The Tour of the Alps has been such a great experience!

More than a month has passed by and, besides entertaining, we hope we’ve also given you some good advice for winter driving!

We stop here for the moment… but, see you soon for next adventures! Stay tuned!

To say goodbye, we thought it was nice to give you a video taste of the Tour, hoping you’ll like it!

The Pirelli Team

Winter is coming… and it’s time to take car trips seriously in order to travel in the safest way.
We elaborated a 10-points list of the most important things you have to remember before taking a trip in winter time!

Let’s see it so!

1 - Check the tyres pressure and level of wear (you can find the correct data on the car booklet), remembering that Winter tyres’ performance is good on snow until they reach 4 mm thread depth. Rotate the winter tyres regularly every 10/12.000 km.

2 - Always use 4 winter tyres of the same brand and the same characteristics. Consult the user and maintenance manual of the vehicle for the correct load index and speed code of the tyres to be used.

3 - Equip your car for winter: give your car a set of winter tyres, check the windscreen wipers, the screen wash liquid, the battery, the headlights and the de-icer.

4 - Keep headlights and windscreen cleaned, and clean the snow from the roof of the car because it could slide and compromise your visibility. Raise the windscreen wiper from the glass during the night to avoid they freeze.

5 - Always start the engine first, before turning on the headlights, radio or any other equipment that involves the battery… but don’t forget to switch on the headlights to be more visible to the other drivers.

6 - Always maintain an adequate safety distance and respect the speed limits imposed by the highway code. You should keep at least 3 times the usual distance from the car in front of you.

7 - On snowy and icy roads avoid braking, changing gear and steer roughly. Brake gently to avoid skids. If the wheels block off, release gently the brake.

8 - Use low gears to keep the traction and avoid parking on hills or on roads that might become icy.

9 - Be careful especially on bridges, overpasses and roads that are not main ones, especially when in the shade: these places will be the first to become icy, even when the temperature will go below zero.

10 - Check the weather forecasts. Avoid driving in extreme conditions, and if you really have to, consider carefully the timings: take your time to ensure the safety for you and others.

And now… have a safe trip!

For more info on Winter Tyres please visit our website!

We already got to November… the temperature is falling!

Today we will tell you some news and curiosities about winter tyres… so that you won’t get caught unprepared!

How many people do use winter tyres in Europe in your opinion?
In Germany more than 3/4 of the driving population use winter tyres. But also in Italy for example, the number is increasing: about 13% of the Italians are already changing over to winter tyres, mostly in the northern areas of the country.

But which are the differences between a winter tyre and a summer tyre?

Summer tyres have a harder compound and a tread pattern is made by compact blocks, so that they can have a very good adherence and maintain the right elasticity on high speed and with high temperature.

Winter tyres have instead a softer compound that offers good grip on low temperatures and a tread pattern characterised by small blocks with lengthwise and widthways grooves and additional sipes that ensure the right safety on rain, snow and ice.

And what are the differences between the main European countries when it comes to winter tyres??

In Italy the use of winter tyres is mandatory just when you find on your way the road sign indicating the compulsory use of snow chains. But as for the Italian law, no need to mount snow chains if your car already has winter tyres! The two solutions are considered equal.

In Germany it’s mandatory to adapt the car equipment to the weather conditions. Who doesn’t follow this advice might get a fine and for those who cause car accidents because of the wrong tyres, there are serious consequences for the kasko insurance.
In Austria the use of winter tyres is mandatory from from November 1st until April 15th.

In Switzerland the use of winter tyres is not mandatory, but there is the same rule about car accidents: in case of accidents caused by summer tyres, the driver might face serious consequences.
In France, there is also no legal requirement to use winter tires, but its use is appropriate in many parts of the country, especially in the north, east and south-east.

Here you are, ready for a nice trip around the snowy Europe!
See you next time!

Do you remember one of the latest posts??

The official bloggers for France and Italy shared with us their opinions about the Tour.
Christian Kaiser, the official blogger for Germany who wrote a detailed travel diary on dasautoblog.com, has done just the same sending us a message about his experience…

“With the invitation for the “Tour of the Alps” Pirelli shows that bloggers are taken more and more seriously. For me it was not only an honour to take part as the German representative, but also informative and related to lots of fun. Pirelli succeeded in making the presentation of a tyre a great experience – or better: a great adventure – that could not be better organized!”

