Continental has just secured further approvals for its winter tires. Ultra-sporty cars, as well as compact and subcompact models will be driving this winter on tires made by the European market leader. These approvals underscore the outstanding combination of high safety standards and sporty performance of tires developed by Continental’s engineers in Hanover.
More vehicles will be cruising around on Continental tires now that the company has earned more approvals for its winter tires
As a co-supplier of tires for the compact BMW 1 Series, the trendy MINI and the sporty BMW M3, the winter tire maker from Hanover can now boast further additions to its list of approvals. BMW chassis experts still only approve tires offering an optimum mix of agile performance and good grip on wintry roads in the cold season.
“It is extremely important to BMW that the tires are capable of transmitting the vehicle’s very good handling properties to the tarmac,” explains Philipp Ohliger, tire engineer at Continental. “At the same time, they must offer a high degree of safety on snow so that the whole fun of driving a BMW is retained without limitations during the cold season as well.”
The new ContiWinterContact TS 810 S tires, with which some of the BMW and MINI models are now being equipped, thus differ in certain details from the normal series of tires.
“To make them distinguishable for the tire dealers, an asterisk has been added to the tire size marking,” says Ohliger. “We’re now making size 195/55 R 16 H for the 1 Series and the MINI, while the wider size 235/40 R 18 V is being used on the M3.”
Being included in the pool of original equipment tires for BMW demonstrates that Continental is continuing its success story in tire engineering and development, the company states. Meanwhile, the corporation makes the tires for one in three cars produced in Europe, and is also a supplier to vehicle manufacturers in the U.S.A. and Asia. For these purposes, only tires of the Continental brand are manufactured, while the other key brands Uniroyal, Semperit, General Tire and Barum are sold in the worldwide quality and budget segments of the replacement market.
For more information, visit www.conti-na.com.
