Apollo Tyres launches its 4G range of tyres in India

Lets face it. Most car buyers today, when walking into a car showroom, consider every possible aspect of a car - performance, efficiency, styling, features et al. But how many consider the tyres the car comes shod with? I'm really not sure. Car manufacturers do try their best to provide the best possible tyres, but tyres are often neglected by buyers even though they are the only contact patch your car has with tarmac. Tyre manufacturers on the other hand, are constantly working to develop better products in the wake of increasing competition. And this calls for consideration of a wide spectrum of aspects such as grip, consistent performance in varied driving conditions, less noise, longevity and so forth. The wide range of cars on sale in the country today has also made for a wide range of tyre choices today - not just OEM, but after market as well. Contrary to what a lot of people might think, there has been a lot of movement in the tyre industry as well - new tyre launches may not be as common as new car launches, but there is a lot of activity happening.

We recently got to look a quick look at some of the newest tyres from Apollo Tyres, at the Zandvoort circuit in the Netherlands. Earlier known primarily for its commercial vehicle tyres, Apollo has been making serious efforts to increase its presence in the passenger car tyre segment. Apollo also had us take a look at their state of the art R&D centre in the Netherlands, where over a hundred engineers have been stationed and are working continuously on innovating new products for India and other markets as well. Apollo also plans to bring down its Vredestein brand to India soon as well, to cater to high performance and sportscars in India. Apollo say that while the growth of the mass market has slowed down, the high end car segment in India is growing at double the rate, and sees a lot more movement as far as tyres are concerned.

At the Zandvoort circuit, we first experienced the Aspire 4G in a BMW 328i, but we only got driven by professional drivers instead of driving ourselves, limiting the experience. Tyre noise was noticeably low inside, apart from which grip levels seemed impressive even when braking from 200kmph. The Aspire 4G tyres are W-rated, meaning they are capable of going upto 270kmph. We then jumped into the BMW 1 Series, this time behind the wheel for a quick slalom run, with the car wearing Apollo's new Alnac 4G tyres. The Alnacs use an asymmetric design to reduce tyre noise and are H and V rated - for speeds up to 210kmph and 240kmph respectively. Next was a wet handling test in the Audi A3 hatchback, once again with the Alnacs. This was the most comprehensive test of the day - we did really push the tyres, accelerating and braking hard from as much as 80-100kmph on a wet concrete surface, and then doing a fast slalom run in the wet, where grip levels were impressive again.

The third tyre launched was the Amazer 4G. These T-rated tyres are for hatchbacks and entry-level sedans, and boast of longer life and impressive grip levels in typical Indian conditions. These however were not available for testing at the Zandvoort. Apollo had flown down over a 100 dealers from India as well, to give them an idea of the strides the company is making in the tyre market. One of their newest achievements include the fact that Apollo Tyres is now the OE supplier to Volkswagen globally for its Passat sedan. This is surely an accomplishment for an Indian brand, and Apollo are quite clear about wanting to dominate the passenger car segment in the country.