Designed to thrill even the most hardcore driving enthusiast while inspiring performance driving year-round, BFGoodrich® Tires is releasing the g-Force™ Super Sport A/S® (All-Season) tire, its most technologically advanced product to date.  Available in 29 sizes, BFGoodrich Tires’ g-Force Super Sport A/S will be available for consumers in October. 

“The urge to produce a true all season tire is a powerful motivator – and it’s the basis for the most technologically advanced tire we’ve ever made,” said Doug Brown, brand category manager for BFGoodrich Tires.  “The BFGoodrich Tires g-Force Super Sport A/S lets drivers take control of their driving experience by offering aggressive dry traction with no compromises in rain and snow while maintaining a quiet ride.  The bottom line is, when we say all-season, we mean it.  This tire brings true year-round control and performance to enthusiasts, for a confident driving experience every day.”

July 21st 2007 marked the 85th running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and it will be one to remember as a 13 year world record was broken.

Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima piloting the Falken Tire equipped Suzuki Sport XL7 spanned the 12.42-mile course in an amazing 10 minutes 1.408 seconds breaking the previous record by over 2.5 seconds.

Tajima’s precision driving skill has secured him two hill climb wins in 2007. First the “Race to the Sky” pro hill-climb located in New Zealand on April 8th and now the coveted Pikes Peak world record.

Hankook Tire America Corp. (http://www.hankooktireusa.com) is pleased to announce its official tire sponsorship of Chevrolet’s Rev It Up™ 2007: Where Drivers Come to Play (http://www.revitup.com). Hankook will provide more than 500 of its Ventus brand of high-performance tires for five different Chevrolet models. As the “World’s Largest Performance Driving School and National Racing Competition,” Rev It Up 2007 promises to allow amateur racers the opportunity to compete with experienced professionals in a challenge across six cities nationwide.

“Through this driving experience, Hankook Tire has the opportunity to reach 16,000+ automotive enthusiasts at one time,” said Bill Bainbridge, director of brand communication for Hankook Tire. “Not only will competitors be able to experience the vehicle’s performance, but our tire’s handling and ride characteristics as well.”

Hankook will provide Ventus S1evo K107, Ventus V4ES H105, Ventus AS RH07, and Ventus R-S2 Z212 performance tires for five Chevy models including the Impala SS, Cobalt SS Supercharged, TrailBlazer SS, Silverado Pickup and Equinox Sport.

Gerardo Bonilla and Jay Cochran engaged in a close competition for first place in both races at the IMSA Lites Series Northeast Grand Prix.  Presented by Hankook Performance Tires and hosted at the historic Lime Rock Park. The IMSA Lites showcased the best races of the season for a record number of fans. 

In Round 5, Bonilla set a fast pace with a qualifying time of 49.544 seconds and shared the front row with Kerry Jacobson in the #38 Inspire Motorsports/Hankook Tire DP02 Lites 1 entry.  By controlling the race from the first lap, Bonilla gained an impressive win in his #9 BK Motorsports Mazda/Skip Barber Elan DP02, while Cochran finished closely behind in second place. 

“With the help of the new and improved Hankook F200 C91 compound tires, our car handled the best it has all year.  Compared to the beginning of the year, it’s a nice evolution,” explained Bonilla.  “The tires sustain and grip better than our previous tires and they aren’t as sensitive to changes in the weather.”

At this past weekend’s Hot Rod Cinematic event in Gallipolis, Ohio, Coker Tire sponsored a fun contest during the drive-in movie portion of the event.  Inspired by the glory days of drive-in movies and the common practice of hiding multiple people in the car, Corky Coker submitted a challenge to all attendees.  As the world’s largest supplier of collector vehicle tires, Coker Tire offered a $750 gift certificate to the person who snuck in the most people in one vehicle. 

By stuffing 39 people including toddlers, kids, women and even large men into his Chevrolet P10 step-van, Charlie Brewer was declared the winner and awarded his Coker Tire gift certificate towards a new set of Coker tires.  After reading about the contest on H.A.M.B. message board on JalopyJournal.com, Brewer knew he had a good chance with the old catering van that he drives on a daily basis.  He rounded up as many kids from the show as possible and then filled out the rest of the space with adults. 

Mastercraft Tires is raising all-season performance to a whole new level with the launch of the Mastercraft Avenger Touring LSR – an all-season premium touring tire. Mastercraft is dedicated to continually finding better ways to meet and exceed consumers’ expectations. That same spirit of innovation can be found in the Touring LSR. Featuring a newly-formulated performance compound, the Touring LSR is derived and inspired from ultra-high performance tire technology delivering improved all-season performance and handling.

The new Touring LSR comes in two all-season tread design options:  a four-rib (T rated) and a five-rib design (H and V rated) with a size lineup that offers exceptional value to luxury sedan, minivan and crossover owners looking for excellent all-weather performance. 

From striking new styling and high-tech features to high performance grip and all-weather handling, the Touring LSR represents a new standard for the touring tire category. This new generation tire achieves these results using technology that Mastercraft engineers fine-tune and improve every day. Countless hours were spent testing and refining, and testing again. The end result is a distinctive tire with improved handling performance in wet or dry driving conditions, in addition to enhanced stability and excellent tread life. 

Firestone Industrial Products’ versatile Inflation Station portable air compressors are the perfect accessory to have on hand during family vacations, camping trips, sporting events and more.  Available in two models, Firestone Inflation Stations are designed to instantly supply up to 150 psi to inflate Ride Rite(tm) springs, tires, air mattresses, swimming rafts, basketballs - whatever needs air. 

