Team-BHP > 4x4 & Off-Roading > 4x4 Technical


Reply
  Search this Thread
32,404 views
Old 24th February 2010, 15:31   #1
BHPian
 
GoSlow's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Noida
Posts: 507
Thanked: 78 Times
GT Savero MT Tyres for Gypsy

Hi All

I am starting this thread to share with everyone my experiences with Gypsy tyres.

1. Started with 215/75 R15 HT (not AT)

I had these tyres for many years and the grip and handling was very good on road. It absorbed bumps better than F78 and the braking was pretty good too (mind you my Gypsy King did not come with booster brakes).

In 2008 I was introducted to the world of off-roading. I was a newbie and loving it. The most frustating part was that I used to loose traction on the slightest of challenging terrain - be it mildly sandy inclines, loose gravel, slick cemented incline (wet), etc. Sometimes just engaging 4H got me through and sometimes even 4L did not help. It was embarrasing sometimes to engage 4H where others were happy in 2wd.

Here is a pic of my Gyspy with HT 215 tyres.
Attached Thumbnails
GT Savero MT Tyres for Gypsy-215s.jpg  


Last edited by GoSlow : 24th February 2010 at 15:33.
GoSlow is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 24th February 2010, 16:03   #2
Senior - BHPian
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 1,240
Thanked: 229 Times

Goslow,

By the look of the tyres of your gypsy, I can say they are worn out atleast 60 -70 %. If they were average age, you could have done better on offroading. However, proper all terrain tyres will surely help you better.

I had bridgestone HT for almost 5 years and for most offroading. I got issues when they were 70 % worn out. Plus the weight of vehicle plays major role in traction.

Probably it's time for changeover to good all terrain tyre. I would suggest yokohoma AT/S for offroading and highway.
dwaraka is offline  
Old 24th February 2010, 16:19   #3
Senior - BHPian
 
vinod_nookala's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 1,737
Thanked: 427 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by dwaraka View Post
Goslow,

I had bridgestone HT for almost 5 years and for most offroading. I got issues when they were 70 % worn out. Plus the weight of vehicle plays major role in traction.
Bridge stone HT tyres are good off road except for slush. even there you can get away with your driving skill in most cases. The only problem is that they dont look aggressive like other AT tyres.

Iam happy with my BS HT tyres and has seen some tough off roading till now. Will change to At tyres soon.

Go slow-

Please post the pic of your Gypsy with new set of tyres
vinod_nookala is offline  
Old 24th February 2010, 16:26   #4
BHPian
 
siddartha's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: bangalore
Posts: 671
Thanked: 24 Times

In my opinion , bridgestone dueller HT are worse than my MRF zigmas for off roading.
siddartha is offline  
Old 24th February 2010, 17:00   #5
BHPian
 
GoSlow's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Noida
Posts: 507
Thanked: 78 Times

Since my expereciences off-road I started searching for better off-road tyres. The only problem was that I was not sure wether to go for All Terrain or Mud Terrain tyres.

In the meantime my good friend Arjun (owner of the ZUK) bought a brand new gypsy and had moved on from the orignal fittment of the F78 tyres. He offered those tyres to me free of cost!!

So now for the next tyre:

2. MRF F78 - orignal factory fitment on gypsy

These tyres had some good points and some bad points -

Good Points
  • Steering became lighter
  • The vehicle felt quicker
  • Traction off road was miles ahead
Bad Points
  • Braking was worse
  • On-road grip was poor
  • Horribly bumpy ride
  • Prone to puncture
I did not mind most of the bad points as long as I was getting good grip off road. In mud and slush these tyres were superb!! I absolutely loved it. I could drive through thick mud which I would not even have dreamt of with the HT tyres. Although on wet steep slippery inclines, I again got no grip. There are some distadvantages of having such a light vehicle!

Then came the killing point. PUNCTURES. Our trails have a lot of thorny bushes and hence I was left with 14 punctures in one tyre and 6 in another. After every OTR the tyres would go down randomly as the thorns worked their way through the nylon rubber due to daily use (it was winters after all).

Mind you, I did not care if these looked puny on the vehicle. As long as the off-road performance is good, but alas, I decided to start looking again.
Attached Thumbnails
GT Savero MT Tyres for Gypsy-f78-oe.jpg  

GT Savero MT Tyres for Gypsy-f78.jpg  

GT Savero MT Tyres for Gypsy-comparison.jpg  

GoSlow is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 24th February 2010, 17:18   #6
Distinguished - BHPian
 
khan_sultan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Noida/Bangalore
Posts: 4,924
Thanked: 5,834 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by siddartha View Post
In my opinion , bridgestone dueller HT are worse than my MRF zigmas for off roading.
no comments on BS-HT but for sure JK Zigma's are the worst tyres for off-roading.
khan_sultan is offline  
Old 24th February 2010, 17:33   #7
BHPian
 
GoSlow's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Noida
Posts: 507
Thanked: 78 Times

Here are some action pics of the F78:
Attached Thumbnails
GT Savero MT Tyres for Gypsy-011109.jpg  

GT Savero MT Tyres for Gypsy-201209.jpg  

GoSlow is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 24th February 2010, 17:53   #8
BHPian
 
GoSlow's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Noida
Posts: 507
Thanked: 78 Times

Since I use my Gypsy mainly for off-roading I was okay with getting Mud Terrain tyres as my highway driving in close to Nil. The only two times that we went for an OTR to Chandigarh and Hisar, were the highway stints in a trail of 10 to 15 jeeps all of which cruize at about 70kmph. So I didnt mind MTs. Also I used my Gypsy to go to office in winter which is about 5kms away on mostly empty roads so no issues there either.

