[alfredenuemann]

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

Have been feeling really restless lately. Need to head out for the annual tiger fix.

Thinking of doing a 1 week trip in Central India - end of May or 1st week of June. Other option is Corbett June 1-4.

Need to get the vehicle in shape before that. Major expenses will be:
1. Windscreen repair
2. Tyre change
3. 70K servicing

I have held off on the brake booster upgrades. Fortuner owners who have been living with the upgraded brakes for a while now - is it worth it, in your opinion?

Nilanjan..I had done the brake upgrade . Got it done through Ravindu Toyota at their Rajaji Nagar service centre. It's been almost a year .The brakes have far more bite now. You should go for it.

[nilanjanray]

The old Dunlops - long in tooth after close to 69kms - have been replaced by the Pirelli Scorpion ATRs.


Source of image: Pirelli website http://www.pirelli.com/tyre/ww/en/su...rpion_atr.html. A jazzed up photo with right angles - somewhat like taking a flattering photo of an actress .

Last week I had inquired with a few dealers, they were offering me 2012 tyres. Today one of the dealers called me up (saying that they got a stock of 2013 Pirellis) and I went there in the evening to replace the tyres.

I had shortlisted Pirelli, Continental and Yoko A/T tyres. Decided on Pirelli since it is supposed to be a road biased A/T tyre without compromising much on off road behaviour. Read in many forums, and looked up shootouts and tests. A couple of test helped me - one done in South Afrca - where the Continentals came second, and one done in Australia, where the Pirellis came in first.

Attaching a few cropped screenshots from one of the test webpages..

Pirelli


Continental


Yokos


Note that these tests don't cover sidewall strength etc. - which are more suited to MT tyres. And I considered the parameters that mattered to me e.g. I wouldn't care much about a tyre's relatively inferior performance on sand.

The Dunlops had just one puncture in the first 60,000 kms - and that too due to a nail. But after that they gave me a lot of trouble. I feel that beyond a certain point there is a drastic drop in durability and performance - it doesn't happen smoothly, but is a steep downward curve. I faced the same issue with my SX4 tyres as well - so 2 data points

I hope that the Pirellis serve me as well as the Dunops. I did shy away from some challenging terrains when on the Dunlops (which are HT tyres) - I hope with A/T tyres I will be able to go on a few of them.

Could buy only 4. Will get the 5th one later once it is available.

Tyres are dated 2313 and 2413. So 1 year old. Good enough I suppose.

[F150]

What is the price of the tyre ? Please post few pictures ? Do Pirelli tyres have warranty support in India ?

Congratulations on the new tyres for the beast.

[nilanjanray]

Originally Posted by F150

What is the price of the tyre ? Please post few pictures ? Do Pirelli tyres have warranty support in India ?

Congratulations on the new tyres for the beast.

Thanks. Tyres cost ~ 14K. Yes, Pirelli provides warranty support.

You might get the tyre even cheaper. I was in a hurry so didn't bargain very hard, since all other places had the old stock.

[nilanjanray]

The Pirellis are holding up quite well, touch wood. No high speed highway runs, but maneuverability doesn't seem to be compromised at < 90kmph speeds. The upcoming 1400km Bangalore - Kanha drive - at high speeds - will tell me how well they perform.

Looking forward to some offroading in Central India again. Lot's of opportunities in the buffer zones, where one can legally go off the road.

When I replaced the windscreen, I had to say goodbye to the Vkool 70% VLT sunfilm that was there on my windscreen. It helped a lot in the Central India trips in summer. I had got used to night driving even with the sunfilm. But now it is off. Differences:
1. Visibility is a little better
2. High beams from the monster trucks and buses affect me more.

So overall, the pros and cons cancel out.

[nilanjanray]

Back from a 3000km trip. The vehicle performed flawlessly. The tyres performed well. But these A/T tyres give me 1km/L less in terms of mileage.

Many many hours spent in an open Gypsy, in the midst of a heat wave and at 45 degrees++. Was worth it.

A couple of shots from the trip:

The gorgeous but dangerous queen of Tadoba Lake


Kanha closeup

[nilanjanray]

So, I come back and see that a nail is embedded in one of the tyres. Doesn't seem to be losing pressure. Do I take it out, and repair the tyre, or let it stay for a while and do it later? Don't feel like putting more holes into a new tyre , but I guess I will have to soon.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

So, I come back and see that a nail is embedded in one of the tyres. Doesn't seem to be losing pressure. Do I take it out, and repair the tyre, or let it stay for a while and do it later? Don't feel like putting more holes into a new tyre , but I guess I will have to soon.

Pull that out. Regular usage may force the nail inside due to pressure on the tread surface.

If you are lucky, there wont be a puncture and if not, just get that puncture fixed.

[nilanjanray]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Pull that out. Regular usage may force the nail inside due to pressure on the tread surface.

If you are lucky, there wont be a puncture and if not, just get that puncture fixed.

