Accelera tyres - worth avoiding??

[boabymeister]

fitted Accelera IOTA ST-68 255/50R20 109 V XL to the wife's Range Rover, no problems at all good drive and performance.

The wife's uncle was a test driver for Jag, his advice is and was to drive within your ability, that way you can't blame your tires etc for ending up in a ditch. Sort of poor workman blames his tools syndrome.

[EazyDuz]

Rubber is rubber, you pay for the brand name most of the time. Most budget tyres are made in the same factory as Pirelli, Mitchelin etc. I sincerely hope no one thought that 'Admiral' or other budget brands have their own dedicated factory and raw materials!

[jagnet]

boabymeister said:

that way you can't blame your tires etc for ending up in a ditch. Sort of poor workman blames his tools syndrome.

EazyDuz said:

Rubber is rubber, you pay for the brand name most of the time. Most budget tyres are made in the same factory as Pirelli, Mitchelin etc. I sincerely hope no one thought that 'Admiral' or other budget brands have their own dedicated factory and raw materials!

there's a massive difference between the cheapest budget tyres and the premium brands, especially in the wet:

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2018-AutoBild...
Wet braking from 100kph:
34.3 metres - Bridgestone Turanza T005
51.9 metres - Fortuna G745

[Exige77]

jagnet said:

boabymeister said:

that way you can't blame your tires etc for ending up in a ditch. Sort of poor workman blames his tools syndrome.

EazyDuz said:

Rubber is rubber, you pay for the brand name most of the time. Most budget tyres are made in the same factory as Pirelli, Mitchelin etc. I sincerely hope no one thought that 'Admiral' or other budget brands have their own dedicated factory and raw materials!

there's a massive difference between the cheapest budget tyres and the premium brands, especially in the wet:

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2018-AutoBild...
Wet braking from 100kph:
34.3 metres - Bridgestone Turanza T005
51.9 metres - Fortuna G745

^^^^What he said.

Michelin and Pirelli (et all) don’t make Chinese ditch finders in their factories.

Tyre compounds are not all the same.

[alorotom]

boabymeister said:

fitted Accelera IOTA ST-68 255/50R20 109 V XL to the wife's Range Rover, no problems at all good drive and performance.

The wife's uncle was a test driver for Jag, his advice is and was to drive within your ability, that way you can't blame your tires etc for ending up in a ditch. Sort of poor workman blames his tools syndrome.

Had 3 sets of Accelera on my 4.2 Q7 without any issues at all either ... they were night and day better than the Pirelli’s fitted when I bought it - did close to 90k on them combined, zero issues

Had a set of Landsail on my TT without any performance issues either

[Prinny]

All I’ve got to say about Accelera tyres can be summed up in the fact that at a cruise in 7th gear at 70mph (so around 2.3k rpm - M6 with the v10) would break traction crossing lanes on the white lane markers if damp. This wasn’t hard charging driving, just overtaking a wagon in L1.
Had it been flat-out 2nd gear acceleration at >7k rpm, I’d be fine with it, it’s a 380lb/ft 500hp engine and something has got to give. Not sure how much hp is required to push a car along at 70mph, but it’s not a lot.

I did less than 200 miles on them after buying the car before changing. I’ve genuinely never had anything so ill-suited to a car in 20+ years. Fun, undoubtably in the right circumstances, but I don’t live on a track.

A PS4S in 285x35x19 with the appropriate speed rating is £250+. The Phi2 in the same size is £80. Having experienced the Phi2, I don’t think they’re cheap enough for me to even say they’re worth it at that price ratio.

[HustleRussell]

EazyDuz said:

Rubber is rubber, you pay for the brand name most of the time. Most budget tyres are made in the same factory as Pirelli, Mitchelin etc. I sincerely hope no one thought that 'Admiral' or other budget brands have their own dedicated factory and raw materials!

Same guy:

EazyDuz said:

The Insignia is very well designed, looks like s top end Merc or BMW and from what I've seen performs like one too.
Great drivers cars

[Exige77]

HustleRussell said:

EazyDuz said:

Rubber is rubber, you pay for the brand name most of the time. Most budget tyres are made in the same factory as Pirelli, Mitchelin etc. I sincerely hope no one thought that 'Admiral' or other budget brands have their own dedicated factory and raw materials!

Same guy:

EazyDuz said:

The Insignia is very well designed, looks like s top end Merc or BMW and from what I've seen performs like one too.
Great drivers cars

Yup, there all the same. It’s just the badge that’s different and probably all made in the same factory.

