Prestone Launches New Antifreeze Formula In Response To Emerging Industry Trend

DANBURY, CT--(INTERNET WIRE)--Aug 9, 2002 -- Prestone Products, a unit of Honeywell , today launched a new antifreeze formula, called Prestone® Quick Fill(TM) Antifreeze/Coolant, in response to the growing number of consumers who are using the product for topping off only.

Prestone Products conducted an extensive set of consumer antifreeze/coolant user studies and found that a clear trend seems to be emerging in the industry. Contrary to popular belief, 73 percent of those interviewed said that they purchase antifreeze/coolant for merely topping off and are not buying the product to flush and fill their vehicles. (1) The research was the result of more than 1,000 telephone interviews and 2,000 online surveys conducted over a 6-month period.

"A new subset of the do-it-yourself community is emerging and we need to address their buying habits with new product offerings," said Jeff Bye, Vice President, Prestone. "But it was ultimately another statistic that enforced the need for us to develop our new formula: an alarming 37 percent of those that do top off are either pouring straight antifreeze or straight water into their radiator or overflow tank instead of the recommended 50 percent water and 50 percent antifreeze/coolant concentrate mixture(2) ."

Too much water causes the cooling system to lose its ability to fight off corrosion and clogging, and too much antifreeze/coolant causes the cooling system to lose its ability to transfer the necessary amount of heat away from the engine. Prestone® Quick Fill(TM) Antifreeze/Coolant ensures that the vehicle's cooling system maintains the precise original fill blend -- which is recommended by most major auto manufacturers and is necessary for proper cooling system maintenance.

With 50 percent antifreeze concentrate for temperature and corrosion protection, and 50 percent de-mineralized water for vital heat transfer -- Prestone® Quick Fill(TM) Antifreeze/ Coolant was designed specifically for topping off.

Available in the Prestone® EZ Pour(TM) bottle -- which allows for a smooth pour with no spilling or glugging -- Prestone® Quick Fill(TM) Antifreeze/Coolant has a patented dual-action formula that provides unsurpassed protection for cooling systems from -34°F to +265°F. Topping off regularly with a ready-to-use formula, as well as scheduling a flush and fill every 24,000 miles, will help maintain peak cooling system performance and protect against freeze-ups, boilovers, corrosion, clogging and water pump damage.

The Honeywell Consumer Products Group manufactures and markets FRAM® oil, air, transmission and fuel filters; Prestone® antifreeze/coolant and car care products; Autolite® spark plugs; and Holts® car care products. Information about Prestone products is available on the Internet at www.prestone.com.

Honeywell is a US$24-billion diversified technology and manufacturing leader, serving customers worldwide with aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes and industry; automotive products; specialty chemicals; fibers; plastics; and electronic and advanced materials. Honeywell employs approximately 115,000 people in 95 countries and is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol HON, as well as on the London, Chicago and Pacific stock exchanges. It is one of the 30 stocks that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average and is also a component of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. Additional information on the company is available on the Internet at www.honeywell.com.