The crisis has hit everything, and the battery market is no exception. Buyers look primarily at the price. Even the owners of prestigious cars are in no hurry to splurge on expensive batteries such as AGM and EFB, which everyone predicted unconditional dominance a few years ago.
It's even somehow embarrassing to talk about amperes, pendants and degrees, if the mass consumer chooses what is cheaper. On the other hand, the quality of budget products is often lame and savings can result in a pretty penny ... This time we decided to focus on inexpensive batteries.
Are the batteries cheaper?
At first, the search for the most inexpensive batteries of the most popular dimension 242x175x190 mm gave a modest result - only five products with a price of 2610 rubles for a Podolsk battery to 3002 rubles for a Tyumen one. Not enough for a full-fledged examination. The price bar was raised to 3,500 rubles - six more batteries were added. But what about the big foreign names - Varta, Bosch, Mutlu? In addition, domestic batteries close to them in price, for example, AkTech, were left behind. Along the way, it turned out that some oriental brands set prices for their products not at all "crisis": the most expensive battery was not Bosch at all, but the Korean Solite for 5,000 rubles!
As a result, we have collected two dozen batteries. Let's see how price relates to ampere-hours and pendants.
The purchase was carried out in a retail network in April - May 2016. The research results refer only to this sample and cannot serve as a basis for evaluating all products of a particular brand.
And so it will go for the test behind the wheel of 2016?
The overall impression of the test results is painful. There are three main reasons for the disorder. Firstly, sellers still slip stale goods, albeit with guarantees, smiles and seals. Secondly, it is unpleasant that in the Russian frost, out of twenty new batteries, eleven failed. Thirdly, out of two dozen batteries, only two really fought for the victory - Tyumen Battery Premium and Varta Blue Dynamic. Their lead over their rivals turned out to be serious. And, curiously, the advantage is obvious both with and without the price.
Run through the first columns of the table, which reflects the reserve capacity of brand new batteries. In parentheses, we give the real "volume" of electricity for which the buyer pays. By analogy with refueling: you ask to fill full tank, and the tanker splashed only on the bottom. But there is also a difference: the “mistake” of the gas station will not lead to anything terrible, but the discharged battery, as the pros say, “sours”. This is often irreversible: it loses its capacity and becomes ineffective. We were ready for this, so before the start of the tests, as usual, we charged all the batteries to capacity. And you need to do this before you put the battery on the car.
Now about the "overpayments" for the brand. The miracle did not happen: all the little-known batteries accumulated in unison at the bottom of the table. The most annoying thing is that the prices for many of them are not cheap at all. And the first half of the table was filled with familiar names - we advise you to focus on them.
MAIN CRITERIA FOR ASSESSING THE QUALITY OF BATTERIES
Reserve capacity. Shows how long the car will last with all the energy consumers on (headlights, windshield wipers, ventilation system) if the generator has deteriorated. Measured in minutes. The higher the score, the better.
Reduced starting energy with declared current. It characterizes the energy of the battery in starting mode. Measured in kilojoules. The higher the score, the better.
Reduced starting energy with a single current at -18 and -29 ° C. Allows you to compare the current characteristics of all batteries in the same conditions, regardless of their passport data. Simply put, the higher the energy, the more, all other things being equal, there are more attempts to confidently start the motor in stock. Measured in kilojoules. The higher the score, the better.
Acceptance of charge at constant external voltage. Indicates the ability of the battery to recover from a deep discharge.
In practice, the battery that takes more charge than others will charge faster when traveling. All batteries passed the test.
Note. Technical measurements were carried out by specialists from NIITs AT 3 TsNII of the Ministry of Defense of Russia. The test results refer to a specific sample of batteries and cannot serve as a characteristic of all products of the same name as a whole.
All batteries by location
To identify leaders and outsiders, we introduced a scoring system. In each type of test, the best and worst results were taken and assigned five points (maximum) and one point (minimum), respectively. Each of the other participants received an intermediate score proportional to their position between the leader and the outsider. For example, if, when measuring the reserve capacity, the leader showed the result of 112 minutes, and the outsider - 78, then the participant with the result of 87 minutes gets 2.06 points. If the battery fails in one test or another, it gets 0 points.
