The Tire Industry Association (TIA) has released a training resource that covers the installation guidelines and safety advantages of winter and studded tires on passenger and SUV/LT vehicles.
Winter Tire Replacement is a 15-minute video that retailers can use to explain the differences between all-season and winter/studded tires. The video was made possible by a grant from Nokian Tyres P.L.C. to the TIA Foundation.
“During our annual meetings with the tire manufacturers, the subject of how TIA can help the industry is always addressed,” says Roy Littlefield.
“A few years ago, we brought up the idea of an industry video that addresses the recommended practices for installing winter tires. We partnered with Bridgestone to release Passenger Tire Replacement back in 2009 and felt Nokian would be the perfect partner to produce a winter tire version.”
Winter Tire Replacement is another consumer and industry educational video that people can view, download and distribute at no charge.
“We know that TIA specializes in tire training, so we were excited to work with them to develop a much-needed in-depth training video on the safety guidelines and benefits of winter tires,” says Todd McDonald, vice president products and pricing/customer service for Nokian Tyres.
“As a company that specializes in tires for consumers in northern climates, our focus for the past 70 years has been to design and build tires that improve the overall safety of the vehicle in winter conditions.”
The video is currently available on TIA’s “tiresafetystartshere” YouTube and Google+ pages and covers three specific areas:
1) the differences between all-season and winter tires;
2) winter tire selection and installation procedures; and
3) the performance advantages of winter tires when compared to all-season.
Filmed at Nokian’s Ivalo Proving Grounds in northern Finland about 175 miles north of the Arctic Circle, Winter Tire Replacement features a series of tests between all-season and winter tires. Identical passenger cars and SUV’s were tested on snow and ice for stopping, acceleration, lateral traction, and incline traction. The video also examines the effects of installing winter tires on the front axle while all-season tires are installed on the rear axle.
“There is no way that TIA can produce a video like this without the support and assistance provided by everyone at Nokian in the US and in Finland,” says Kevin Rohlwing, TIA senior vice president of training.
“We were able to film head-to-head tests between all-season and winter/studded tires to show drivers the safety benefits of tires engineered to perform in winter conditions. By providing the test track and facilities in Ivalo, Nokian made it easy to capture some incredible images that are sure to leave an impression on the viewer.”
