Advice from Uniroyal, the rain tyre experts:
Check your tyres before going off on holiday!

Hanover, 27th July 2009. Uniroyal advises motorists to check their tyres before setting off on holiday. That means having the right tyre pressure and a tread depth which should not be less than three millimetres. Particularly when driving or braking on wet roads, low tread depth and incorrect tyre pressure can mean longer braking distances and even aquaplaning. The rain tyre experts also advise anyone using a hire car when they reach their holiday destination to carry out these same checks on the vehicle.

Here you can download the press release as a doc-file

Before setting off on holiday, motorists should adjust their tyre pressure to accommodate the extra load on the vehicle. The higher tyre pressure required by some vehicles when travelling at greater speeds or when used with a trailer should also be allowed for. If tyres have insufficient inflation pressure, lateral guidance and braking characteristics will suffer, and in extreme cases the tyres may fail if they overheat. Tyres with the correct pressure, on the other hand, have lower rolling resistance and will last longer.

Tread depth is just as important as the right tyre pressure, according to the experts at Uniroyal. This should not be below 3 millimetres, as otherwise motorists driving in the rain risk experiencing the dreaded phenomenon of aquaplaning; braking distances on wet roads in particular are also longer.

Here you can download this image in high resolution.

Uniroyal also strongly advises drivers who have booked a hire car for their holiday in sunny southern climes to inspect the tyres on their vehicle. When rental companies check their vehicles, a lack of time sometimes means that tyres are overlooked, and even in hot countries, there is still the risk of occasional heavy cloudbursts in the summer.

Here you can download this image in high resolution.

The Belgian rubber goods manufacturer Englebert produced tyres from 1895 and the company's customers included Continental AG. When the firm merged with US Rubber in 1958, it was then known as Uniroyal Englebert. Uniroyal, the inventor of the rain tyre, has been a European brand within the portfolio of Continental AG in Hanover, Germany since 1979.

With sales exceeding i24 billion in 2008, the Continental Corporation is one of the top automotive suppliers worldwide. As a supplier of brake systems, systems and components for the powertrain and chassis, instrumentation, infotainment solutions, vehicle electronics, tyres and technical elastomers, the corporation contributes towards enhanced driving safety and protection of the global climate. Continental is also a competent partner in networked automobile communication. The corporation currently employs approximately 133,000 at nearly 190 locations in 35 countries.

Continental is Europe's market leader for car tyres. In the Original Equipment sector, over 30% of all new European cars leave the factory on Continental tyres. The Tyre Divisions are an Official Sponsor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa^TM. For further details, visit www.ContiSoccerWorld.com.