The tire world is largely dominated by the big names. Bridgestone, Toyo, Advan, and the like. These companies invest massively in research and development of the newest and most advanced technologies and compounds, to create the cutting edge of the tire industry.
That isn’t the entire industry, however. Manufactures like Accelera focus not on producing the best possible tire full stop, but on cheaply manufacturing a basic budget tire that gets the job done.
Accelera Tire Company Information & Background
Accelera was founded in 1996, and operates out of a modern factory in Indonesia. Incidentally near a popular regional race circuit, the factory was built to produce budget tires, largely for the domestic Indonesian market, and Europe. In 1997 the factory officially began manufacturing tires, and continued as normal until 2003, when new management took over the factory.
The long process of achieving the quality standard ISO 9001 was achieved in 2005, allowing the company a legitimate international profile as they expanded their operations. 2007 was a year that included multiple milestones, including Accelera producing Indonesia’s first Y speed rated tires. Y rated tires can withstand long durations at speeds up to 300 kilometers per hour, or 186 miles per hour. Accelera also sponsored the largest Indonesian car modification contest that same year. Even as the global economy began to topple in 2008, that contest grew to record proportions.
Accelera Tire Cost & Pricing
Part of the tradeoff for not being at the very cutting edge of tire design is that production and development costs are very low indeed, and generally speaking Accelera passes these savings on to their customers. When comparing the standard Phi R Touring passenger car tire to a Bridgestone entry in the same category, the Phi R is roughly a third the cost of the more established brand, for a tire in essentially the same size, that would fit the same 17” wheel.
While the potential effect on quality of such an extremely discounted tire would have raised eyebrows in the past, modern Acceleras seem to provide enough value that they are trusted globally. Of course, the downside of such extreme savings is that if one is looking for maximum performance, or the very best in comfort or advancement one could find in a modern tire, Accelera simply will not be able to provide. But if being able to purchase almost a full set of tires for the price of one outweighs the benefits of high tech for your use case, Accelera is a decent choice.
Accelera Tire Warranties
The one area where Accelera tires do not fall behind the leaders in their segment whatsoever is in the warranty department. The industry standard warranty lasts between five and six years, and Accelera tires come with a general five year warranty. A one year warranty, also industry standard, includes road hazard protection and unnatural wear protection. If nothing else, this is evidence that Indonesian tire manufacturer has the capability to produce tires that can hold up like virtually any other tire from the more established brands.
Accelera Tire Options
The Accelera tire brand is currently owned by Zafco International Inc, a global corporation headquartered in Miami. Zafco owns a portfolio of different tire brands, including Armstrong, Zeetex, and Forceum. Accelera is meant to be a lifestyle performance brand within this range, that also provides options for comfort and off-road tires, among others. Considering this corporate positioning, it is very impressive that Accelera does indeed have such an enormous range of tire types and sizes available, at least in the Indonesian domestic market. Abroad, the selection is trimmed down to what Zafco International distributes. These are mostly the very low cost basic tire options that look sporty, but still rank among Accelera’s highest performance offerings.
Accelera Tire Technologies & Features
Accelera’s strength is not in its quality, though that is not necessarily a problem. They do not attempt to compete at the highest level in terms of tire grip, comfort, durability, noise, or efficiency. What they do provide are jaw-droppingly low prices on tires that suit the purpose they are designed for. Technology such as cutting edge tread compounds and interior structures are not available in Accelera tires, just old fashioned water evacuating channels and clustered tread blocks in higher performance versions to provide some measure of grip. The maximum performance of these tires is not in the same league as those who are vying for the top spot, but neither is the price.
Accelera Tire Durability & Longevity
While Accelera tires might not have the peak performance of the latest and greatest of the tire world, they do provide the vast majority of the toughness of the very best. The durability warranties of Accelera tires are only ten percent less than the elite manufactures of the tire industry worldwide, generally speaking. They will hold up to the elements, potholes, tire slip, and general road use practically just as well as tires from brands that cost three times as much, or more. As will all tires, including those from the best brands, there are some negative standouts, but it truly appears that currently Accelera builds tires that are very nearly as tough as the gold standard.
Accelera Tire Summary & Overall Thoughts
The vast majority of automotive press and attention goes to the newest, fastest, highest tech, trendiest, and most expensive options. This is just as true when it comes to tires as any other segment of the automotive industry. But the cutting edge is far from the whole story. Just as far more compact crossovers leave factories across the world daily more often than hypercars do yearly, more people buy tires for the sake of cost saving than do for the sake of performance.
Autocrossers, track fiends, and drag racers might control the upper end of the tire industry, and for good reason, but the cutting edge doesn’t have much volume. That volume largely comes down to budget manufacturers like Accelera, who build a competent tire without the brand markup that prestigious names entail. Their tires for an entire range, such as All-Season or All-Terrain, are often just remixes of a single design, with even the renaming and rebranding being minimal. Accelera doesn’t put much effort into flashy names, despite Zafco’s attempts at making them the most fancy of their budget brands in the American context. Accelera just makes basic tires for a basic audience, and apparently does that rather well.
- All-Season
- Alpha
- Phi R
- Phi R NPM
- Winter
- X-Grip
- X-Grip N
- X-Grip 4S
- All-Terrain
- MT-01
- OMIKRON AT
- OMIKRON HT