Tokyo—The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., announced today that it will begin sales of “iceGUARD iG65”, a new studded tire for passenger cars in Russia and northern Europe, from this autumn. The new tire will be targeted for use primarily on premium cars, with a total of 29 sizes available, from 245/40R18 97T XL to 215/65R16 102T XL.

The “iceGUARD iG65”—a state-of-the-art studded tire that delivers the ultimate performance on icy surfaces—offers drivers in Russia and northern Europe greatly improved tire performance on the surface that challenges them the most, ice. The new “iceGUARD iG65” is based on an earlier “iceGUARD” tire, the “iceGUARD iG55”, which was highly regarded for its exceptional ice performance and stud retention. The new tire has a greater number of studs and a new stud-hole allocation that places studs at the center of the tire’s tread, thus greatly enhancing its ice performance. Performance on all surfaces, including on snow and on wet and dry surfaces, has also been improved.

The “iceGUARD” series is Yokohama Rubber’s global winter tire brand. The studless “iceGUARD iG50” is currently sold in North America and Asia, as well as in northern Europe and Russia.