Metal is metal

[anonymous-user]

I bought two Mazzini Eco605 Plus tyres, they are actually pretty goods tyres, my car only has 135 bhp so not too stressed, would buy again, actually feel better in wet and sub zero temps, than michelin crossclimates tyres i had. No safety issues at all.(touch wood)

Edited by Thesprucegoose on Tuesday 12th February 22:04

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boabymeister said:

fitted Accelera IOTA ST-68 255/50R20 109 V XL to the wife's Range Rover, no problems at all good drive and performance.

The wife's uncle was a test driver for Jag, his advice is and was to drive within your ability, that way you can't blame your tires etc for ending up in a ditch. Sort of poor workman blames his tools syndrome.

It’s a bit like the “You MUST have winter tyres otherwise you’ll explode in a ball of fiery flame” proponents.

All tyres have a performance limit. For some tyres the limit is lower than others. If you’re not the kind of driver who drives “at the limit” you can be perfectly safe on cheaper, less capable tyres.

[alorotom]

I remember buying super cheap tyres back in the late 90s (about 97-98) for my ford Ka and SJ410 - and only being able to afford remoulds or a brand that had a dodgy reputation.

That brand today is now relatively mainstream and priced very mid range.

For reference it was Kumho

[jagnet]

Countdown said:

If you’re not the kind of driver who drives “at the limit” you can be perfectly safe on cheaper, less capable tyres.

To an extent, but taking the wet braking example above a driver on the cheaper tyre would need to leave an additional 17.6m gap just to allow for the poor performance of the tyres.

At 62mph the gap to the car in front would need to be 17.6m (for the tyres) + 40.5m (1.5 seconds thinking time). How many drivers do you see that leave a 58m gap in the wet between them and the car in front whilst following each other in lane 2 of the motorway at a steady 60mph? Not something that many would consider as driving at the limit.

Edit: If my calculations are correct, assuming both cars braked at the same moment from 100kph, when the car on the Bridgestone tyres stopped then the one on the Fortuna budget tyres mentioned above would still be travelling at 58.2kph (36.2mph).

Edited by jagnet on Wednesday 13th February 09:37

[HayesDC2]

I bought a set of 'Rapid' tyres as mine were dead and I only had a day to get it sorted before driving to Germany.

Terrible grip but as a result I did 2 years of daily driving on them and they were still basically brand new.

[Squishey]

Countdown said:

All tyres have a performance limit. For some tyres the limit is lower than others. If you’re not the kind of driver who drives “at the limit” you can be perfectly safe on cheaper, less capable tyres.

Which is all well and good until you plough into the back of another vehicle or mow down a pedestrian because your vehicle cannot stop in time.

It's the same reasoning as all watches are the same - they all tell the time, or all chairs are the same - you only sit down on it.

Buy the best you can afford not the cheapest you can find.

[Teddy Lop]

Prinny said:

All I’ve got to say about Accelera tyres can be summed up in the fact that at a cruise in 7th gear at 70mph (so around 2.3k rpm - M6 with the v10) would break traction crossing lanes on the white lane markers if damp. This wasn’t hard charging driving, just overtaking a wagon in L1.
Had it been flat-out 2nd gear acceleration at >7k rpm, I’d be fine with it, it’s a 380lb/ft 500hp engine and something has got to give. Not sure how much hp is required to push a car along at 70mph, but it’s not a lot.

I did less than 200 miles on them after buying the car before changing. I’ve genuinely never had anything so ill-suited to a car in 20+ years. Fun, undoubtably in the right circumstances, but I don’t live on a track.

A PS4S in 285x35x19 with the appropriate speed rating is £250+. The Phi2 in the same size is £80. Having experienced the Phi2, I don’t think they’re cheap enough for me to even say they’re worth it at that price ratio.

Some cars "wear" poor tyres far worse than something's that's measurably two thirds as grippy suggests they should . BMWs are pretty susceptible to bad tyres; the 330 was transformed by swapping out the dealers obligatory accelleras. Said dealer was himself frightened of the car and seemed to regard it as some kind of widowmaker, which TBF on that cruddy plastic it probably was.

[vernz]

I don't really get the penny pinching for something that could save you and your family's life.

That small contact area in four corners is the only thing between your car and the road and although I'm not advocating that it's essential to always buy Michelin's or the very top brands, there are many good quality medium budget brands out there that will perform very well but will also not break the bank.

