Walnuts - Frapontite - Silica

Slowly the message is getting out there, “When it’s winter – it’s time for winter tires!”

The 2007/2008 winter season saw Quebec make winter tires mandatory and this probably sent a message to Ontarians that perhaps winter tires are a good thing.  Yet it’s still amazing how often I across the “I’m a good driver – I don’t need winter tires” mentality.  And to answer the question that’s asked repeatedly this time of the year- “Do I really need FOUR winter tires?” The answer is – “If it’s winter at both ends of your vehicle, you need winter tires at both ends of your vehicle!”

At the SHIFT_into gear event hosted by Nissan, TOYO  Tires had a booth displaying its line of winter tires.  I talked to Tim o’Shaughnessy, Toyo’s National Account Manager who explained the 3 models – the Observe G-20 for the worst winter conditions, the Garit KX for performance vehicles, and the Snowprox S952 for extra winter traction.

Tim also showed me three small containers, each containing the main ingredients necessary to make tires that work in sub-zero temperatures -

Walnut Shells – it seems walnut shells are one of nature’s hardest substances and crusted shells are mixed into the tire compound to add that extra grip.

Frapontite – these tiny crystals are a key ingredient and have the ability to absorb water.  It’s not the inability of the tire to stick to ice that causes loss of traction but the thin layer of water between the tire and the ice.  What water doesn’t get sucked into the sipes (the spaces in the tread pattern), gets absorbed by this compound.  It’s then quickly released once the tire surface is no longer in contact with ice.

Silica – silica is used to keep the tire compound soft in lower temperatures.  Unlike the ill-named “all-season” tire that gets hard, winter tires remain soft and flexible and it’s this characteristic that allows the tire to grip and therefore provide control while steering, accelerating and stopping.

The benefits of a complete set of good winter tire are obvious. How well winter tires work is dependent upon many factors, but nothing substitutes for intelligent driving in winter conditions.

SHIFT_into gear

TORONTO – WEDNESDAY September 30, 2009 – It seemed somehow ironic that I would spend nearly two hours driving in “stop and creep” traffic only to then test drive some cars. But when one of those cars was a new Nissan 370Z, suddenly all the irony dissolved and it all became quite rational and worthwhile.

Today was Media day at Nissan’s “SHIFT_into gear” event, this year held at Ontario Place down on Toronto’s waterfront. A welcome coffee and a muffin later, a quick drool over the two GT-Rs strategically parked front and centre and it was time for a presentation about Nissan and its lineup of vehicles.

It was explained that Nissan has a clear identity and while each vehicle has a uniqueness, they all share design styling, performance and intuitive technology. With the GT-Rs at one end of the spectrum and the charming little cube at the far end – the design style identity may be a little hard to grasp, but the performance and intuitive technology seem to be omnipresent throughout the line up – at least from the Nissan vehicles I have personally experienced.

The brand pillars on which Nissan is built include –

• Passion – Nissans have to be fun to drive
• Friendly – They have to have easy and useful technology
• Emotional – they need to be provocative and in some sense, controversial
• Trust – Nissan has to be about quality, safety and responsibility

SHIFT_ into gear

The event is about introducing the public to Nissan, where people can show up for four days and test drive the Nissan Sentra, the Nissan Altima and the Nissan 370Z roadster back to back around a designated course, to get a feel for the qualities Nissan has to offer.

On media day, there were several other vehicles for us drive – and on the streets of Toronto. The same streets that earlier where congested with commuters finding their way to work. My first test drive was in the 370Z Couple. I purposely took the Coupe instead of the Roadster – down near the lake it wasn’t warm enough to be having the top down – just joking! Really, I wanted see how much headroom was available. It had headroom and it had visibility, except the view through the rear view mirror. This was a little limited due largely to the rather small rear windshield.

Handling was superb and the suspension was surprisingly smooth despite some of the roads and railways crossing encountered on the designated route. The Z series from Nissan has well established itself in the sports car area and the 370Z only goes to reinforce its membership status.

Next up, the one I really came to drive (other than the GT-Rs which were for show only), was the Versa. As much as I would like to have driven the 485hp GT-R, I believe we are headed in another direction, the smaller, more economical and more practical vehicle for city commuting. The Nissan Versa is such a vehicle. The irony is, I took the same route in the Versa as I did in the 370Z and it took exactly the same amount of time – go figure! Three Versas for the price of a 370Z

2010 sees Nissan in Canada for 45 years. Today, it has grown to 150 retailers across Canada.

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