A specialist tyre maker has been left fuming following press criticism of one of its products.

Taiwan-based Maxxis produce a range of rubber for both bikes and cars, but it is best known for marketing a street legal ‘drift’ tyre. The product gave mixed results in a recent head-to-head test published in weekly magazine Auto Express. However it has been how other sections of the media have re-reported the test that have angered managers in the company.

 “Let’s be clear, Auto Express tested the MA-Z1 Drift, which is a world beater in terms of what it is intended to do,” says Maxxis International UK’s managing director Derek McMartin. 

 “As a product designed specifically for the sport of drifting it has proved itself streets ahead of the competition by winning Formula D, the premier US series, and all three European drift series – the British Drift Championship, ProDrift and the European Drift Championship – last season.”

While the tyre is certainly street legal, but it is not a general purpose high performance tyre, so is unlikely to achieve the same results as the premium brands used in the variety of road-based tests that the magazine carried out. 

 “We feel it is grossly unfair that some newspapers have sensationalised their coverage by suggesting that drivers are risking their lives if they buy budget tyres because not only is this concept of a ‘safety league’ totally inaccurate – the Auto Express test examined a number of different aspects, including price, which is a major consideration for some people – but the MA-Z1 Drift performed very well indeed in some areas.”

 “Where Auto Express provided a thoroughly objective review, it is disappointing that some areas of the media should seize the opportunity to generalise the findings so that they can criticise manufacturers who develop quality products which perform well and offer excellent value” McMartin concluded.