Strathclyde Tyres Blog

With London Fashion Week underway, one celebrity (or a very good look-a-like) stopped off for a new set of tyres at HiQ.

Marketing manager Geraldine McGovern said, "I couldn't believe this when the guys at Henley called me - and still don't to some extent.

"Nevertheless, there's no greater way to generate media attention around our mega tyre sale than a picture of Victoria Beckham or someone that looks just like her in one of our centres."

For more on this story, please see the HiQ website.

The poor condition of roads in Renfrewshire have cost Renfrewshire Council almost £100,000 in compensation payouts in the past two years, reports the Johnstone Gazette.

Figures indicate that the local authority paid out £98,108 in 517 separate claims between October 2009 and September 2011. These are some of the highest figures for compensation claims brought against a Scottish Council. Comparatively, Glasgow City Council paid out around £355,000 over the past four years. Edinburgh paid out just under £190,000 and South Lanarkshire Council paid out around £215,000.

A spokesman for Renfrewshire Council said:-

“In general, Renfrewshire’s roads are in line with the Scottish average. But the massive current investment is partly designed to repair the worst of the damage caused by the last two severe winters. It also aims to improve the condition of the roads in the longer term and so reduce potholes.

It’s worth stressing that potholes can develop quickly between regular inspections and aren’t necessarily the result of neglect of roads. We aim to fix serious and urgent potholes in a couple of hours. For less serious potholes, we aim to repair them in between 5 and 28 days. Depending on the weather or the location, we sometimes have to make temporary repairs.”

Contact Strathclyde Tyres

If you have been in the unfortunate position that your vehicle has been damaged or you think it may have been damaged by your local roads, please do not hesitate to contact us at your nearest location.

Bridgestone Corporation has won the 'Tire Technology of the Year' award at the Tire Technology International Awards for Innovation and Excellence 2012, held earlier this month in Germany.

The award was made in recognition of new technology that can provide real time road surface condition information to the driver by way of the tyres. It is based on a concept called Contact Area Information Sensing (CAIS).

The number of drivers over the age of 80 has now topped one million, according to information obtained by the IAM, following a freedom of information request to the DVLA.

The DVLA figures show that there are now 1,012,399 drivers over 80. There are also 122 licence holders over the age of 100, including three 105 year olds, and one 106 year old woman.

An EU standardised tyre label is due to be introduced in November this year, according to Continental Tyres. The aim is to promote low emissions and better road safety, with standardised information focusing on three key criteria: fuel efficiency, wet grip and external rolling noise.

The system will work by giving consumers essential information to help them when choosing new tyres. This will take the form of a label, which will have values from A-G, excluding D to avoid an average performing tyre.

The cost of car insurance for young men continues to go through the roof and 17-20 year olds are paying almost double what women drivers of the same age are paying, experts at Confused.com have revealed.

New statistics from the comparison site provider show that female drivers pay £1,771 LESS than the men UK-wide: it currently costs an average of £1,959 for women aged 17-20 to insure a car compared to £3,730 for men. These are the findings of the Confused.com/Towers Watson Car Insurance Price Index (Q4 2011), which is based on more than 4 million quotes.

Women are actually better at parking than men, according to a new study carried out by NCP.

The NCP Parking Report assessed various aspects of parking, including speed, technique and accuracy, and established that out of a maximum score of 20, women drivers on average have a score of 13.4, while male drivers score on average only 12.3.

Turkish tyre manufacturer Lassa has issued some advice on winter tyres and driving in winter.

On snowy surfaces, while the braking distance of a car travelling at a speed of 50 kph on summer tyres is 44 metres, the distance fall downs to 36 metres on winter tyres, it explains.

Starting today, Strathclyde Tyres are offering great deals on tyres, MOTs, wheel alignment, brake checks, tyre checks and exhaust checks this February:-

Special Offers on Tyres

Goodyear

• 19565V15 Excellence £69.99
• 20555V16 Efficientgrip £79.99
• 22545W17 Efficientgrip XL £107.50
• 22540W18 Efficientgrip XL £126.50

Michelin

• 20555V16 Primacy HP £89.99
• 22545W17 Primacy HP £118.99

(All prices are fully fitted, inclusive of New T/L Valve, Wheel Balance and Casing Disposal.)