The total score based on the measurements is the arithmetic average of five intermediate ratings. Then we divided it by the price of the battery, and then again reduced it to a five-point scale. Thus, the final score is, in fact, value for money.
Tyumen Battery Premium and Varta Blue Dynamic proved to be out of competition in our tests. Taking into account the much more attractive price, the “si-tag” has risen to the top. If we didn't take prices into account, Varta would be the first. However, the “foreigner” has another paradoxical advantage over the Russian battery: it is easier to find it on sale. It sounds illogical, but it is so, and not only in Moscow.
Output? You can't buy a battery just by looking at the price tag. Savings can go badly. Better take a little time to familiarize yourself with the results of our expertise. Happy shopping and stable voltage in the onboard network!
The first step is to determine the size of the battery. He must be guaranteed to fit in his workplace - in the engine compartment or trunk. At the same time, we determine the polarity. An old battery will help here: are we looking - plus on the right or on the left? Often the length of the wires does not allow connecting the battery of the "wrong" polarity.
When choosing a brand of battery, we strongly recommend that you be guided by the list of our winners of recent years. Don't get fooled by low price- there are no philanthropists on the market. The brand determines the value. As a rule, with the same dimensions, serious companies offer batteries of different energy capacities (for example, different declared amperes and ampere-hours). Better to take the maximum, albeit a little more expensive.
You should not buy products that have units of the "A / h" type indicated on the labels or in the passport. This speaks of the technical illiteracy of their compilers and raises doubts about the quality.
The purchased battery MUST be charged. After charging and holding (storage disconnected from charger battery) within 10-15 hours, the voltage should be 12.5-12.7 V. If measured immediately after charging, then the indicators can significantly exceed the real voltage of the open circuit.
The crisis has hit everything, and the battery market is no exception. Buyers look primarily at the price. Even the owners of prestigious cars are in no hurry to splurge on expensive batteries such as AGM and EFB, which everyone predicted unconditional dominance a few years ago.
It's even somehow embarrassing to talk about amperes, pendants and degrees, if the mass consumer chooses what is cheaper. On the other hand, the quality of budget products is often lame and savings can result in a pretty penny ... This time we decided to focus on inexpensive batteries.
Are the batteries cheaper?
At first, the search for the most inexpensive batteries of the most popular dimension 242x175x190 mm gave a modest result - only five products with a price of 2610 rubles for a Podolsk battery to 3002 rubles for a Tyumen one. Not enough for a full-fledged examination. The price bar was raised to 3,500 rubles - six more batteries were added. But what about the big foreign names - Varta, Bosch, Mutlu? In addition, domestic batteries close to them in price, for example, AkTech, were left behind. Along the way, it turned out that some oriental brands set prices for their products not at all "crisis": the most expensive battery was not Bosch at all, but the Korean Solite for 5,000 rubles!
As a result, we have collected two dozen batteries. Let's see how price relates to ampere-hours and pendants.
The purchase was carried out in a retail network in April - May 2016. The research results refer only to this sample and cannot serve as a basis for evaluating all products of a particular brand.
And so it will go for the test behind the wheel of 2016?
The overall impression of the test results is painful. There are three main reasons for the disorder. Firstly, sellers still slip stale goods, albeit with guarantees, smiles and seals. Secondly, it is unpleasant that in the Russian frost, out of twenty new batteries, eleven failed. Thirdly, out of two dozen batteries, only two really fought for the victory - Tyumen Battery Premium and Varta Blue Dynamic. Their lead over their rivals turned out to be serious. And, curiously, the advantage is obvious both with and without the price.
Run through the first columns of the table, which reflects the reserve capacity of brand new batteries. In parentheses, we give the real "volume" of electricity for which the buyer pays. By analogy with refueling: you ask to fill a full tank, and the refueller splashed only on the bottom. But there is also a difference: the “mistake” of the gas station will not lead to anything terrible, but the discharged battery, as the pros say, “sours”. This is often irreversible: it loses its capacity and becomes ineffective. We were ready for this, so before the start of the tests, as usual, we charged all the batteries to capacity. And you need to do this before you put the battery on the car.
Now about the "overpayments" for the brand. The miracle did not happen: all the little-known batteries accumulated in unison at the bottom of the table. The most annoying thing is that the prices for many of them are not cheap at all. And the first half of the table was filled with familiar names - we advise you to focus on them.
