Earlier this year, I completed my 30th year in the tire industry. When I first started working for my dad, customers had limited choices when purchasing replacement tires, and “performance balancing” was much simpler.

Tags: Kevin Rohlwing, Tire balancing, Tire mounting, Tire mounting equipment

The tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) in Chrysler Group LLC’s 2009 Challenger and Charger monitors air pressure in the four road tires (the spare is excluded).

Tags: Chrysler, Chrysler Challenger, Chrysler Charger, Tire pressure monitoring systems, TPMS

How does your average Internet shopper shop for ultra-high performance tires? To find out, we asked someone who seemed to fit that description how he bought tires for his 2004 BMW M3.

Tags: Performance Tires, UHP tires, ultra-high performance tires

The numbers don’t lie. The 2011 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show was a huge success. A record 132,000 people attended the event, according to the Tire Industry Association (TIA), which sponsored the show’s Global Tire Expo section. There also were 61,000 buyers, also a record and close to 19% higher than last year.

Tags: ASA, CIMS, Cooper, Falken, Hercules, Landsail, Nexen, Nitto, Pirelli, R.L. Polk & Co., Schrader, SEMA Show, SEMA Show 2011, TIA, Vee Rubber

Any NASCAR fan knows. What’s the official tire of NASCAR? Goodyear. And it will remain that way at least for the next five years. In October 2011, Goodyear and NASCAR signed an extended agreement for Goodyear to continue as the exclusive tire used in NASCAR’s top three racing series for the next five years.

Tags: Goodyear, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., NASCAR, Racing

What Jack Smiley does not do is try to sell to everybody. Like all successful business owners, his marketing efforts are aimed at the most lucrative customers most likely to return again and again.

Tags: High performance, Smiley's Tires, Tunes and Tints

With a nod to singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, the times are indeed changing for tire service. There are numerous new products on the market that make UHP tire demounting, mounting and balancing quicker and easier than ever before.

Tags: Auto Service, Corghi USA, Hennessy Industries, Hunter Engineering, Snap-on, Tire balancing, Tire mounting equipment

Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. is bringing new tires to market more rapidly than ever in an effort to shed its reputation as a “fast follower,” according to Chuck Yurkovich, Cooper vice president, global technical.

Tags: Cooper, Global Tire Expo, SEMA Show

Technology is advancing rapidly, with automakers jumping through hoops to offer the “latest and greatest,” both to meet ever-more-stringent federal mandates and to make their vehicles more appealing to the buying public.

Tags: Anti-collision avoidance systems, Auto Service, Brakes, Diesels, Emerging technologies, Engines, Fly-by-wire, Heads-up display, Intelligent tire systems, Mike Mavrigian, Multiplexing, Steering, Vehicle lighting, Vehicle video cameras, Wheel Alignment

Take a close look at the next late-model, mid-size sedan that rolls into your parking lot. Make note of the car’s tires. More often than not, you’ll find larger tires with a smaller aspect ratio and a higher speed rating — tires that perhaps 10 years ago would have been confined to the high performance or ultra-high performance categories.

Tags: High performance, Ultra-high performance