Finally by the end of January the long awaited winter has come. This means we have the ability to test real winter tyres in real winter conditions. Today our focus is the KAMA-EURO 518. We have already discussed these tyres in our previous Automobile programs. The tyre was first announced at Kazan motorshow two years ago, while the debut of the tyres in Russia happened a few months later at Moscow motorshow. It is worth pointing out that this is the first winter tyre effort in the KAMA-EURO range. And an effort with a capital E!
KAMA-EURO 518 is the first winter tyre using the technologies acquired from Pirelli. This means a new level of assembling quality. The objective of modern technologies was to solve force consistency issues, increase reliability and durability of Nizhnekamsk tyres. KAMA-EURO 518 tyres use new materials, the suppliers of which were selected under strict supervision by Pirelli. This means a new level of consumer properties. The rubber mixture, new cord, new breaker, new tyre design were to improve road grip in winter conditions and predictability of car behavior. Finally, for the first time the manufacturer from Nizhnekamsk uses factory studding - the stud holes are made during vulcanization, and the studs in use are the expensive foreign ones. This should naturally lead to better grip on ice and longer stud life. All these facts were destined to evoke our interest. To tell you the truth, we've received the tyres a long time ago and only the lack of relevant weather conditions prevented us from testing them. Now the weather is here. It's time for some serious testing.
To be honest, in terms of grip KAMA-EURO tyres are still inferior to well-known foreign brands in certain aspects. Our Ford Focus with KAMA-EURO tyres was slightly prone to understeer when cornering. You can, however, fight understeer by oversteering. The slide is deep and long, which is an indication of poor transversal grip. However, there were no problems with longitudinal grip: the main thing here is not to let the wheels slide. KAMA-EURO 518 tyres allow good take off without wheel spin. Braking properties, on the contrary, seemed quite good to us. On tarmac the KAMA-EURO 518 tyres do pretty good compared to other studded tyres. This is an important quality for this year's weather, since we had to drive on tarmac for 2 months. On the other hand you should avoid driving into snowdrifts with KAMA-EURO 518. With sloping shoulders and no lugs you cannot feel too confident in loose snow. The car goes, but with effort. These, however, are the peculiarities obvious only to experts and very experienced drivers. As for the price, one must agree, that 6 000 rubles for a set of 4 tyres of fair quality is not too high a price. You don't need higher education or special skills to appreciate that.