[ph03n!x]

Originally Posted by whitemm550

hey hey, to be very frank, that looks like you have hit a bump or pothole very hard, thus resulting in what u call a 'pinching' effect on the side wall. look, i am a Michelin guy, and do not have any bias or am not trying to advocate the quality levels of Yokohama

It does look like that - the rims seem to have made a neat cut there. But I don't think I went hard on any pot hole or bad roads in the past two weeks (cut wasn't there before that). I know.. Its one of those things that I have to swallow, point a finger at me and say "Be Careful..."

[gaurav_chopra04]

Some updates, I posted on my thread over time. Posting links here to avoid repetition.

At 27k..

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post2349094

At 28k plus..

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post2377941

At 31k...another tyre wall goes kaput...

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post2413392

All this while from 7-9k till 31k the tyres delivered every bit in terms of performance in delhi/NH1 highway. Ofcourse, they are loud and delicate and as soon as they saw a bad stretch, delhi-meerut, one of the front tyres gave up.. Delicate darlings, but good performers...

Regards
Gaurav

[mayankjha1806]

Gaurav, i remember reading this thread earlier and had a bad impression of Yokos and probably will never buy them, but last Sunday i met a Ford Fiesta guy on my regular washing outlet and saw that he was using Yokos and had already done close to 40K. Are there other models of Yokos which do better as compared to S-Drives? Any insight on this would be helpful.

[gaurav_chopra04]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Gaurav, i remember reading this thread earlier and had a bad impression of Yokos and probably will never buy them, but last Sunday i met a Ford Fiesta guy on my regular washing outlet and saw that he was using Yokos and had already done close to 40K. Are there other models of Yokos which do better as compared to S-Drives? Any insight on this would be helpful.

Well, you can say that I too am against S-Drives when it comes to their ability to take bad roads. They are to be driven only and only on good roads. I maintain the same fact for Advan Sport, 2 of which gave up on a friends 530d. However, if you talk about performance, these tyres deliver. Where, advan are outstanding in dry conditions, and can take wet conditions occasionly; the S-drives are good in both dry and wet conditions. Considering the fact that they are performance tyres, they last in good shape only till 30k kms or sometimes under.

If we talk about tyres with decent performance and life, the db series of Yokos are good and the reviews too have been good. However, I lately found out that the A-Drives are just acceptable in dry conditions but bad in wet conditions. Some reives here.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ivic-v-mt.html

The db series and A and C drives can certainly last for over 40k kms.
I'd say you check for reviews of Yoko db series, a new series came out lately.

[reignofchaos]

One of my Advan Neovas bubbled after around 18000 km after hitting a stone. Completely my fault. I didn't notice the stone on the roadside. The others have lasted over 30k now and still have decent tread left. I'm guessing they'll last another 5-6k km before they wear out. They've seen everything - potholed roads, non existent roads, mild off roading, cornering at 150k's, have even jumped speed breakers at similar speeds.

They are still going strong! Touchwood!

If I manage to get 35k out of them, I'd be overjoyed. When I bought them, I was expecting them to last a maximum of 20k.

They do have a few massive downers - the ride was okay for the first few thousand km but after that has become ridiculously hard. In comparison the previous michelin PP2s were a magic carpet. Also they are ridiculously noisy. At highway speeds, they drown out the engine roaring at 4000 rpm and at those revs, the Cedia engine is quite raspy. So you get the picture.

Outright road grip is probably very similar to the michelins they replaced. Where they really shine is lateral grip. There's absolutely no loss of grip when cornering. In comparison the PP2 would squeal away to glory at much much lower speeds. Also there's barely any tramlining unlike the michelins. Another surprise is a very noticeable increase in low end torque and fuel efficiency compared to the michelins. They deliver atleast 1km/l more than the PP2 and the bottom end torque feels a lot nicer.

Also in the rains, the michelins would aquaplane a lot earlier than these yokos. These hardly seem to lose anything in the wet. They are absolutely stunning in wet weather conditions since there's no loss of traction and the water drowns the road noise :-).

Would I buy them again? Hell yea!

[rjstyles69]

gaurav it's surprising that you seem to be running into problems with your S-drives. I probably was one of the 1st guys here to get the S-drives shod on my older baleno. I still swear by them coz even after selling my car the new owner drives them with the same set. Close to 30k clicks and no issues what so ever.

I took a hit once and ended up with a bent alloy, but the tire was intact with no damage to the sidewall what so ever. Even now my friend runs his baleno with S-drives and he is a spirited driver. Both of us got the tires at around the same time.

Regarding bad roads and the useability of the Yoko's you gotto be kidding me . Did umpteen drives along National Horror 17(NH-17) , interiors of Chikkamagalur and quite a few other places.No problems ever faced, not even a flat tire man.

[gaurav_chopra04]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

One of my Advan Neovas bubbled after around 18000 km after hitting a stone. Completely my fault.

Well, I cant say that in my case, never do I remember to land up in a pothole at speeds of over 40-50 max..I drive fast only on roads I am familiar with, so in both cases where the tyres bubbled, I am sure I didnt hit any pothole hard.

The others have lasted over 30k now and still have decent tread left. I'm guessing they'll last another 5-6k km before they wear out.

Exactly same with my S-Drives, can last another 5-6k kms but the FUN factor is almost over after 30k, now I have to think twice before pushing the car real hard. The grip level has gone down considerably.

They've seen everything - potholed roads, non existent roads, mild off roading, cornering at 150k's, have even jumped speed breakers at similar speeds.

