The all-new Sailun Inspire offers an impressive combination of touring tire comfort and all-season performance for dependable everyday driving.
When it comes to tires, the Sailun brand has continued to push the envelope of true value and real-world performance for today’s drivers, placing a firm focus on where things are going and how to get there with both consumers and tire dealers in mind.
Enter the all-new Sailun Inspire, an impressive tire that delivers a balanced formula of premium comfort and performance engineered into a very versatile all-season touring tire. Although touring tires don’t often evoke the same thrilling images and excitement of ultra-high-performance tires, they aren’t meant to be bland and boring either. The Sailun Inspire aims to fill the gap somewhere in between fun and functional, and that’s why touring tires are on trend to be more popular than ever, according to many auto manufacturers and dealers.
Sailun set out to create a true to life touring tire in the all-new Inspire. It was essential to produce a product that reflects upon the growth of replacement tires within the value tier segment and recognizes where the tire industry is headed.
Currently, independent tire dealers own 70 percent of the market share for selling replacement tires — which is quickly outpacing more costly original equipment (OE) tires with consumers on vehicles in North America.
A growing demand
The initial thought behind the Sailun Inspire started several years ago, when Sailun’s own research, and a recent study conducted by the experts at GFK, indicated a growing demand for well-balanced all-season tires, more specifically in the touring tire category — where popular compacts, sedans, crossovers and SUVs make up an increasing majority of car sales.
The mass market appeal of family friendly crossovers and SUVs accounts for 44 percent of new car sales in North America, a trend we’ve seen for nearly a decade now. This is precisely why Sailun plans to offer the Inspire in a wide range of 48 popular sizes for passenger cars, crossovers and SUV ideally suited to the safety, comfort and versatility found in an all-season touring tire.
A lifestyle choice
The same study found today’s consumers are choosing compacts, crossovers and SUVs to meet their more utilitarian lifestyle, which means their tires need to be too. North American drivers are seeking greater practicality and value than ever before, in addition to a strong balance of comfort and performance.
“Expertly engineered and developed here in North America, our dedicated team set out to design the Inspire to the highest of standards,” says Christine Rouleau, Director of Corporate Sales, Sailun Tire. “It’s a forward-thinking tire design made for our customers’ needs now and in the future. We knew this tire had to do a lot, and more importantly, it had to do it very well to make a lasting impact on the touring tire category. The goal was to produce a great performing tire that’s an easy sell for dealers and a smart buy for consumers. We think we’ve done just that with the Sailun Inspire.”
Premium features
If you ask the team at Sailun, the Inspire is more than just another touring tire in their wide range of consumer products. It offers premium features and uses advanced technology to help get more out of your car and much more out of your tires for years to come.
According to Sailun, this project required over two years of extensive market research, product development and rigorous testing to end up with a finished product everyone could really get behind. Engineered to be quiet, comfortable and secure on the road, the Inspire offers confident all-season performance with a worry-free 120,000 kilometre (75,000 mile) limited tread life protection warranty.
“Just like the engineering efforts put behind our Sailun Iceblazer winter tires and the popular Terramax LT/SUV lineup, our proven design philosophy meant we weren’t satisfied until we had something to rival the best touring tires on the road,” says Wayne Cuculuzzi, Director of Consumer Products, Sailun Tire. “We’re tremendously proud of what we came up with after testing a variety of new compounds, formulas and advanced construction techniques. The new Sailun Inspire really checks all the boxes.”
Created with the latest tire technology and advanced construction at Sailun’s state-of-the-art facility, engineers formulated a new long-wear-life SertaGrip rubber compound that increases traction, control and durability with responsive performance measured to outperform competitors in both wet and dry slalom testing.
“We challenged the professionals at Automotive Driving Solutions, who work closely with top automotive manufacturers and tire brands to put the Inspire through a variety of performance and durability tests,” says Mark Pereira, Marketing Communications Manager, Sailun Tire. “Our blind comparison test format means we’ve hidden the manufacturer’s names on every tire to ensure drivers aren’t influenced by any brands and don’t know which tires are on each vehicle for unbiased feedback. They measured the Inspire against its predecessor, the Sailun Touring LS along and several notable competitors with far higher price tags. What we soon discovered, based on the data recorded and third-party test results, is that the new Inspire clearly came out on top, beating out best-in-class competitors and outperforming top tier brands costing nearly twice as much.”
Advanced tread design
The all-new SilentTrea pattern found on the Inspire uses staggered tuning technology to effectively reduce road noise and vibration while also enhancing levels of ride comfort and safety. The variable pitch pattern and tread block sequence of the Inspire make it a very quiet tire with impressive stopping performance and wear-resistance.
“The advanced 3D multi-sipe technology of the Inspire is engineered to expand and expel substances found between the road and tire,” explains Andrew Li, North American Director of Engineering, Sailun Tire. “The 3D sipe design creates confident all-season traction, braking and steering control that regenerates with tire wear for longer lasting performance.”
“The large, square shoulder design and optimized casing profile help increase steering input by making maximum road contact under hard acceleration, braking and cornering. During real-world road tests conducted by professional drivers, the Inspire earned the highest category marks in cornering stability, steering response and braking performance in both city and highway driving versus comparable and higher-priced touring tires.”
Raising the bar
Expect to see and hear more on the all-new Sailun Inspire, as it’s set to raise the bar and roll out over the next 12 months in retail locations across Canada and the United States. The Sailun brand has already announced major plans to kick off extensive customer training and valuable support to fuel the excitement.
“The all-new Sailun Inspire was made to reflect the trends and order of importance to retailers and consumers when it comes to making smart choices on real features and practicality, not just brand and image,” says Cuculuzzi. “No one likes the feeling of paying more for less, which is why the Inspire represents such compelling value-driven performance well ahead of the competitors we’ve tested it against.”
Outperforming the competition and building upon the success established by its predecessor, the popular Sailun Touring LS, was no easy task. Yet, the all-new Sailun Inspire does just that, representing the evolutionary next step towards anticipating where the tire market is going, not just where it is today. Be sure to visit SailunTire.ca for additional information.