It was a small nail. No puncture. Just a small hole.

[Traveller Nayak]

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

So, I come back and see that a nail is embedded in one of the tyres. Doesn't seem to be losing pressure. Do I take it out, and repair the tyre, or let it stay for a while and do it later? Don't feel like putting more holes into a new tyre , but I guess I will have to soon.

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

It was a small nail. No puncture. Just a small hole.

A related question: do you keep a tyre inflator and/or jack? If yes, Which one do you use? I am planning a Leh trip end of August and any guidance here will be of great help. Thanks in advance!

Answer found in previous page for air compressor.

[nilanjanray]

Originally Posted by Traveller Nayak

A related question: do you keep a tyre inflator and/or jack? If yes, Which one do you use? I am planning a Leh trip end of August and any guidance here will be of great help. Thanks in advance!

Answer found in previous page for air compressor.

I have an inflator (not a heavy duty one) and the standard jack. Also a one piece stepney rod. Forget the name of the inflator but it is mentioned a few pages back (typing from mobile).

Yet to test the new inflator...sigh. Used Limi earlier but it packed up on me. Guderian et al use the Limi a lot.

I have changed the Fortuner tyre alone in the dark, so I don't worry too much about geting stuck somewhere. But if it is an ofroad situation e.g. slush then better jacks and inflators will be handy.

[nilanjanray]

The new tyres are more forgiving when going over rough patches. But they do have a significant fuel efficiency penalty - at least 1-1.5km/L.

They proved their worth one night when I had to do a high speed dirt + bad road drive, between 9 pm and 11.30pm (I was taking a 45km short cut through forest roads that are not there in Google Maps, don't ask why I did such a crazy drive). Gravel and lots of potholes. No road at times e.g. when passing over a dry stream. The grip was pretty good, better than the stock Dunlops. I wouldn't have risked that route - at those speeds - if I weren't driving a reliable 4WD vehicle. Didn't meet a single vehicle on long stretches - the road was passing through the buffer of Kanha National Park.

At times, I had to stop, look at Google Maps (to see the general direction, since the trail was not on the map), look at my position using the GPS, check the compass on the Fortuner, and then opt for one of the dirt trails. Dirt trails are very confusing in the night, when lit by the vehicle lights. There is dust swirling, 3-4 different tracks heading in different directions, and not clear tyre marks to highlight the more 'popular/frequently used' trails.

The beast performed as expected. With the new tyres, new windscreen and new battery, it feels like new again. If you ignore the numerous scratches and minor dents outside .

P.S. This is how I arrives at the route: looked at the shortest distance between points A & B. Asked a local jeep driver at Khatia, Kanha whether it were possible to take a short cut - whether any trails existed. And started driving based on his inputs. Saved 80 kms compared to the normal route over tarred roads.

Since Kanha is not elephant country, and the worst (or best) scenario would have been encountering a tiger, I could drive with peace of mind. And typically people are friendly, and crime is less, in and around popular national parks - since most of the folks are dependent on tourism. And it was before the rains - chances of encountering bad mud or unfordable streams were minimal. So the risk was calculated. At least I would like to think so, lol.

Such roadtrips are worth it when you have close encounters with the Panthera kind:

[TorquePeedo]

Nice to see the king of the jungle in your pics. The stock tyres which are coming now are Dunlop AT but you had mentioned that the stock in your car was HT. Have they changed the stock tyres off late? How much is the difference between Dunlop AT and Pirelli AT?

[nilanjanray]

Originally Posted by TorquePeedo

Nice to see the king of the jungle in your pics. The stock tyres which are coming now are Dunlop AT but you had mentioned that the stock in your car was HT. Have they changed the stock tyres off late? How much is the difference between Dunlop AT and Pirelli AT?

Dunlop AT20 is an all season, H/T tyre.

Pirellis are sightly cheaper.

[nilanjanray]

Need some advice here folks.

Today morning I saw that the rear right tyre was completely flat. A shock, since I never had that with the previous Dunlops in the first 50,000kms of running. These tyres have done less than 4000km, and are A/T - supposedly tougher.

Attaching a photo clicked with the mobile. The black mark is from a tape - I had filled up some air, put a tape on top of the puncture and driven to the nearest repair shop.



Is this from a stone impact - a sharp stone ripped into the tyre? Or from something else? Is this normal for an A/T tyre i.e. a freak case, or did this happen because the sidewall is relatively softer? Or can I complain to Pirelli?

Makes me worried. Last night I did drive fast on broken roads, but I do that with the Fortuner always. If this is a freak case, then it is ok. If this means that these tyres are more susceptible to such impacts - compared to even the stock Dunlop AT20s - then I will always have that niggling worry at the back of my mind.

I got the standard repair done e.g. one piece of rubber put inside. I do hope that is sufficient. Some portions of the tyre rubber have peeled back, that is why I am worried.

Is it ok to keep driving as if nothing happened?