A pair of studies by The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and State Farm have identified factors that may lead teens to drive with multiple peer passengers and, then, how those passengers may affect their driver's behaviour just before a serious crash.

The US studies have been published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

We are delighted to report that, in a recent survey, over 90% of our customers stated that they were ‘highly satisfied’ with the service they received from Strathclyde. This was in respect of tyres purchased, MOT and other services provided by our staff at Strathclyde Tyres across our branches in Scotland.

This was complemented with other positive feedback received on our services in our key locations in Johnstone, Coatbridge, Kilmarnock and Leven. 98.5% of customers, for instance, stated that we had provided a professional service. A large majority also reported that our staff were customer-friendly (97%), efficient (94%), value-for-money (93.5%) and reliable (94%).

Women-Drivers.com has released its 2011 report showing the top US car brands as rated by women.

The US company tracks thousands of consumer reviews each year, checking women’s purchasing and browsing experiences at new car dealerships. The figures are revealing as, while women now account for over half of all car purchases, they influence and initiate up to 80% of them, says the firm.

Continental has won a coveted tyre test from monthly car magazine, evo, the tyre company has announced. The ContiSportContact3 took top spot in this year’s performance tyre test, announced in the February edition of the title.

For its third year, the evo performance tyre test highlights exceptional performance across areas such as wet and dry handling, aquaplaning and braking. Seen within the motoring industry as a stamp of approval for the best performance tyre, evo described Continental’s win as "an impressively complete performance”.

Goodyear Dunlop have announced that four of the most popular winter tyre patterns in their range have been awarded a Best Buy stamp of approval from the influential consumer magazine, Which?

The four tyres picking up a prestigious recommendation from the leading magazine are the Goodyear UltraGrip 8 (195/65 R15), Goodyear UltraGrip 7+ (205/55 R16), Dunlop SP Winter Response (175/65 R14T) (see image), and the Dunlop SP WinterSport 3D (185/65 R15).

Four in ten motorists say they will use the car less in 2012 if the costs associated with driving continue to rise, according to AXA's motoring census of 2011. One in 13 say that they have already been forced to stop.

Almost half (44%) admit they enjoy driving less than they used to, largely down to the cost (68%). This is striking in comparison to 2010 figures, when cost clearly had less impact on motorists' habits (just 38% admitted they enjoyed driving less than they used to, and 38% blamed the cost).

Motorists in the UK will spend 58 working weeks, or more than a year, of their lives not moving in traffic on their daily commute, according to a new study by Continental Tyres.

This adds up to over 100 million lost working days every year for the more than 18 million workers who commute by car.

Brendan Tracey receives his award at the recent Truckpoint roadshow for Outstanding PPK Fleet Service Provision from Greg Ward, Commercial Sales Director for Bridgestone UK:-

UK motorists are ignoring the safety and performance benefits of winter tyres, despite forecasts that the weather is to get colder, according to Mondial Assistance. In a survey by the roadside assistance expert, 66% of motorists said they would not be fitting winter tyres - 46% because the tyres cost too much money.

Mondial Assistance warns motorists to consider the safety risks they expose themselves, passengers and pedestrians to, by failing to prepare their vehicles for driving on snow and ice. It urges them to follow the example set across much of Europe, where winter tyres are standard practice even in countries with similar climates to the UK.

A new survey has found that drivers are not taking basic precautions to help them cope with bad weather, despite falling temperatures and the onset of wintry conditions.

The poll carried out for Garmin, the sat nav manufacturer, found that an overwhelming number of young drivers (18 – 24 year-olds) said they’re not prepared for winter driving (57%) despite planning to cover the most miles over the Christmas period visiting friends and family. The rest of the population fared a little better, but overall just over one third of motorists still confessed to being ill-prepared (34%).

New research reveals that 43% of ‘designated’ drivers do not believe that the alcohol contained in popular Christmas puddings counts towards their drink-drive limit and almost three quarters (72%) do not ask their host about the alcohol content.

The study, by esure car insurance, found that an average serving of Christmas pudding contains almost half a unit of alcohol, while many popular seasonal favourites contain up to 0.88 per serving.