Apart from cornering thing, my S-Drives have been fortunate to see excellent roads for 99% of their life. And even when they saw bad roads recently, I was considerate not to exceed 40 by any chance. But I must say the grip level was excellent, in both dry and wet conditions. Cant say if any other tyres in this segment can take corners with more ease..Can certainly vouch for the performance of both S-Drives and Advan Sport.

They do have a few massive downers - the ride was okay for the first few thousand km but after that has become ridiculously hard. In comparison the previous michelin PP2s were a magic carpet. Also they are ridiculously noisy. At highway speeds, they drown out the engine roaring at 4000 rpm and at those revs, the Cedia engine is quite raspy. So you get the picture.

Ya they certainly are too noisy, the Advan sport are audible in my friend's 530D as well. But I rather found the comfort to be decent with both S-Drives and advans.

Another thing good about these tyres is that the straight line poise is excellent, the steering remains very precise, making drives on highways much more comfortable. Even at 150 + the steering doesnt need any corrections.

Would I buy them again? Hell yea!

haha.. My heart says yes and mind says no.

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

gaurav it's surprising that you seem to be running into problems with your S-drives. I probably was one of the 1st guys here to get the S-drives shod on my older baleno. I still swear by them coz even after selling my car the new owner drives them with the same set. Close to 30k clicks and no issues what so ever.

Well, as I said, I have problem with their delicate nature and loud character. I can live with the tyre noise, but the soft tyre wall will make sure that my father/brother rip atleast one tyre every month, if they start using the car when I will not be around for some good 2 years..Cant really think of any other reason for your set lasting good apart from baleno being a lighter car than cedia, but I may be wrong here. Another thread here talks about a dreadful experience an optra magnum owner had. some 9 tyre changes I guess..

Regarding bad roads and the useability of the Yoko's you gotto be kidding me.

believe me I am not kidding, the tyres bubbled despite me being extra careful. But yes, the performace is something I can write stories on. Dont know how to express myself but its something like a new song from recent movie delly belly - I hate you (like I love you).lolzz

not even a flat tire man.

Same here, no flat tyre ever, only 3-4 punchers which led to loss of tyre pressure, but slowly.

[Born 2 Be Wild]

My Fiesta is Shod with 195/55/15 Yoko S drives i have done Close to 10 K Kms on them and am absolutely in love with these tyres have done 2 trips Dilli Dehradun on them as well where avoid as you may, You will still end up going into some potholes, till now i have no complaints what so ever with these tyres. I havent come across the Noise mentioned in this thread , dunno may turn up later but the tyres arent that noisy till now. Performance wise i love them i mean cornering with these tyres is total bliss.

[Born 2 Be Wild]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Be Wild

. I havent come across the Noise mentioned in this thread , dunno may turn up later but the tyres arent that noisy till now. Performance wise i love them i mean cornering with these tyres is total bliss.

I spoke too soon. After having done 25K kms on My set of Yoko S Drives the tyres have gotten so noisy that its absolute torture to sit in the car i mean the level of noise is unbelievable . and the damm things werent exactly cheap either .

[_abhishek]

I am having 205/55/15 on my Swift and it has done close to 40k. It has been a wonderful performer for me. The road grip which this tire give is just unbelievable, even in rainy days. The noise is definitely present. It was very minimum initially and now after doing more than 40k clicks I feel its increasing, but still not the unbearable levels. Thank God!

Another problem which I began to encounter now a days is puncture. As the rubber gets worn out, its resistance to puncture decreases. And believe it or not, in the past 3 months I have put 3 punctures. This is getting bad i guess. In my road, there are 2 houses being constructed. All the pillar work is done on the road. They are so careless that they wont even clean the road after the work. So the small small pieces are scattered. Because of this I guess the puncture ratio on S-drive has gone high.
But in all my other 3 vehicles I dont face this problem. Now wondering what can be done to this. Anyone else faced similar issue with S-drive?

[Born 2 Be Wild]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Be Wild

I spoke too soon. After having done 25K kms on My set of Yoko S Drives the tyres have gotten so noisy that its absolute torture to sit in the car i mean the level of noise is unbelievable . and the damm things werent exactly cheap either .

My Humble apologies to My Yokohama S Drives and Mr Yokohama the tyres are amazing now the noise is gone .
The fault lay elsewhere and in my case With Ford the wheel bearing was faulty and they supposedly changed the bearing even charged me for it and when the noise persisted they blamed the tyres uptill today, when my local mechanic just charged me 800 bucks and changed the bearing to restore peace and tranquility to my ride.!

[Optimus7]

I too have 195/55/15 Yoko S drives in my Fiesta, have done about 3K kms. Absolutely love these tyres. Looks very good, has a very good cornering grip and braking grip.
Are these noise issues rectified in newer batches? I bought them 4 months back.

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Do the dealers tell the buyers that these tires are not suitable for Indian Driving conditions?

I told my cousin to put Michelin on his new Alto. He went to the tire dealer and an older gentleman there apparently told him just stick to your MRF, the imported tires will get cut/bulge on our roads.

When asked why he carries them, he went on to explain that Michelin-Wichelin is for rich kids with money to blow...if the tire gets cut, they just throw away and buy a new one. (sic)

[taranonline]

I have s drives 235 35 19 , 265 30 19. The road noise is just insane :(

[Optimus7]

Originally Posted by taranonline

I have s drives 235 35 19 , 265 30 19. The road noise is just insane :(

How many Kms have they done, before getting noisy? How about the road grip is it the same as before or does it detoriate too?