New EU tyre legislation effective 01/11/12

toby1

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BACKGROUND INFORMATION EU reference : EC/1222/2009
The tyre labeling regulation introduces labeling requirements as of 1st November 2012 with regard to the
display of information on the fuel efficiency, wet grip and external rolling noise of tyres. Its aim is to increase
the safety and the environmental and economic efficiency of road transport by promoting fuel-efficient and
safe tyres with low noise levels.

Fuel Efficiency Class
7 classes from G (least efficient) to A (most efficient)

Wet Grip Class
7 classes from G (longest braking distance) to A (shortest
braking distance)

External Rolling Noise Class

In addition to the noise value in Decibel (dB) a pictogram displays whether the tyre external rolling noise performance is above the future EU mandatory limit (3 black bars), between the future limit and 3dB below (2 black bars) or more that 3dB below the future limit value (1 black bar = low noise tyre)


From 1st November 2012, all tyres produced after 30 June 2012 must display the following information:

• All passenger or commercial van tyres, on display or visible by the consumer, must either carry the
sticker displaying the tyre label directly on their tread (as provided by the manufacturer) OR must
have a copy of the tyre label (as provided by the manufacturer) in their immediate proximity.

• Distributors must provide buyers with label fuel efficiency and wet grip classes and noise values
and class of products even if not on display, before the sale.

• The fuel efficiency and wet grip classes and noise class and values (but not the full image of the
label) shall be included on the tyre technical promotional material. For example, on the price list or
websites.

• Fuel efficiency class, wet grip class and the external rolling noise declared value have to be
provided to the end consumer either on or with the bill.

Probably not as exciting as some news, but it might have the winter tyres anoraks stroking their chins more quickly/slowly
 
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mersum1es

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television

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Thank you Toby for the post and very useful info all round,,it will interesting to see how the fat brigade do as noise can spoil an otherwise good car:D:D
 

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Provided the ratings are properly controlled, this is a great development. Tyre shopping is bewildering at the moment: one is forced to choose based on reputation and anecdotes when there are too many variables (car, size, pressure, temperature, road surface) and no way to compare except by buying, and even then it's a comparison against the old tyre in its worn state.

Prediction: there'll soon be an AA or A+ rating for efficiency and possibly the wet grip as manufacturers step up to the mark in R&D. My only concern is that unmeasured attributes (dry braking?!) may suffer as there's no point optimizing for that when customers only see the label parameters.
 
C

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In theory a tyre that performs well in the wet, isn't going to be the most fuel efficient

Interesting if a budget tyre out performs a branded one. Which might put pay to overpriced and over hyped tyres
 
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television

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It uses energy to produce noise, so OK for the fuel consumption to have a quieter ride, but as above what do you do with the grip
 

whitenemesis

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For those interested in the detail behind the regs and testing procedure..

http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/trans/main/wp29/wp29regs/r117rev.2E.pdf

http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/trans/doc/2011/wp29grrf/GRRF-71-10e.pdf

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2009:342:0046:0058:en:PDF


Obviously the road surface over which the test vehicle will coast (sound level measurements will NOT be made whilst the vehicle accelerates, decelerates or is under power..) is very tightly specified. So as a generator for comparative data this is fine but it will not reflect "real world" experiences. Not dissimilar to comparative fuel consumption testing data ..
 

drmw

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Pity the tree huggers appear to have overlooked one additional factor, that being a scale of durability - one of the most expensive aspects of tyres has to be disposal when replaced.
 

d215yq

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Will be interesting to see how they perform, i'd imagine some cheap brands are going to do considerably better than some might think. Though without durability it is a little meaningless, all i care about when buying a tyre is cost v durability, fuel efficiency and noise.

I couldn't care a less about "wet grip" because I actually drive according to the conditions when it's raining, the same reason i won;t replace tyres at 3mm for "saftey reasons" and they can go right down to the wear bar.

I worry about anything which boasts wet grip as this will probably result in many people thinking their tyres handle the same as in the dry because its "a rated, innit?" When i had winter tyres on my w124 my mate was thinking of getting some for his car so told me on a quiet, wide snow covered road to accelerate as hard as possible, steer sharply and then emergency stop to see what they could do...he then concluded the winter tyres were a waste of time because the car still wheelspan, slid and skidded "just like normal tyres would" when driven in this manner!!!...he genuinely expected it would grip like there wasn't any snow on the road!
 
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whitenemesis

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Pity the tree huggers appear to have overlooked one additional factor, that being a scale of durability - one of the most expensive aspects of tyres has to be disposal when replaced.

I think this aspect is covered via the rolling resistance factor? But again it's something akin to mpg, each driver will experience a different result..

I don't think there is a cost to tyre disposal? Aren't they simply dumped, sorry, stored, in a field somewhere?
 

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landfill has a cost. But I do believe most of the rubber from tyres is reclaimed and used for other industrial applications.
 

star

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Saw something on this on this morning with quintin Wilson, they compared a cheap brand tyre with a more expensive one, same Merc car, side by side on a skid pan. The difference was amazing. One test was over 30 car lengths difference!!!!
 

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The Swedes and on USA were at one time grinding them up and using it for road construction and finishing mixed with the tarmac
 

television

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Saw something on this on this morning with quintin Wilson, they compared a cheap brand tyre with a more expensive one, same Merc car, side by side on a skid pan. The difference was amazing. One test was over 30 car lengths difference!!!!

I have some test here on this, the Michelin energy saver scored 2 in the rain as against the Conti that scored 9, the Kumho scored 3 all out of 10.

In terms of MPG the Michelin got 10 and the Conti conact2 scored 2 and all of this with lab conditions, same car same track and car computer driven
 

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drmw

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Saw something on this on this morning with quintin Wilson, they compared a cheap brand tyre with a more expensive one, same Merc car, side by side on a skid pan. The difference was amazing. One test was over 30 car lengths difference!!!!

I wouldn't believe a single word that man says! ;)
 


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