Now I have been searching for non-directional MT tyres since November 2009. I was quite keen on sticking to the 215/75 R15 size but could not find any MT pattern in this size. Finally I settled for the GT Savero Mud Terrain Tyres size 235/75 R15.

http://www.globaltraco.com/product_d...18&subcatid=61

These tyres are a copy of TOYO open country and I read some good reviews on Australian off-road forums.

Here is a pic of the tread pattern and my Gypsy with the new shoes!
Attached Thumbnails
GT Savero MT Tyres for Gypsy-1.jpg  

GT Savero MT Tyres for Gypsy-gt-1.jpg  

GT Savero MT Tyres for Gypsy-gt-2.jpg  


Last edited by khan_sultan : 25th February 2010 at 10:07.
GoSlow is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 24th February 2010, 18:31   #9
Senior - BHPian
 
vinod_nookala's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 1,737
Thanked: 427 Times

F 78 MRF tyres have been rated well for off road even by BS motoring auto magazine years back!

Your new tyres look fantastic! How much? 16 inch available?
vinod_nookala is offline  
Old 24th February 2010, 18:43   #10
BHPian
 
star_aqua's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: BLR
Posts: 608
Thanked: 90 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by khan_sultan View Post
no comments on BS-HT but for sure JK Zigma's are the worst tyres for off-roading.
BS-HT is the BEST for AT minus Slush. and JK Zigmas are the worst tyres i have seen on one HT gypsy which needs a runway to take off over an obstacle.
star_aqua is offline  
Old 25th February 2010, 10:03   #11
BHPian
 
Gypsy-Boy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Bengaluru
Posts: 298
Thanked: 8 Times

Hey goslow ..
please do share the cost of the tyres.
Cheers
GB
Gypsy-Boy is offline  
Old 25th February 2010, 10:10   #12
Distinguished - BHPian
 
khan_sultan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Noida/Bangalore
Posts: 4,924
Thanked: 5,834 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by GoSlow View Post
... Finally I settled for the GT Savero Mud Terrain Tyres size 235/75 R15.
Nice tyres there. I think good VFM. What all sizes does the dealer have and can you share the contact details?

khan_sultan is offline  
Old 25th February 2010, 12:24   #13
BHPian
 
karizma9292's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: bangalore
Posts: 470
Thanked: 227 Times

Black gypsy , black rims and nice looking MT's . looks awesome . Sir your gypsy looks too good , Sir please do share the cost of the tyres and where you got if from. Cheers
karizma9292 is offline  
Old 25th February 2010, 13:24   #14
Senior - BHPian
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 1,240
Thanked: 229 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by star_aqua View Post
BS-HT is the BEST for AT minus Slush. and JK Zigmas are the worst tyres i have seen on one HT gypsy which needs a runway to take off over an obstacle.
Vjay/Siddhu,

Most of my OTRs have been on BS H/T. It performed every where, including slush in coorg 2007.
dwaraka is offline  
Old 25th February 2010, 15:39   #15
BHPian
 
GoSlow's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Noida
Posts: 507
Thanked: 78 Times

Thanks Gypsy Boy, Shanawaz, Karizma for your comments.

The tyres were purchased from South Delhi Tyres in Green Park area of South Delhi. I can PM you the contact details if you message me. Arjun had bought his 35" MTs for the ZUK and Randeep his 275/70 R16 MT from this same place.

Now for the experiences at the time of fittment -

The tyres were first put on the OE rims and the fitted these easily. When I test drove the vehicle they were scraping the leaf springs on full lock. Now I had 2 options
  • Fit spacers
  • Get negetive offset alloys
Since I was not sure if the problem would be solved even by putting spacers I went for 260 negetive offset alloys. And as my luck would have it there was no choice and I ended up with shiny 3 spoke alloys. I did not like them at first but I think now they are growing on me.

The tyres were Rs.4,800 each! Which I think is a very good price. The alloys were Rs.16,500 for a set of 5.

Here are some pics:
Attached Thumbnails
GT Savero MT Tyres for Gypsy-2.jpg  

GT Savero MT Tyres for Gypsy-3.jpg  

GT Savero MT Tyres for Gypsy-4.jpg  

GT Savero MT Tyres for Gypsy-5.jpg  

GT Savero MT Tyres for Gypsy-photo0038.jpg  


Last edited by GoSlow : 25th February 2010 at 15:42.
GoSlow is offline  
Reply

Most Viewed
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Team-BHP.com
Proudly powered by E2E Networks