Test Drive Firestone Expands Its Product Range in Europe
Roadhawk is a new member of the American company's product family.
When Harvey Firestone, a close friend and business partner of Henry Ford, founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company 117 years ago, there were few car companies today and even fewer tire companies. Even Bridgestone, the company that owns the American brand, was born decades later. The history of Firestone is full of dramatic events, but today it is one of the main players in the tire industry scene. In the Bridgestone / Firestone consortium, it ranks second-tier as the more “leading” brand, although in practice the range includes high-quality products for cars and vans, SUVs and pickups of all sizes, as well as winter, summer and all-season products.
In 2014, Firestone decided to rebuild its position in Europe by investing in new products, technologies and businesses. In just over three years since the start of this initiative, Firestone has been methodically developing its brand, and a new product range called Roadhawk (since most of the products contain Hawk) has become the sixth on the market.
Class-leading on wet surfaces
The Firestone Roadhawk is practically a consumer tire for cars, mostly compact and mid-range, and was created after a fairly serious analytical study based on information received from more than 1000 European drivers. After researching the market, it became clear that drivers need tires that can withstand long distances while maintaining their qualities, safe for handling on wet surfaces, provide sufficient comfort in city traffic and on the highway, in short, universal tires for city and intercity roads. for safety, short braking distances and stability. All this is very easy to put into words, but very difficult to implement, because it requires a rather complex composition of airborne architecture with the requirements of good cornering grip, efficient drainage capability, low noise and fuel consumption and mixing. from materials at an affordable price. Firestone is proud to announce that they have created such a tire in Roadhawk, which in turn completes the company's new line of advanced products. According to an independent technical authority cited by Firestone, the TÜV SÜD Roadhawk performs better than its competitors UniRoyal Rainsport 3, Kleber Dynaxer HP3, Fulda EcoControl HP, Nexen NBlue HD+ in terms of aquaplaning tendency on the straight and in the turn after the run. 20 km and exhibits 000% better abrasion resistance than its predecessor Firestone TZ20. Thanks to specially developed compounds, as well as board and tread architecture, the Firestone Roadhawk achieves Class A in the European Wet Certification. However, the tread pattern also provides excellent dry performance, providing the shortest braking distance in its class compared to the aforementioned tires at 300/205 R 55 16V.
Music festivals sponsor
Tests related to the launch of the new Firestone Roadhawk touring tire at Motor Castelloli near Barcelona included various exercises demonstrating objectively measured values and the subjective feel of tires previously driven 20 km compared to tires in the aforementioned competition under the same conditions. The tires fitted to the Golf VII definitely confirmed the manufacturer's claims that the overall results showed a higher average speed on wet roads and shorter braking distances, and significantly better control when changing lanes on wet surfaces.
The tests also included attending the Primavera Sound Festival, which is part of the Firestone Music Tour, which includes music festivals in the UK, Germany, Poland, Italy and France. In addition to the Firestone sponsorship, audiophiles can see many interesting events and scenes related to the car in one way or another.