MAIN CRITERIA FOR ASSESSING THE QUALITY OF BATTERIES
Reserve capacity. Shows how long the car will last with all the energy consumers on (headlights, windshield wipers, ventilation system) if the generator has deteriorated. Measured in minutes. The higher the score, the better.
Reduced starting energy with declared current. It characterizes the energy of the battery in starting mode. Measured in kilojoules. The higher the score, the better.
Reduced starting energy with a single current at -18 and -29 ° C. Allows you to compare the current characteristics of all batteries in the same conditions, regardless of their passport data. Simply put, the higher the energy, the more, all other things being equal, there are more attempts to confidently start the motor in stock. Measured in kilojoules. The higher the score, the better.
Acceptance of charge at constant external voltage. Indicates the ability of the battery to recover from a deep discharge.
In practice, the battery that takes more charge than others will charge faster when traveling. All batteries passed the test.
Note. Technical measurements were carried out by specialists from NIITs AT 3 TsNII of the Ministry of Defense of Russia. The test results refer to a specific sample of batteries and cannot serve as a characteristic of all products of the same name as a whole.
All batteries by location
To identify leaders and outsiders, we introduced a scoring system. In each type of test, the best and worst results were taken and assigned five points (maximum) and one point (minimum), respectively. Each of the other participants received an intermediate score proportional to their position between the leader and the outsider. For example, if, when measuring the reserve capacity, the leader showed the result of 112 minutes, and the outsider - 78, then the participant with the result of 87 minutes gets 2.06 points. If the battery fails in one test or another, it gets 0 points.
The total score based on the measurements is the arithmetic average of five intermediate ratings. Then we divided it by the price of the battery, and then again reduced it to a five-point scale. Thus, the final score is, in fact, value for money.
Tyumen Battery Premium and Varta Blue Dynamic proved to be out of competition in our tests. Taking into account the much more attractive price, the “si-tag” has risen to the top. If we didn't take prices into account, Varta would be the first. However, the “foreigner” has another paradoxical advantage over the Russian battery: it is easier to find it on sale. It sounds illogical, but it is so, and not only in Moscow.
Output? You can't buy a battery just by looking at the price tag. Savings can go badly. Better take a little time to familiarize yourself with the results of our expertise. Happy shopping and stable voltage in the onboard network!
The rating of batteries for cars 2015-2016 published by experts is intended to help in choosing the best battery for your car. After all, a good rechargeable battery allows you to get rid of the problems with starting power unit, therefore, every car owner has a desire to have the best copy under the hood of his SUV, which will not fail in difficult situational moments and will not fail quickly.
Positions of the rating of car batteries 2015-2016
When there is a desire to buy a good car battery, many motorists tend to trust all kinds of comparisons and ratings. Further, the rating of JSCB 2015-2016 will be presented with consideration of the leading companies in this segment. Getting the best batteries now is easy. The main thing is that you need to carefully select a specific sample for your car, based on the recommendations of the automaker.Varta and Bosch - Germany's best batteries 2015-2016
A significant part of the energy elements of the aforementioned brands are produced in Germany, however, in Russian market Czech products are more common, but this is one concern that offers excellent equipment to cars.
Of course, when trying to decide which battery is better to buy, many motorists remember exactly the impeccability German quality, since the indicated manufacturers from Germany guarantee the following advantageous aspects of the battery, provided that it is the original devices that are purchased:
High-quality functionality and durability of equipment in diverse conditions;
- the presence of a safety power in case of strongly frozen oil in the power plant;
- good work in frost and tolerance to difficult climatic conditions;
- efficient and fast charging in compliance with the operating rules;
- full compliance with the parametric characteristics of the electrical on-board systems of various cars. 
However, even these top-rated car battery devices from the brands Varta and Bosch can fail due to complete deep discharge... As a result, most of the energy elements will finally fail, but the proposals of these German brands will remain operational and will continue to delight car owners with high reliability of their functionality and maximum efficiency.
AKTEX - Russian best batteries and sales leaders
The rating of rechargeable batteries also includes energy cells of the AKTEX brand, which are one of the most popular domestic batteries. If you want to find out which batteries of which company is better in the Russian space, you should know that the above company offers excellent quality batteries and guarantees their excellent properties in combination with maximum efficiency during operation.
