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New Tire Goes 100,000-Miles on Texas Roads

15 July 1999

New Tire Goes 100,000-Miles on Texas Roads SEARS, ROEBUCK AND CO. ROADHANDLER VOYAGER LX Sears, Roebuck and Co. has introduced the RoadHandler Voyager LX, a passenger car and minivan tire engineered to last 100,000 miles. The tread has a unique pattern with two wide, deep aquachannels, full-depth shoulder slots, and dense blading to push aside water and snow. The tire is sold through Sears Auto Centers in the U.S. beginning July 11. Media contacts: Bill AuCoin, Public Communications Inc., 727-522-2371, wmaucoin@pci-web.com; or David Albritton, Sears Tire Group, 847-286-9017, dalbrit@sears.com. (PRNewsFoto)[DM] HOFFMAN ESTATES, IL USA 07/09/1999    

                        Finishes with 'Tread to Spare'

    SAN ANTONIO, Texas, July 15 -- If you drive around here you
shared the roads and highways recently with a 1996 Dodge Intrepid,
unremarkable except for four things.
    The tires.
    (Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990709/FLFFNS1
    PR Newswire Photo Desk, 888-776-6555 or 201-369-3467)
    The Dodge was engaged in a real-world assignment to test these tires for
the unheard of distance of 100,000 miles.  The proving grounds were the
streets and interstates of West Texas, and the test specified a mixture of wet
and dry pavement and different loads to replicate town and vacation driving
under severe wear conditions and all types of terrain.
    The new tire, RoadHandler Voyager LX, passed "with tread to spare," said
William C. White, president of Sears Tire Group .
    White also noted that the new Sears tire also rates high for traction in
rain and snow.  The tire has a computer-designed tread pattern with two
aquachannels, deep shoulder slots and dense blading to push aside large
volumes of water and snow.
    RoadHandler Voyager LX also has the stuff of tire engineer dreams, a
square footprint that puts equal pressure on the road at all points to promote
even tread wear.  The computer design program even helped the engineers tune
out bothersome harmonics to reduce road noise.
    RoadHandler Voyager LX goes on sale July 18 at almost 800 Sears Auto
Centers in the U.S. for passenger cars and minivans.  Sears backs 22 of the 25
tire sizes with a 100,000-mile limited treadwear warranty, while three sizes,
one 50 and two 55 aspect tires, carry Sears' 70,000-mile limited treadwear
warranty.  To maintain the warranty, tires need periodic rotations and
alignments to help ensure smooth tread wear.
    For information about the Sears RoadHandler Voyager LX tire, write Sears,
Roebuck and Co. , 3333 Beverly Road, BC-103B, Hoffman Estates, IL
60179 or access the company's web site, http://www.sears.com .  Sears, Roebuck and
Co. is a leading U.S. retailer of apparel, home and automotive products and
services, with annual revenues of more than $41 billion.  The company serves
families throughout the country through 850 full-line department stores in
more than 2,100 specialized retail locations nationwide.