Moto92
05-15-2005, 12:42 PM
Everyone knows how drifting has taken off like crazy in the last year. It even has its own series now airing on G4 TV. Check out these new tires developed by Kumho. They have developed a new tire that emit red smoke and blue smoke.
Here is a link to their press release and a video
Watch Video (http://www.kumhotireusa.com./News/Images/KUMHO-redsmoke.wmv)
Article: KUMHO debuts red smoke tire for drifting competition
FONTANA, CA … May 6, 2005… In the last few years, KUMHO Tire has
achieved a
number of firsts: the first company to make a 26-inch light truck tire;
the
first company to produce a 28-inch light truck tire; a class win in the
company’s first race in the American Le Mans Series. And now, KUMHO has
another first: a tire that produces red smoke. This special version of
KUMHO’s ECSTA MX ultra high performance street tire--dubbed the ECSTA
MX-C--will make its public debut with Enjuku Racing at the Formula
Drift
event at Road Atlanta on May 6 and 7.
Enjuku tested the MX-C for the first time the week of April 18, and it
literally left the team’s members speechless. “When we saw the red
smoke
boiling off the rear tires, we just stood there and stared in awe,”
said
Enjuku lead driver and team captain Matt Vassallo. “I think people will
be
blown away when they see this.”
The ECSTA MX-C was developed at the KUMHO Technical Center in Akron,
OH. “At
a product meeting here late last summer, several people were talking
about
the sport of drifting,” said Guy Edington, manager of the Technical
Center.
“While watching a drifting video, someone opined that it would be cool
if
the tire smoke coming off the cars was colored.”
From there the idea blossomed, and Jim Palombo, KUMHO’s senior product
chemist, and Gary Bradnick, lead lab technologist, set about looking
for a
way to make colored smoke. They developed the right mix of chemicals
and now
have a patent pending for their colorful compound (they’ve also
developed a
compound that produces blue tire smoke). Following successful testing,
KUMHO
produced a limited number of the tires.
“We don’t intend to sell the ECSTA MX-C to the general public,” said
KUMHO
brand director Rick Brennan. “We built them to demonstrate our forward
thinking, technical capabilities and ability to respond quickly to the
market. Like our race-winning ALMS tire, the MX-C was developed in a
very
short time—about six months. And like our 26-inch and 28-inch light
truck
tires, the MX-C gets attention by charting new territory that no other
tire
company even thought about entering.”
Enjuku’s Vassallo agrees. “ With the car show market and drifting scene
ever-expanding in the U.S., the constant effort to make your vehicle
stand
out in the crowd is the ultimate goal,” he said. “KUMHO has upped the
ante
with the ECSTA MX-C.”
Here is a link to their press release and a video
Watch Video (http://www.kumhotireusa.com./News/Images/KUMHO-redsmoke.wmv)
Article: KUMHO debuts red smoke tire for drifting competition
FONTANA, CA … May 6, 2005… In the last few years, KUMHO Tire has
achieved a
number of firsts: the first company to make a 26-inch light truck tire;
the
first company to produce a 28-inch light truck tire; a class win in the
company’s first race in the American Le Mans Series. And now, KUMHO has
another first: a tire that produces red smoke. This special version of
KUMHO’s ECSTA MX ultra high performance street tire--dubbed the ECSTA
MX-C--will make its public debut with Enjuku Racing at the Formula
Drift
event at Road Atlanta on May 6 and 7.
Enjuku tested the MX-C for the first time the week of April 18, and it
literally left the team’s members speechless. “When we saw the red
smoke
boiling off the rear tires, we just stood there and stared in awe,”
said
Enjuku lead driver and team captain Matt Vassallo. “I think people will
be
blown away when they see this.”
The ECSTA MX-C was developed at the KUMHO Technical Center in Akron,
OH. “At
a product meeting here late last summer, several people were talking
about
the sport of drifting,” said Guy Edington, manager of the Technical
Center.
“While watching a drifting video, someone opined that it would be cool
if
the tire smoke coming off the cars was colored.”
From there the idea blossomed, and Jim Palombo, KUMHO’s senior product
chemist, and Gary Bradnick, lead lab technologist, set about looking
for a
way to make colored smoke. They developed the right mix of chemicals
and now
have a patent pending for their colorful compound (they’ve also
developed a
compound that produces blue tire smoke). Following successful testing,
KUMHO
produced a limited number of the tires.
“We don’t intend to sell the ECSTA MX-C to the general public,” said
KUMHO
brand director Rick Brennan. “We built them to demonstrate our forward
thinking, technical capabilities and ability to respond quickly to the
market. Like our race-winning ALMS tire, the MX-C was developed in a
very
short time—about six months. And like our 26-inch and 28-inch light
truck
tires, the MX-C gets attention by charting new territory that no other
tire
company even thought about entering.”
Enjuku’s Vassallo agrees. “ With the car show market and drifting scene
ever-expanding in the U.S., the constant effort to make your vehicle
stand
out in the crowd is the ultimate goal,” he said. “KUMHO has upped the
ante
with the ECSTA MX-C.”