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A new Gypsy comes shod with MRF Estate F 78-15

Mr. Dube,

My 2016 Gypsy King came with CEAT F78-15-4PR cross ply tire.

I would suggest you go with Yokohamas Geolanders 205/70 R15 A/T-S. This way you would stay within 2.5% of the OD of the OEM supplied tyres. Last I checked Yokohama Geolander A/T-S 215/70 R15 are not available in India, what you will get instead is Geolander 215/75 R15 .

I opted to go with the 215/75 R15 size and I believe that contributed to increased steering effort required especially at parking speeds something you can do without. 215s also fill the tire well a little too much for my liking & will also increase the chances of a tire rubbing against the wheel well in case of a hard rebound.

The Yokohama uses a softer compound as compared to let’s say a lot of other "popular" tire brands. You will gain ride comfort without compromising much on tire longevity. My friends in Shimla/Manali are telling me that these tires easily last 45,000 to 50,000 kms. In Bangalore your tires should last 60,000 plus kms.

Though most users probably will differ with me but I think staying with 205/70 R15 (irrespective of the brand) is a better bet.

My two cents..

I am one that will differ, having used a 205/70 Yoko for 18 months and then a 215/75 since December 2010. I was also advised a 205 initially here, and I later regretted taking that advice. As soon as I discovered the very decent buy back price for the 205, I switched to the larger Yoko.
I found very little difference in steering effort; if anything, I found the larger size easier to deal with. I also don't think it interferes with the body work, but you may have a point for users that see large suspension travel and articulation; I don't go to those places. But I think that the 215/75 is the largest size that a Gypsy can take without any bodywork cutting to prevent fouling.
If I am not mistaken, the questioner has a 215/75 shod car. If I was replacing mine today, I would make a repeat purchase of the 215/75 Geolandar, without second thought.
Last but not the least: the Gypsy looks a lot better with a 215.
The only trouble with it is that the spare tyre gets an indentation from the mounting bolt. I have no idea if that causes tyre damage, I decided to use my stepney as only an emergency back up. Perhaps that is why it has remained untouched in all these years!

Then I must defer to your opinion in view of your longer experience with these tires.

I would appreciate if you can throw some light as to what were some of the deficiencies of the 205/70 R15 as compared to 215/75 R15 size other than the fact they didn’t look as good on the Gypsy.

You’re right though about the indentation on the 215s caused by the mounting bolts & my fear is it will affect integrity of the tire in the long run.

Having driven extensively on all kinds of terrain in India & North America in desert/snow & other varied surfaces I can safely say that a narrower tire performs better than a wider tire as it does not have to overcome the resistance offered by a larger contact patch of a wider tire. I have experienced personally that a wider tire bogs down easily in snowly/muddy/sandy conditions & that is a reason that when buying winter tires I actually go down a size as compared to what comes standard on the vehicle (eg. a 235/65 R18 instead of 245/60R18 on my Edge). If however all/most of your driving is going to be on asphalt then it is a non-issue.

In Indian conditions I guess one could easily go to 215 for the Gypsy but I would have preferred a 215/65 R15 to keep the overall diameter same as what comes standard on the vehicle.

That is puzzling. The larger the contact patch, the more the area underfoot that is carrying the weight of the vehicle, leading in turn to lower weight per sq inch of road surface, allowing for easier traverse of poor conditions WITHOUT getting bogged down. Think snowshoes versus plain shoes. And this is why air pressure is reduced to traverse these surfaces to allow for an even larger contact patch and even lower weight per square inch on the poor surface. If you have done sand dune driving you would see how drastically low the pressure is reduced to have the tyre spread out and increase the size of the contact patch; levels that will destroy the tyre/rim if used on tarmac.
Yes there will be more resistance to forward motion, but there is enough power in the car to meet that need.
I find the Gypsy ride on tarmac to be improved with the larger tyres, a little more yielding than before. Again, provided these tyres aren't over inflated, as many people tend to do.
And the extra height does nothing adverse to what already is decent ground clearance.
On the con side though, something that I haven't checked out so this is a guess: a little larger turning circle.

Gentlemen - thanks much for your inputs :thumbs up

As Sawyer rightly said, my current Gypsy is running on 215/75/R15 Yokos and in all probability, I will stick to them for my new Gypsy as well.

Good idea; stick with the stock rims as well, the 215 is also the largest tyres they can safely accommodate. I am not sure alloys are a good idea for a Gypsy.

