So if you recall my opening posts in this thread, I had mentioned about MT tires being little too harsh for road use and my plans on possible upgrades.
Good News! Atlantis has been bought new pair of shoes.
Continental Cross-Contact AT in OEM size, 265/65/R17.
I decided to upgrade the tires since another long drive in Rajasthan is due next week and I was noticing fast wear on my current Maxxis BigHorn 764 MT Tires while driving on tarmac. Now that I have AT tires on my Fortuner, MT tires are going to stay with me for upcoming mountain expeditions (where the toughness of MT tires really shines) and next Monsoons (in hope for mud fun... hehe).
Broadly speaking, I had 4 tires to choose from once I was sure I wanted at least an
All Terrain Tire, not HT ones.
1. Yokohama Geolander AT-S -
Supposedly good rubber from a reputed company, but unfortunately first one to be ruled out of contest. It had mixed reviews on the forum itself. While a few people were quite happy with this tire, most had complaints with its weak sidewalls which are reported too prone to fail at speeds! Manuuj, Harjeev, rhandle and Frankenstein, all reported this issue. Not to mention our dear Sam Kapasi had a terrible blowout on Mumbai-Pune Expressway and his Land Rover was wearing these ones as well. With this much of an mixed bag of reports, I had lowest levels of faith on these tires. No offence to those members who are proudly satisfied with this tire, I myself have Yoko ATS as my current spare wheel (and have gone through a couple of sets of Yokohama A Drives, A Drive R1s and DB Series V550) but I wasn't ready to take these Geolanders as my dependable set of rubber in Fortuner! Ruled Out at first instance!
2. Michelin Latitude Cross -
Michelin LC is one hell of a tire in mixed conditions IMO, specially if your driving conditions are 80 : 20 biased for On : Off-road. Extremely silent on highway, excellent grip and decent off road performance makes this tire one of the best choice for Fortuner owners. Only deterrent was Tejas's post in his Pajero Overlanding thread where he mentioned about V-16's Fortuner (shodded with these Michelins) struggling on grass+mud terrain. Considering my intended usage is 50:50 on/off-road, I had to take this one out as well despite being a very competent product. A particular word about this one -
Michelin LC isn't a proper AT, however its offroad performance is generally very decent, hence it always tends to come up in Fortuner tire upgrade options. 3. Pirelli Scorpion ATR -
Probably one of the best AT tires in India, period. When the tire comes as OEM equipped on a renowned product like Mercedes G500, you know the rubber has to be very good. .anshuman has this on his XUV and we have have seen how much off-road performance he extracts from these Pirellis. If I wasn't going to take my call on Continentals as my final pick, these would have been blindfolded choice!
4. Continental Cross-Contact AT -
My final Pick. These tires have been highly recommended on our Forum by many, including TSK1979, Karan561, Columbus and bhp. Really tough tires, the tread pattern is really aggressive, almost like my current MTs. Well suited to my usage of 50:50 on/off-roading. For overlanding, I anyway have BigHorns with me.
So what do I like about my new tires? Plenty of things, actually. It has been 100+ kms only with these tires and I want the new rubber to set in for at least 500-600 kms. However initial observations are
- Really Silent Rubber - No more Cessna on a runway feeling!
- Excellent Ride Quality - considering Maxxis were a little too harsh due to their stiff sidewalls.
- Light Steering - Atlantis now feels like a SUV, not the truck!
- Better FE - Too early to tell, will confirm with 3-4 back to back tankfuls. However there is no denying that these are lightweight compared to Maxxis and so far I am noticing some improvement in FE.
- Supposedly Amazing Resistance to Aquaplaning - One of the most highlighted feature on their website.
What I don't like: - Habit to pick up small stones - within our first 5 kms of new rubber, we had 2 incidents of small stones being thrown around in wheel well. The tread blocks have very good gap where these stones get stuck and thrown around later at high speeds.
- Toned Down Looks - Maxxis suit Atlantis's character much better.
- No White Letters on Tire Wall in India - Why Continental? These are your premium tires, treat them like ones.
Anyway, I will give detailed feedback later once I put on some miles on these Contis, probably put on in a separate thread. Meanwhile enjoy the pics below.
Had discussed with the dealer (Zig Wheels, on Golf Course Road, Gurgaon) on phone prior to my visit. By the time I reached the dealer, he had pulled out the tires from his warehouse. .anshuman joined me there in a couple of minutes.
My first view when I reached his place.
The Tire Label - Notice
For Europe writing
Tires Made in South Africa, I like that, better than China in my books. lol.
Pretty Fresh Batch too! April/May 2016 = Less than 6 months old.
The boys at Zig Wheels started onto the task pretty quick, taking off all 4 wheels.
BigHorns being taken off from Alloys.
Atlantis on jack support! All wheels taken off.
A visual comparison of Continentals Vs BigHorns. Notice that BigHorns are still taller than Contis, despite being worn out. Reason: They are one size bigger - 265/70/R17 Vs Contis 265/65/R17.
.Anshuman checking on the final fitment and observing some numbers on Tread Wear Rating/ Traction Rating / Temperature Ratings.
Continentals have above mentioned ratings at
660 (suggesting very long life tread life, Michelin LC has 330 BTW), '
A' (Second Best Rating for traction in wet conditions) and
'B' (in the middle rating for heat dissipation) respectively.
More can be read here about these numbers in case you wanna check yours
Like I said, need to run in the tires first and once I have close to 1000 kms, I will update my opinion on them. Stay Tuned for that.