Apollo Tyres Collaborates with GARC to Put up First Tyre Test Track in India

In a unique Government – Corporate partnership, leading tyre maker, Apollo Tyres collaborated with Global Automotive Research Centre (GARC) to establish the first of its kind test track in India, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, for the testing wet grip of tyres, which is one of the primary safety tests. Apollo Tyres provided the technical expertise to get the track ready for the testing wet grip of tyres, as per the standard specifications.

The readiness of the test track is linked to the Indian Government’s plan to implement ‘Star Rating’ of tyres, in line with the Tyre Labelling regulation in Europe. This is with the objective to ensure safety, the economic and environmental efficiency of road transport by promoting fuel-efficient and safe tyres with low noise levels. A new Automotive Industry Standard, AIS 142, in line with UNECE R117 is prepared. It comprises evaluation of tyres with regards to Rolling Sound Emissions, Adhesion on Wet Surfaces and Rolling Resistance.

Commenting on this, Satish Sharma, President, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa (APMEA), Apollo Tyres Ltd said that being the leaders in the Indian Tyre Industry, they would like to further the cause of testing the tyres and provide highest quality tyres to their customers across geographies. They proudly associated with GARC to create the first of its kind wet grip testing track, meeting UNECE R117 standards in India, thereby upping India’s self-sufficiency in tyre technology. This facility will not only help us test the tyres for the Indian market, but also the ones that are exported, and need to meet the labelling requirements, he said.

The major impediment to Government’s plan of implementing Star Ratings, was the unavailability of approved test track facilities in India, to test and assess traction on wet surface or wet grip, which means the relative braking performance on a wet surface. TUV Rheinland, facilitator for automotive homologation, has certified the compliance of the new test track in line with the stipulated conditions as in UNECE R117/ AIS 142.

M V Ramachandran, Officer on Special Duty, GARC Test Facilities said that the Wet Grip test facility of tyres will help the tyre, as well as the vehicle manufacturers, to evaluate the performance as per AIS-142 which is line with Rev4 of UNECE R117. This additional facility is possible with the continuous encouragement and support of the competent authority of NATRIP. The work done by the Vehicle Evaluation Department of GARC and Apollo Tyres’ test team towards finetuning the ABS track to meet the specific requirements, is highly laudable.

Significantly, GARC is one of the state-of-the-art centres set up by the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Govt of India (under NATRiP), located at Oragadam near Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It has been authorised as the test agency under CMVR 126 by Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Govt of India. GARC has full-fledged R&D and homologation test facilities, including the test tracks, to certify all category of vehicles, systems and components as per national and international standards.

Daniele Lorenzetti, Chief Technology Officer, Apollo tyres Ltd commented that the new wet grip track, developed by GARC and Apollo Tyres, shows very good level of correlation with test tracks in Europe. This will enable Apollo Tyres to reduce time to market its products, along with the reduction in testing costs. They are further exploring opportunities to collaborate with NATRiP to enhance the testing capabilities to support the mid/long term challenges.