Goodyear Aquatred 3 Tires Becomes Hurricane-Busters
22 September 2000
Goodyear Aquatred 3 Tires Becomes Hurricane-Busters CLEARWATER, Fla., Sept. 22 As Tropical Storm Helene
batters the Florida Panhandle, Goodyear recommends that residents batten the
hatches. No need to venture outdoors like Alecia Newman did earlier this week
as Tropical Storm Gordon made landfall near here.
Seems Mrs. Newman wanted to try a new Goodyear tire that was billed as
handling more puddles on the roadway.
As Mrs. Newman drove her Honda CRV around Sunday morning -- just as
Hurricane Gordon had crossed the Florida peninsula -- she called husband
Barry.
"She said she'd never had such a good set of tires. Even tried to get the
vehicle to do the 'slip and slide,' things that it would do with the previous
tires. Nope. She couldn't budge the CRV off the path," Newman said.
Mark Cherveny, product manager for Goodyear auto tires, said he wouldn't
advocate that motorists tempt fate -- or Mother Nature, for that matter --
with leisurely drives through hurricanes or tropical storms.
Consumers' passion for the new Aquatred 3 radial makes these types of
stories normal, Cherveny said. Aquatred loyalty always runs high; nearly 65
percent of Aquatred owners replace their worn tires with new Aquatreds. (The
industry average for other tires is about 40 percent.)
Aquatred 3, Cherveny said, isn't just for hurricanes. The tire also
performs well where drought conditions persist. The radial delivers improved
wet traction with a twist -- greater dry traction performance and an
80,000-mile treadlife limited warranty. The tire initially will be available
in 18 popular broad market sizes.
Cherveny said Aquatred 3 was engineered to meet the global climatic
changes that affect travel. According to studies by the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, most of North America's rainfall is concentrated
in heavy downpours between September and November.
While precipitation has risen about 1 percent worldwide in the last
century, rainfall in North America has increased significantly. In the United
States, rainfall amounts increased by 5 percent; along the northern tier
states and in southern Canada, precipitation figures skyrocketed by 10 to 15
percent, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
To battle increased puddling on the roadways, Aquatred 3 tire features
include:
* A 10 percent wider tread footprint on the pavement than its
predecessor, providing improved wet and dry handling. The tire uses a
unique "Touring" tread compound that earns a "AA" wet-traction rating,
under U.S. Uniform Tire Quality Grading standards, Goodyear's first
broad market tire to do so.
* Dry traction is improved by 6 percent, compared to Aquatred II.
* An ability to displace 18 percent more water than Aquatred II.
* An 8 percent improvement in wet braking distance. At 45 mph, that's
nearly 13 feet shorter than on Aquatred II tires.
* About 5 percent improved wet handling on a controlled course.
* An improvement of about 5 percent in steering feel/ride comfort, and
less tread noise.
* Greater lateral grip in cornering, 0.71 g vs. 0.65 g.