We thank Christian for his contribution, and for the nice picture he took at the Tour, which you can see here below!

Have a great weekend!

Have a look at this…

We strongly suggest you to raise the volume of your pc and make yourselves at home…directly from the Stelvio Pass a load of adrenalin to let you live the great emotions of the Tour of the Alps!

…and make sure you “pass the ball” to your friends by sharing the video!!

Enjoy!!

We were wondering about their point of view… and they sent us their opinions about the experience lived during our Tour!
Let’s see what they think so…

Christophe Labédan from France, who joined the Tour for leblogauto.com thinks the Tour has been an innovative way to test a tyre, as they had much time and different situations to understand its characteristics.
Moreover the chance to share the experience with so many journalists, has been very appreciated.
Christophe says he learned more in three days about winter tyres than what he had done in a lifetime… because practice is always better than theory!

Paolo Alberto Fina from autoblog.it, the official blogger for Italy, told us that the three days dedicated to cars, tyres and kilometers have been characterised by a freezing temperature, but when you are having so much fun, you don’t really feel it!
Here you can find his narration of the Tour.
Paolo has been impressed by the landscapes, the organization… and by the interest we put in the web and the blogosphere.

Are you curious to read their messages in full version? Here they are!
Well, what can we say?
It’s honeslty a pleasure for us to feel this enthusiasm!
And the other bloggers?? They might be sharing with us their opinions very soon… !

See you next time!

They answered our call… they drove long and winding roads… they stayed with us at 3.200 m of altitude and -18°C: they are our 5 official bloggers!

And here we are to present them, and to point out the blogs where they posted their personal travel diary of the Tour of the Alps.

Italy was officially represented by Paolo Alberto Fina, who writes for Autoblog.it, and started his journey leaving from Milan… check out what he said about his first day of the Tour autoblog.it
In the group that left from Italy, there were also the official bloggers from Spain and France.
The Spanish blogger’s name is Javier Moltò, who writes for Km77.com, and who was also part of one of the crews that won the Tour’s challenge!
The French blogger is instead Christophe Labédan, from Leblogauto.com, check out his post about the test drive in Vizzola ! leblogauto.com 

The other two official bloggers, for Germany and Switzerland left from Munich.
The German blogger is Christian Kaiser from Dasautoblog.com, you should read his chronicles of the Tour, it’s very detailed and full of pictures! Here’s for example the post about the test drive on the Stelvio dasautoblog.com
The official blogger for Switzerland is Quentin Charnolé of Xelopolis.com who dedicated this interesting page to the Tour, with a lot of pictures he took himself which are quite impressive!! xelopolis.com

Our bloggers spent the three days of the Tour with us and the rest of the guests… it’s been so exciting to gather so much people from many different countries all together on the top of the Stelvio Pass to share this experience!

Reading their posts we feel a bit melancholic… but in this way we can find out also their point of view!

We really hope they had fun too during this great Tour of the Alps!

Hey guys… it’s Friday!

The Tour of the Alps’ week has come to its end… and we have to thank everyone!!

Thanks to the whole Pirelli Team and to all the people who organized this amazing event and made it happen!

And obviously, we thank all of the guests and the participants who shared this unforgettable experience with us!!
But above all… thanks to those who followed us… we hope that you “felt” the event!
And now it’s time for the weekend… it’s time to rest!
Other news from Monday… because the journey continues here on the blog!

Enjoy your weekend

Here we are… tired but satisfied!

The Tour of the Alps is over, guests and participants are now back in their warm and cozy houses, remembering these amazing days full of emotions!

But the journey goes on… here on the blog!
In the next few days you will find a lot of other surprises… but we can’t reveal more than this… stay tuned!

See you tomorrow!

The two groups split yesterday, to spend the night in two different locations… are you curious about that?
Moltrasio is in Italy, close to Como, while St.Anton is in Austria!

The group on the way to Milan, had the test drive in Vizzola… they couldn’t miss this experience!
The other one instead continued his journey to Munich: there is still some time to test the Snowcontrol Serie II!

Both crews are about to end this amazing Tour… but let them enjoy the last kilometers to the arrival!