THE RAIN IN SPAIN
The temperature soared as we made our way through rural Catalonia – the Parcmotor de Castelloli, on the outskirts of Barcelona, the venue for a day’s testing the new Firestone Roadhawk tyre.
The American manufacturer is confident it has developed the best-in-class for wet grip and dry braking over longer distances.
Its competitors, though, as you’d expect, beg to differ. Fortunately for the assembled media from across the continent, this was our chance to put our tuppence worth in. So, here goes.
The first exercise was cent red on dry braking – in layman’s terms travelling at 65mph before bringing the car to a standstill in the shortest possible distance. After a brief demonstration, I was thrust into the limelight and found myself sitting behind the wheel of a Volkswagen Golf 2.0 TDI. And boy did I let myself down. Hurtling down the long straight and slightly confused by the lingo of my Italian “co-driver”, I completely wiped out a cone positioned at the end of the straight with the front right tyre – much to the amusement of my fellow journalists safely gathered in the pit lane.
Despite the mishap, I was able to bring the car to a complete stop in 38.2 metres, approximately two metres shorter than the competitor tyre we also tested. I did feel far more in control of the vehicle under the guidance of the Roadhawk.
Our second, and perhaps, most enjoyable trial was the skid pad test. But, firstly, let me set the scene here. Scorching hot sunshine, as I’d previously mentioned, yet we’d been tasked with driving around in a circle mapped out by cones (I didn’t hit any this time I might add) whilst having the windscreen wipers on a fast setting to counteract the carefully positioned water jets. That’s right, this test was all about the Roadhawk’s ability to cope in wet conditions and something similar to what we’re used to seeing over here in the UK.
That said, the tyres coming under scrutiny had already racked up 20,000 kilometres. I don’t know if it was a deliberate ploy given my previous exploits, but I was last in our group to carry out the test. The constant screeching and utmost concentration etched on the faces of those who had gone before me did unnerve me, I must admit.
I needn’t have worried with the Roadhawk, though. Granted, the competitor tyre, which was more prone to understeer, did provide some shaky moments as my foot became more engaged with the acceleration pedal. The Roadhawk, on the other hand, handled the conditions well where there wasn’t any reluctance to keep my foot on the gas.
The third and final test of the day was, from a driver’s perspective, the most harrowing. Again, cruising along at 65mph going into a soaked sweeping turn, hitting the water with the Roadhawk brought a more controlled aquaplane than its competitor, although both the Roadhawk, to an extent, and its competitor, did have to work overtime to deal with the conditions. I did find with the competitor, though, I was really having to work the steering wheel to remain in control.
The Roadhawk is a tyre mainstream motorists can rely on was the general consensus as we made our way back down the mountains.