ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, February 6, 1996 TAG: 9602060069
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: DETROIT
SOURCE: Associated Press
THE INFINITRED gets long life with deeper treads and a design that minimizes "squirm.''
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. is betting that buyers of its new long-wearing tires will wear out their cars before they wear out their tires - they have the industry's first limited lifetime tread warranty.
No matter how many miles they were driven, Goodyear will replace worn-out Infinitred tires free during the first three years of normal use. After three years, they will be replaced for half price.
The Infinitred is likely to intensify the warranty competition among manufacturers for the 170 million replacement tires bought each year by car owners.
About one-quarter of the replacement market is for high-mileage, brand-name tires such as the new Goodyears, which will sell for an average of $100 each, the company said.
Goodyear gets long life from the new tires by building them with deeper treads and using a design that minimizes the ``squirm'' of the tread - that's the movement of the points on the tread that diminishes handling and traction, Goodyear spokesman Dave Wilkins said.
LENGTH: Short : 36 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Goodyear engineer Dale Freygang uses a tread-depthby CNBgauge on the Infinitred.