Summarising the latest legal winter stipulations for 39 countries, Continental’s new winter brochure offers useful tips on M+S (mud + snow) and 3PMSF (3 Peak Mountain Snowflake certification) Continental has also added the Scandinavia Generation 3 winter tyre to its extensive portfolio.
Tackle Winter with Confidence, Continental’s New Brochure
The most important changes for truck and bus/coach drivers and fleet managers in the United Kingdom, Denmark, Italy and the Netherlands, amongst others, still don’t include a general obligation to fit winter tyres on commercial vehicles. In contrast, however, Germany, Austria and Spain have put specific regulations in place for the fitment of winter tyres. France has also toughened up their winter equipment regulations for 2021, as has Norway.
To add more detail, in some of Europe’s key transit countries – such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and Poland – no changes have been made to the winter equipment requirements for trucks and buses compared to last year. In France, winter equipment is already mandatory on specially marked roads.
One of the new rules that will make a difference is the 3PMSF marking instead of only the M+S marking, which will affect passenger cars as well as commercial vehicles.
Continental’s New Winter Tyre, the Scandinavia Generation 3 Unveiled
As well as the detailed brochure, Continental has added it to its winter portfolio with the Scandinavia Generation 3 winter tyre line. These tyres are designed to handle extremely tough winter conditions and boast high levels of traction without compromising on mileage.
“We have developed the Scandinavia Generation 3 tyre line for a broad range of road surfaces and all weather conditions,” explains Hinnerk Kaiser, Head of Tyre Development at Continental. This family of tyres has excellent traction in winter conditions combined with a long lifespan. Optimised compounds provide a solid grip on snow, ice and in the wet without compromising in terms of mileage, wear or tread durability. Our two-stage siping technology offers our customers all-round safety all year round.”
Kaiser also added: “The tyres provide secure performance in challenging weather conditions during the winter months and also help to enhance safety and efficiency in summer with their optimised rolling resistance and high mileage capability. The high natural rubber content of our tyres gives them lower rolling resistance and the required flexibility in low temperatures,” The optimised filler and oil content also ensures better wear properties and therefore sustainability and efficiency.
The Generation 3 tyres – the Conti Scandinavia HS3, HD3 and HT3 – are equipped to contribute significantly to the operational safety of vehicles in a wide range of road and weather conditions, explains Continental. “We have pooled together our tyre expertise for the Generation 3 winter tyre family and have employed new technologies to increase performance beyond existing boundaries,” Kaiser explained, authoritatively.