The money saved between good medium brands and the Chinese options are less than decent curry or a night down the pub, so is it really worth it?

Kuhmo for example started out as an unknown not so long ago but have heavily invested in Motorsport and are now frequently found as OEM for some car makers. They are where they are now for a reason and the same could be said the Hankook.

Some of the current ditch finders may well become mainstream brands in the future, but when you consider the varying performance figures in tyre tests between the top 6 or 7 companies, I'd certainly not be happy taking a risk on some Chinese offering, just because it was cheap as chips

[Countdown]

jagnet said:

To an extent, but taking the wet braking example above a driver on the cheaper tyre would need to leave an additional 17.6m gap just to allow for the poor performance of the tyres.

At 62mph the gap to the car in front would need to be 17.6m (for the tyres) + 40.5m (1.5 seconds thinking time). How many drivers do you see that leave a 58m gap in the wet between them and the car in front whilst following each other in lane 2 of the motorway at a steady 60mph? Not something that many would consider as driving at the limit.

Edit: If my calculations are correct, assuming both cars braked at the same moment from 100kph, when the car on the Bridgestone tyres stopped then the one on the Fortuna budget tyres mentioned above would still be travelling at 58.2kph (36.2mph).

Edited by jagnet on Wednesday 13th February 09:37

As I think you suggest, your calculations assume that all other things are the same when, in reality, they never are. My elderly mum never drives on the motorway and probably does less than 1000 miles a year. She never breaks the speed limit. The chances of her being caught in the circumstances you describe are nil. The tyres on her car are Kumho. Looking at your table they’re not as good as the best. Should she swap them out “just in case”?

[Chamon_Lee]

GravelBen said:

v8will said:

cptsideways said:

Surprisingly ok for a budget tyre, probably the best of the budget tyre options. They are'nt ditch finder speacials, come with a not too high treadwear rating which means they are made of rubber not plastic.

bks. They are ditch finders to the highest degree. Cheaper even than a Nankang tyre

The best 'value' tyre on the market is easily the Falken FK452, highly regarded and not at all expensive, maybe £20 per tyre more than a ditchfinder. Big difference between low cost and value for money.

I'm by no means a tyre snob and realise that not everyone wants to spend big money on Continental or bridgestone but why waste money on utter ste just because it costs less?

To the OP, those tyres, on a 330 or T5 is insanity. I very briefly had budgets on the front axle of my first T5 and wheel spin in 4th was a daily occurence. The replacement BF Goodrich tyres lasted a lot better and were IMHO money well spent

So you've actually tried the tyres in question? Or are you just speculating based on them being cheaper than Nankangs?

I have had them on a used car and agree with the reply. Utterly shocking tyre, How on earth anyone actually pays money for these is beyond me.

[Chamon_Lee]

Countdown said:

jagnet said:

To an extent, but taking the wet braking example above a driver on the cheaper tyre would need to leave an additional 17.6m gap just to allow for the poor performance of the tyres.

At 62mph the gap to the car in front would need to be 17.6m (for the tyres) + 40.5m (1.5 seconds thinking time). How many drivers do you see that leave a 58m gap in the wet between them and the car in front whilst following each other in lane 2 of the motorway at a steady 60mph? Not something that many would consider as driving at the limit.

Edit: If my calculations are correct, assuming both cars braked at the same moment from 100kph, when the car on the Bridgestone tyres stopped then the one on the Fortuna budget tyres mentioned above would still be travelling at 58.2kph (36.2mph).

Edited by jagnet on Wednesday 13th February 09:37

As I think you suggest, your calculations assume that all other things are the same when, in reality, they never are. My elderly mum never drives on the motorway and probably does less than 1000 miles a year. She never breaks the speed limit. The chances of her being caught in the circumstances you describe are nil. The tyres on her car are Kumho. Looking at your table they’re not as good as the best. Should she swap them out “just in case”?

personally my answer is always yes when it comes to tyres. Like you said the chances of something happening are always slim but when they do what would you want? A tyre that will grip in the dry or wet when you do the sharp turn to avoid something or brake sharply so you avoid a collision or regain grip quicker when you go over an ice patch etc

Everyone fully understands that some can't afford it even though case can be make that better tyres might last longer and feel nicer to ride on. But when people come on here stating all tyres are the same; made in the same factory or that budget tyres are the exact same as premium tyres someone then needs to examine said persons head.

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