Firestone, the iconic American tire brand, is being relaunched.

Founded in 1900, Firestone has a rich racing heritage, and a huge global brand recognition. Since being purchased by Bridgestone in May 1988 the brand has largely stood still in Europe... until now.

In 2014 Bridgestone are relaunching the Firestone brand.  The brand is reasserting its core philosophy which is to allow everyone the freedom to drive and discover, and aiming itself at the younger age group in the replacement market, looking for a second or third replacement tire.

The Tire

As part of the brand relaunch, Firestone launched the first of their new tires - The Firestone Destination HP.

Aimed a small to medium ‘lifestyle’ SUVs, the Destination HP continues Firestones principle of safe, reliable products at reasonable prices, and aims to provide SUVs with best-in-class mileage and control in the wet, with top handling stability in all conditions.

When compared to 3 competitors during internal tests, the Firestone Destination HP equaled the best wet performance but offered much higher mileage when compared to the same competitor. While a second of the competitors could almost match the wear of the new Destination HP, it fell a long way behind in wet grip and safety. This demonstrates the Firestone has managed to blend wet grip, safely and wear, providing an excellent all round tire.

We were giving the opportunity to try the new Destination HP on the launch. While there was no comparison driving, we did manage to test the new tire in some extreme conditions.

During normal road driving the tire felt as any tire should, quiet, comfortable with a moderate amount of feedback. Once on the wet track, the Firestone shone, offering excellent wet grip and plenty of high speed stability during rapid direction changes on the Kia Sportage test vehicles. It even withstood high amounts of punishment during rough, stoney offroading, further highlighting the tires toughness.

Will the brand work

With the might of Bridgestones technical capabilities, and wallet, Firestone could make a huge impact in the profitable mid-range sector.

If the new range of Firestone tires are priced keenly, the current champions of the mid-range sector such as Hankook, Kumho, Vredestein, Toyo and Falken will have to up their game to match.

The Destination is out now in 12 sizes, with 9 more sizes due in September 2014. Later in the year, Firestone will launch a new winter and all season product. 

Further Reading

• Firestone Tires
• Firestone Destination HP reviews