Even given that choice, I would pick the larger 75 profile for its better cushioning properties, for both passengers and wheel rims.
There really isn't a huge need to worry about overall diameter in a car such as the Gypsy, other than bodywork fouling, which to the best of my knowledge and experience, the 215/75 does not do. There also isn't any adverse impact on either handling or road speed/fuel consumption. The only damage is the higher cost of the larger tyre.

On the narrow/wide thing, the link below may be of interest to those that have to drive the Gypsy in the snow:
http://www.audiworld.com/forums/whee...iving-2767164/
I doubt though that there is much of a difference in 205 v 215 in this context.
For those that want to dig deeper, there is also interesting content here:
http://www.oponeo.co.uk/tyre-article...res-for-winter
In the Gypsy context, if I had to generalise, I'd say that narrower tyres would be better where one is driving fast on roads with poor surfaces, but wider would be better for off roading where speeds are slow and not getting stuck in the mud is the need. But these decisions would really affect choosing between a 205 and a 235/245 for instance, not so much in the 205/215 decision.

Suppose one buys a Gypsy Soft Top version in the used market, then where can one go and get a nice lockable basic stock type hardtop done for it?

From all I have read/heard, only OE hardtops are truly free from water leaks. Why not look for a used OE HT?

Sawyer
Thanks
Tough to come by.
I want a private vehicle
Not an army or navy or air force or police one

One more query
How easy is it to refit the original hardtop on a gyp from which it has been taken off?
Will it leak or is it pretty much solid?

Hi guys... while I await the delivery of my new King with bated breath, have been compiling a to-do list for post-arrival. Need your valuable feedback and anything else I might be missing. Please note that the intent is to keep the vehicle as close to stock as possible, with only bare minimal changes:

a) Tyres - Am planning to get rid of the OE tyres as soon as the Gypsy is delivered. I was toying with the idea of switching to M/Ts (http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-te...yres-road.html) but given my usage, they seem to be impractical, especially with bad braking on wet surface. So decided to stick with good ol' Yokohama Geolander AT/S - 215/75/R15.

b) 3M paint protect and underbody coating - I have got this done for every new car of mine till date, so will get this done for Gypsy as well. Any idea how the non-metallic paint of the Gypsy will take the paint protect treatment?

c) 3M Nomad Car Mats - I guess the Gypsy does not come with OE mats, not even basic rubber ones. So this is a must have. I have these on my Alto and am quite happy with them.

d) Clock - have already ordered this

e) Seat Covers - Since I do not plan to change the OE seats, will get seat covers installed ASAP. Planning to go for art-leather. Any other inputs?

f) Music system - now this is tricky! To begin with, and in line with my philosophy of minimal mods, I was planning to get a simple head unit and speakers in the available slots near the foot wells. I know this will not go down well with audiophiles but then again, not many options here as well :-(

g) 12 V socket - should be pretty straightforward, I reckon

h) Fog lamps - I am tempted to go for something like what Sawyer has on his Gypsy but am not too keen on getting holes drilled in the bumper of a brand new car :-( But not sure what other options I have, since the stock headlamps are not enough for night drives. Would it suffice if I upgrade to something like Osram Night Breakers on the stock headlamps?

i) LHS ORVM - I am stumped by the fact that the Gypsy does not come with LHS ORVM. But it is what it is! So, will have to procure one. In all probability, will end up getting a pair of Omni ORVMs.

That is all I am planning to get done for now. Anything else that I am missing?

Cheers...

On the above:
1. I think this has the potential to do more harm than good by turning into moisture traps in areas and pockets where it inevitably degrades over time. Modern cars are excellent in corrosion resistance, and the Gypsy has little that can rust! In a place like Bangalore, it is absolutely not necessary.
2. I use the OE covers that are very hard wearing. Adding seat covers will offer little benefit and may even be more uncomfortable due to inducing you to sweat even more than you would with the OE covers. Change the seats at some time, don\'t bother with covers, I suggest.
3. I have a Sony HU with two front speakers which still works! But I don\'t use it much because on the move, with windows down and road and traffic noise, music listening doesn\'t afford a lot of pleasure. What little use I make of it is when the car is parked.
4. If you are changing headlamps - I was told here that the reflector material cannot handle heat from high wattage lamps without turning brown, so you want to look out for that. If you are willing to drill holes for a ORVM, why not for this?! Extra light at night is almost a must.

As to mats, I have some carried forward tough rubber mats in front that were also cheap. I also have a full length cheap but tough plastic material cut to size at the rear that can be hosed down easily. Basically, I don\'t see any sense in equipping this car with anything that isn\'t purely functional.