Kudos to Nikhil and Madus - I am another very satisfied customer!
To begin, though, apologies - my first (and only so far) interaction with Madhu's & Nikhil was on April 19. I have traveled a lot since then and couldn't find time to do a detailed write up. So here goes. Another apology for a long post.
I bought my Linea TJet at the end of July 2013. It was my intention to drive straight to a tyre shop after getting delivery of the car, and to change the stock Goodyear NCT5 tyres to something better. I had shortlisted Continental Premium Contact 2 and Pirelli P7.
Nikhil was out of town, and I couldn't connect properly with his staff, so I got Pirelli P7s at another place. Even the spare was changed to Pirelli since I wanted all 5 to be the same.
Three months later, I hit a concrete slab that was at an elevated level compared to the tarmac. It was night time, there was grass growing in the gap between the slab and the tarmac, making it look like a smooth ramp, and I didn't have much choice with an auto swerving in front of me. The next morning, the tyre had a nice bulge. I swapped it with the spare.
Some time later, I noticed a cut in the sidewall of the front left tyre. This was bad! Was my decision to swap the OEM tyres bad? Was my choice of the new tyres bad - were the Pirellis too soft for Indian roads?
Soon my right rear tyre started losing air. I went to the place I got the tyres and had them look at all the three tyres. They said I could keep the tyre with the bulge as the spare; the front left tyre wasn't leaking air at the sidewall cut (they poured some water on the cut), so it was declared good; and the right rear had a nail in it at the very edge of the tread, quite close to where it transitions into the sidewall. A standard puncture repair was performed, and all was declared well.
I was still worried, though. Since a highway trip was coming up, I decided to seek Nikhil's help. He was driving back to Bangalore when I called him, but was gracious enough to talk with me and give me an appointment. I was Madhu's at 9:15 am Saturday, April 19.
All 5 wheels were taken off the car, and the 3 suspect tyres were taken off the wheels for thorough inspection.
The tyre with the bulge was inspected from inside, and Nikhil made me feel how soft the sidewall at that place was. In the undamaged areas, the inside of the sidewall was very hard and couldn't be pushed with one's finger. He declared that tyre unsafe; it could burst at any time without warning. I agreed immediately with him that we should replace it. Nikhil was impressed that the Pirelli had not failed on impact with the concrete slab, and stated that any other brand would have failed on the spot. This reassured me that my choice of the Pirellis was not bad.
The tyre with the sidewall cut was also inspected from inside. There was no damage at all, and after close scrutiny Nikhil declared it to be safe since the "cut" was like a skin wound, very superficial. We decided to make this the spare.
Nikhil was not very happy with the standard puncture repair on the third tyre. His recommendation for a puncture this close to the sidewall would have been to use the mushroom patch. As of now the tyre is running fine, but I will go to Nikhil for even a puncture in the future.
The new tyre (that replaced the one with the bulge) was mounted and balanced, then re-oriented on the wheel to place the heaviest parts of the tyre and wheel on opposite sides to minimize the amount of balancing weights used. This takes time and patience to do, and I have not known any other tyre place to be so meticulous. All wheels were balanced and Road Force matched. Nikhil explained the concept in detail.
A couple of hours later I was on my way. Nikhil spent the entire time with me, explaining what was being done, discussing tyres, etc. I was almost embarrassed, seeing how much of his time I was taking up.
This was a 10/10 experience for me, my concerns addressed, my needs more than met, and most important, complete peace of mind.
As the mods always say, this small contact patch is the only thing keeping us on the road at speed, and you don't want
any compromises on tyre safety.
I am grateful to Nikhil for the time and personal attention he gave me. I am now a committed customer of Nikhil's.
I got back yesterday after driving to Mangalore and the Pirelli's performed wonderfully. Sticky as heck, full control even with throwing the TJet around in Shiradi Ghat.
Thanks Nikhil!
