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Smithers Implements Snow-Traction Test System

28 January 2000

Smithers Implements Snow-Traction Test System In Response to New Snow Tire Standard

    RACO, Mich., Jan. 28 -- Smithers Winter Test Center, a
cold-weather automotive proving ground operated here by Akron, Ohio-based
Smithers Scientific Services Inc., is implementing a new snow-traction test
system for passenger and light-truck tires used in severe snow conditions.
    Last February, the North American tire manufacturers, who are members of
the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA) and/or the Rubber Association of
Canada, announced a new standard for passenger and light-truck tires used in
severe snow conditions.
    "In response to this standard, we are implementing a new snow-traction
test system," said J. Michael Hochschwender, Smithers' president and chief
executive officer.  "This computerized system was built from the ground up,
using the latest technologies in instrumentation, data acquisition and data
analysis."
    The new standard requires that candidate tires be physically tested in
snow conditions against an all-season control tire to determine their
snow-traction performance.  The test procedure involves spinning the tire in
the snow under certain precise conditions, and measuring the tire's
performance, Mr. Hochschwender explained. "Tires that pass the new standard
test requirements can then be designated for use under severe snow
conditions."
    During the next two years, tire manufacturers will test their winter-tire
lines to determine which tires will meet the new industry-developed, voluntary
standard.
    Tires that meet the new severe snow condition criteria will be marked on
at least one sidewall with the letters "M" and "S" and a pictograph of a
mountain with a snowflake inside it.
    Smithers Winter Test Center is located 340 miles north of Detroit on
Michigan's Upper Peninsula near Sault Ste. Marie. The cold-weather proving
ground provides evaluations of the performance of vehicles, tires and
components under extreme cold and hazardous road conditions.
    Smithers Scientific Services is a leading independent testing, research
and consulting firm, serving designers and manufacturers of automotive,
aerospace, tire, elastomeric, plastic, steel, chemical and medical products
worldwide.