will have to display a
special tyre label. The tyre label will give information about the tyre’s
performance in three different areas.
The first is the fuel efficiency and rolling
resistance rating which will grade tyres from A to G– tyres rated A are most
efficient and save the most fuel, while tyres with the rating G are least
efficient and use the most fuel.
The second category is wet braking performance; again
with tyres being graded on a scale of A to G with A having the shortest wet
braking distances and G having the longest wet braking performances.
Finally external noise will be rated on the label with
a three-tier wave system. Tyres with one wave are the quietest tyres, and tyres
with three waves are the loudest.
The aim of the new tyre regulations is to promote
tyres which are safe, fuel efficient and create less noise pollution.
The regulations also give motorists more information
to help during the buying process; the idea is that the more information available
on these areas, motorists can assess what is most important to them and make a
purchase on that basis.
The new EU regs have been generally welcomed by tyre
manufacturers who have supported more information being made available to
consumers.
Many of the manufacturers have commented that the
areas rated on the labels are already being measured in quality control testing
along with as many as fifty other important factors such as aquaplaning,
stability at high speeds, dry handing and braking, traction, internal noise and
braking in snow and icy conditions.
These additional factors are not covered by the labels
currently but the regulations will be reviewed again in 2016 which may be an
opportunity to add to or amend the information made available to consumers.
Article written
by expert Chris J. Dutton
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