The manufacturer AKTEX uses technologies similar to those of the world leaders in this segment, therefore, these best car batteries offer consumers the following advantageous features:
Maximum energy efficiency combined with the absence of the risk of failure during discharge;
- excellent durability, unpretentiousness and endurance in operation;
- the possibility of servicing, if necessary, and adding fluid to the body;
- extremely low cost relative to foreign competitors;
- unimpeded charging through any device.
Studying which battery is better to buy, it should be understood that the acquisition of a Russian rechargeable batteries AKTEX will be much more profitable than giving preference to other foreign options. True, many car manufacturers strongly discourage the use of batteries other than those indicated in the operating instructions.
Medalist - American-Korean brand of battery segment
The Medalist brand, which got into the rating of batteries for a car in 2015-2016, got its name partly with the expectation of the Russian market, since this word is perfectly perceived in our latitudes. However, the South Korean corporation with the presence of American investments failed to fully achieve its goals, and its main achievements are represented by the following positions:Average sales position;
- production of excellent batteries using fairly simple equipment;
- discrepancy between the cost and the class of batteries being purchased;
- a modest warranty period. 
Despite the presence of a series of problems, these auto batteries have replenished the rating, are gaining popularity and are quite confidently sold in Russia. However, the inscriptions in hieroglyphs and the association of the name with Chinese production still somewhat frighten consumers.
TITAN is a domestic middle class brand
Ranked best batteries for a car, the TITAN brand in its activities strives to provide motorists with affordable devices with fairly good properties and excellent quality of functionality, combined with an affordable price. The main advantages of the products of this company are the following aspects:The ability to use batteries in any conditions and high durability;
- decent assortment;
- no fear of various operational problems, including low temperatures;
- a large number of sellers and dealers throughout the country. 
Considering the above-mentioned important advantages, we can agree that the products of this brand were included in the rating of the best batteries for a reason. The presence of high quality energy elements and the optimal price of them allowed the company to get a lot of regular customers.
Mutlu - European quality and Turkish availability
One of the most popular brands in the budget battery segment is of Turkish origin. This company can hardly best brands batteries to take the lead, however, the popularity of its products has been growing lately. These elements are characterized by the following features:Availability in almost any car dealership;
- the absence of clearly negative customer reviews and a good reputation of the manufacturer;
- cooperation with world leaders of the segment and excellent manufacturability;
- a huge assortment;
- relatively low price with good technical characteristics. 
For those wishing to know which car battery it is better to choose, it should be clarified that the Mutlu brand has been presented on the Russian market not so long ago, but its popularity is constantly growing. The purchase of such a battery can be a good solution for the owners of any vehicle.
Conclusion
The existing huge selection in the battery segment constantly forces many motorists to think about which batteries are best for a car, and refer to various expert ratings. The above list of brands was collected from several rating reviews at once, so it is general in nature.
Today, many more trust products on which the brand is written in the Latin alphabet. Perhaps that is why, of the six “Russians”, only the Beast and Tyumensky Medved are not shy about the Cyrillic alphabet, and the rest have non-Neshen names - AKOM, Titan Euro Silver, Tyumen Battery Premium, SilverStar. However, by name, as well as by dress, they only meet - you need to look at the participants in the case.
Our "team" is far from losing to rivals in all types of competitions. Russian batteries do not look so weak on the world stage. Although the "world team" also featured a stellar line-up: Bosch, Delkor, Exide Premium, Mutlu Silver Evolution, Topla and VARTA Blue Dynamic.
The main criteria for evaluating the battery
Reserve capacity. Shows how long a car with a damaged generator will last on a cold rainy night. Measured in minutes. The higher the score, the better.
The best result is the Tyumen Battery Premium: 110 minutes. The worst result was shown by Delkor - 91 minutes.
Reduced starting energy with declared current. It characterizes the energy of the battery in starting mode. Measured in kilojoules. The higher the score, the better.
The best result is the Tyumen Battery Premium: 29.13 kJ. The worst result was shown by SilverStar - 7.58 kJ.
Tyumen battery Premium Russia Estimated price, rub. 3000 Declared capacity, A ∙ h 64 Declared current, A 590 Measured / declared mass with electrolyte, kg 15.3 / no more than 17.2 Absolute champion in all nominations. The gap from the second place was almost a point. At the same time, the price is the lowest! However, the year before last it was the same. Before the tests, we put it on this battery - and we were not mistaken.