“These compressors are a great addition for toy haulers to deflate and inflate tires while using their toys in the desert.  They can also be used to blow the dust and dirt off an ATV or motorcycle.  And they’re not frustrating to use - our products are so powerful they can inflate a 31x10.5-inch tire from 15 psi to 30 psi in less than two minutes,” said Paul Gibson, product manager, Firestone Industrial Products, Ride-Rite(tm) division.

Both Inflation Station kits - #9289 and #9290 - include a heavy duty 150 psi air compressor, a 12-foot power cable with brass alligator clips, a 25-foot coiled air hose, tire inflator tool with gauge, two blower nozzles, a needle valve tool and an extra heavy duty canvas carrier.

The Flatoutracing/Hankook Tires team gained its first win of the season during Round 4 of SCCA’s MARRS Series (Mid Atlantic Road Racing Series) at Summit Point Raceway in Summit Point, WV on June 17.  Principle driver Jon Kofod was presented a huge challenge when the team switched from the popular ITA class to the faster ITS class only weeks before the race.

“After looking at our chances in ITA, it became apparent that we had more of a chance in ITS.  While it certainly wasn’t going to be easy, we thought we had the pace to possibly win a lot of races in ITS,” stated Kofod before the first ITS race.  “But we had no way of exactly knowing our pace and how we would stack up against the ITS field,” noted Kofod. 

It didn’t help matters that the team qualified second in the morning session, a full half second behind the pole-sitting Datsun 240Z of Jeffrey Lucas.  A few adjustments and a new set of Hankook Ventus Z214 tires put all concerns to rest in the afternoon qualifying.  Kofod shaved off more than a half second to take pole with a 1:27.55, less than one tenth ahead of the Datsun’s morning time. 

Dunlop Drivers Cup is returning to legendary Virginia International Raceway with a new twist on U.S. Regional competition Sept. 17-21.The amateur competition is adding rally racing for the first time to its diverse collection of racing venues. Drivers, who are at least 21 and have a valid driver’s license, can apply for a spot at VIR at http://www.dunloptire.com/driverscup/. Deadline for applying is July 15.

“We are so pleased to be returning the Dunlop Drivers Cup to VIR,” said Janice Consolacion, marketing manager for Dunlop in North America. “The facility is beautiful, and it is custom-made for our unique competition. Few other racing facilities in the world offer the capability to hold on-track, autocross, karting, motocross and off-road contests simultaneously.”
Consolacion said the rally-racing venue provides another opportunity for amateur drivers to hone their driving skills for international competition. Dunlop employs international instructors to teach amateurs the driving skills necessary to compete at the World Finals.

Vogue Tyre is making its unique Custom Built Radial VIII white wall and gold stripe tire available in a new 20-inch size, a perfect upgrade for luxury vehicle owners.  The tire (size: 245/40R20 99H XL) is designed to provide customers with an additional option when customizing their vehicle.

The World’s Most Distinctive Tyre adds distinctive style while providing performance and comfort. In addition to the “Vogue Look”, this new tire features mud and snow all-season performance, an H- Speed Rating and the Vogue Gold puncture control pad. The Custom Built Radial VIII is also available in 17” and 18” sizes for passenger cars.

Corky Coker, president of Coker Tire, the world’s largest supplier of collector vehicle tires, recently announced the launch of a new campaign and namesake award that he hopes will get America’s driving heritage back on the road.  Through a series of speaking engagements and appearances at auto industry and collector car events across the U.S., Coker will be urging classic auto owners and enthusiasts to get their cars out of garages and onto the road.

“I just feel like this is one of those use it or loose it situations,” said Coker.  “It’s our job as collectors and car enthusiasts to pass this love of chrome and rubber on to the next generation.  That will never happen if we keep our classic cars hidden under cover in a garage.”

GREENVILLE, S.C. – February 19, 2007– Mikko Hirvonen (Ford/BFGoodrich Tires) surprised the competition last weekend by winning the WRC’s newest round, the Rally Norway.  The youngster led from flag to flag, while fellow Finn Marcus Grönholm was powerless against his teammate’s superiority but managed to secure a maximum point haul for BP-Ford as compared to a single point for rivals Citroën.  The French team (Citroën/BFGoodrich Tires) had a bleak weekend with Sébastien Loeb (14th) and Dani Sordo (25th) both going off on day 2.  Henning Solberg (Ford/BFGoodrich Tires) profited from the final day to steal third place from his brother Petter (Subaru/BFGoodrich Tires) and made it an all-Ford/BFGoodrich Tires podium.

Few drivers would have gambled on a victory for Hirvonen this weekend in Norway, and even fewer would have predicted the way in which he dominated his illustrious teammate.  Although, Hirvonen had previously tasted victory in Australia last October, this was his first win in a straight fight against former World Champions Sébastien Loeb and Marcus Grönholm; his maiden success was scored with the Frenchman absent and after the Finn had gone off early in the event.

This weekend, however, on an event that was new to all the favorites, Hirvonen pulled off a genuine feat.  For the first time in seven years, Grönholm was powerless on his favorite surface, snow.  Also for the first time in ages, Loeb had trouble matching the pace of his Ford Focus WRC rivals, especially that of Hirvonen.

The Finnish youngster has taken his time in coming of age at the WRC level.  His move to Subaru in 2004 was an uneasy moment in his career, and he was then given a fresh start in 2005 driving a privately entered Ford Focus WRC before being enlisted in the works Ford squad in 2006.  Since then, he has come on slowly but surely and propelled his reputation to new heights last weekend.