As a popular tyre, GT Radial seems to be doubling its brand awareness in Australia each year. The incremental success of GT Radial is the result of progressive research and development taking place abroad.

GT Radial tyre manufacturer, Giti Tire, has doubled the size of its European test centre which is causing a ripple effect across the continent. Giti's decision to expand garage space and staff numbers on an already solid foundation of research and development is a direct statement aimed at the competition. "Once you have a comparable or better product competing with longer established brands, then it's natural to expect the GT tyre to be part of a driver's buying decision when replacing their tyres," says Les DeCelis, CEO of Tyres4U.

In fact, GT Radial is now part of many 'Aussie' consumer purchasing decisions - a success factor that is attributed to Giti's investment in the MIRA test centre.

MIRA is a leading independent provider of product engineering, testing, consultancy, certification, research and information. The MIRA test centre in Europe is host to tyre engineers from GT Radial's Indonesian and Chinese production bases. Furthermore, the experienced test team has also begun bi-annual winter tyre testing at respected centres in Finland and New Zealand.

While product development and competitor benchmarking are clearly priorities for the European technical centre, the newly expanded facility has also been key to the company's preparations for the S-marking law that came into force during the first quarter of this year in the UK and in October 2009 across Europe. Most recently the team's legislative compliance work has seen technicians develop products with the 2012 tyre labelling rules in mind.

The success of these labours is the new GT Radial Champiro Eco, which Giti Tire says already meets the 2012 rule parameters. The 'S' and 'W' displayed on its sidewall confirm that Champiro ECO meets the European low noise threshold, 'S', and traction in wet conditions, 'W.' In the third EU category, that evaluates rolling resistance and fuel consumption, the Champiro ECO allegedly gets a preliminary C on a scale of A to G. This development saw the company nominated for the 2010 National Tyre Distributors Association and Fast Fit innovation award.

Many Australian drivers are now exhibiting peace of mind that tyres of such value, that have been engineered in state of the art contemporary research centres, with safety at the forefront of development, are being sold locally across Australia.

Product Manager at Australia's biggest independent tyre importer, Terry Clifford, has been in the tyre industry for several decades. He comments, "Australian roads aren't very friendly to your car, in particular the tyres. We import quality that we know is going to have the right balance of safety, comfort, performance and cost. GT Radial's focus on quality new product development makes it a catalyst in modern (tyre) manufacturing."

Terry has had the privilege of witnessing Dry and Wet Handling on the Champiro HPY, demonstrated by test engineers. The tyres were driven over complex test tracks, specially designed to evaluate all aspects of steering, stability and handling performance while being driven at maximum vehicle speeds. "I have no hesitation in recommending and using the new GT Radial car tyre," he says.

GT Radial tyres are imported to Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea by Tyres4U.

Champiro HPY has 17 sizes in stock with more sizes in production and Champiro ECO has 8 sizes ordered with shipment on route. For enquiries, please call Tyres4U Australia on 1800 722 822 or visit www.tyres4u.com.au for orders and information.

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