Reduced starting energy with a single current. Allows you to compare the current characteristics of all batteries in the same conditions, regardless of their passport data. Measured in kilojoules. The higher the score, the better.
The best result is for the Tyumen Battery Premium: 35.39 kJ. The worst result was shown by SilverStar - 6.88 kJ.
Reduced starting energy with a single current at -29ºC. Similar to the previous tests, but at a temperature of -29 ºC. Measured in kilojoules. The higher the score, the better.
The best result is for the Tyumen Battery Premium: 10.44 kJ. The worst result is complete failure of AKOM, SilverStar and Delkor batteries.
Acceptance of charge at constant external voltage. Indicates the ability of the battery to recover from a deep discharge. All batteries passed the test with a large margin, showing approximately equal results. 
Note. Technical measurements were carried out by specialists from NIITs AT 3 TsNII of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Test results refer to specific batteries.
Methodology for arranging batteries in places
In each type of test, the best and worst results were assigned 5 points and 1 point, respectively. The rest of the participants received intermediate points according to the position they occupied between the leader and the outsider. For example, if, when measuring the reserve capacity, the leader showed the result of 110 minutes, and the outsider - 91, then the participant with the result of 103 minutes received, in proportion to his result, 3.53 points. And so - for all types of tests. The final score is the arithmetic mean of the four intermediate grades. The score for the "price / quality" indicator was not taken into account when summing up the results. The average score for the performance of foreign and Russian test participants was calculated as the arithmetic mean of six corresponding results.
CLEAR VICTORY
In the spring, the batteries were taken to Bronnitsy near Moscow - to the laboratory of NIITs AT 3 of the Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense of Russia. The protocol, which appeared at the end of July, bathed the soul of the patriotic author with balm. The Tyumen Battery Premium has shown the best possible result, winning all rounds of the test. Moreover, it turned out to be the best in terms of price and quality ratio. No battery has achieved such success in all the years of our battery expertise.
It's nice that in the middle of the table, in places from the fourth to the sixth, are also ours: Tyumenskiy Medved, Zver and Titan Euro Silver.
But the barrel of honey was still spoiled: AKOM and SilverStar performed poorly. This promised the "Russians" a loss in the overall standings, but the "foreigners" also let down.
Outright failure of the Korean Delkor battery, who performed worst of all, led to the fact that the average score of the "Russians" (2.96) was higher than that of the "world team" (2.75). (By the way, recently components with big names, but of dubious performance, have begun to come across quite often.) And in terms of price-quality ratio, the victory of Russian batteries is even more convincing: 2.76 against 1.87 points.
So what, down with imports? No, not yet down. We are far from complete import substitution in the battery market: four home brands will not satisfy demand.
But this does not diminish the significance of the event: the best Russian batteries honestly passed all the tests. Progress! 
How to choose a battery for a car
What's more important? Price, dimensions, brand, ampere-hours, current? The main thing: you need to take such a battery that is guaranteed to fit in the niche allotted to it, be it engine compartment, trunk or underfloor space. At the same time, we determine the polarity: we look at the old battery and figure out where is the "plus" and where is the "minus" - to the right or to the left? Be careful: on the vast majority of cars, the length of the standard wires will not be enough to connect the battery of the wrong polarity.
When choosing a brand, be guided by our list of recent winners, crossing out newcomers and outsiders. The brand of the battery usually determines the price of the battery. The stated current and capacity depend on the dimensions. Do not listen to experts who talk about the undesirability of excess amperes or ampere hours. You can safely put a battery with a current of at least 1000 A - the pocket does not pull the stock.
If you have installed an AGM battery, which is mainly oriented to work with a start-stop system, then you should only replace it with an AGM. Reverse replacement is acceptable, but economically impractical.
Even just bought new battery need to charge. Pay attention to the table with the results of measurements: in the column "Reserve capacity" in brackets are the parameters of the batteries at the time of sale! Unfortunately, until now, under the guise of a brand new battery, they like to slip "almost new" ones, from which they will dust off at best. The smaller the numbers in parentheses, the longer the battery was left without maintenance in the warehouse. Therefore, she cannot immediately under the hood: she needs a charge.
