[abhi1309]

Okay everyone, here is what is going on.

I had been wrecking my brains out for what tires to shod my Fiesta with for over a month now. I had already thought about the GoodYear Eagle F1 GSD-2 but they are out of production now and have even vanished from the Indian website. GSD-3 were not available for my 14 inch alloys. I cannot upgrade to the 15 inch rims because of two reasons. I do not have the money and also I do not want to loose out on the ride quality (this reason makes me forget the first one). I am pretty much done with Potenzas since I already have them in my Matiz and dont want to see any more of the confused lines on them, though they are very good tyres. I was discouraged from Maxxis everytime I mentioned or talked about them in any discussion with my friends or the dealer himself, probably because he did not sell them.

I heard excellent reviews on Michelin tyres but I was bent on getting some V patternish tyre only. I just love the V grooves and the looks of the car is of utmost importance. Braking is second, only because after putting 195/60-R14, it is anyway going to improve. One of the bhpians suggested the Yokohama ES-100. I did not take the comment seriously until I looked at the tire on an international site. Yoko does not have an Indian site can you believe it. Here is a snap I hunted through google images. It definitely looks amazing in the snap since it ios a very low profile one, which is not the case in my car. Nevertheless, it is a good looker.

And here is my car which will be upgraded. It runs on factory fitted MRF's ZVTS 175's now.

Finally I placed an order at Tyrepoint, Wanowrie, Pune and he promised me delivery by Friday. I have been waiting all these days for Friday which went off without a call from him. So I gave in to the desperation and called him in the morning. He said, they are expected today afternoon and cited some octroi reasons. Anyway, my desperation dictates me to believe him and wait for a couple of more hours for the afternoon to come. I am rushing to him as soon as I get the call that they have arrived. I will post the pictures of the whole process and before and after et al.

[akshay4587]

need to keep an eye here since i am also thinking of these
How much is it going to cost you for a tyre?

[danlalan]

I bought my Es-100's in May. Done about 300kms on them till now. They are awesome. Amazing levels of grip. Only i forgot to check the MGF date on the tires and they were around 6months old.
Ive heard that tires with a longer shelf life can tend to become hard and thats not good.
Also i think es-100's production has stopped since some time now.

Bought mine in Mumbai for 2800 per tire.

[abhi1309]

akshay4587, he is quoting about Rs3500 per tire. Based on danlalan's post above, looks like I am getting a bad deal. I am still waiting for his call.

danlalan, how do you know the production is stopped? If that is indeed correct, I will have a bad time sourcing a single tire, if one gets damaged or something..

[rjstyles69]

AFAIK the ES 100's were out of production quite some time back. So you might prolly wanna check the dates on the tires before you pick 'em up.

[abhi1309]

The upgrade is done people. I'll put up the pics tomorrow. Today it was raining here and the car is dirty enough to be not looked at. I'll click some in the morning and hopefully it is sunny and warm. The tire is in production my dealer said, well I don't have any reason to believe him since he is just a delaer, but when I see so many american websites still having ES-100 in stock and selling them online, in all sizes I wonder why everyone is saying they are done for. They are even there in the latest Indian dealer pamphlet of Yokohama.

Anyway, I have some good feedback and bad, which I'll share in detail tomorrow along with the pics. By the way, the tyre looks wild from every angle and V grooves are so beautiful aah, I have never been so happy with the looks of my car. And then I even wonder I should have got 205's since there is still so much space available. Rest tomorrow ...too sloshed now <hic> And will include the M factor as well.

[itwasntme]

2.8k sounds like a very good deal. I bought my ES100s (195/60/14) for 3.3k each. Excellent tyres with very good grip and reduces body roll. Ride is harsher though and a tad noisy!

Overall, VFM compared to Michelins which are usually 4k each.

[abhi1309]

Here are the final snaps of the operation:

They cost me Rs 3500 for each and the dealer gave me 250 off per tire for the old MRF ZVTS 175's which had done more than 19K (thats how much my car has done). Total amount paid was Rs. 13768 including the wheel balancing and 2.5 % on card

Here is a snap of the tires when they arrived at the dealers'.

and

Changes that I immediately noticed:

1. I don't know why people mentioned that they provide a harsher ride. I heard them and was completely prepared for the harded ride that they will give after the MRF ZVTS. Guess what, they are atleast 3 times silent and quite on the pot holes.

I have been driving on new rubber since Saturday, the car feels totally silent with no road/rubber noise and the road irregularities are dismissed with a musshed thud and are rarely felt in the cabin. The MRF's were pathetic. Now the car feels like its floating all the time. Perfect.

2. Steering has become harder by about 10%, not very noticable.

3. There is enough gap in the tyres. I mean I was so confident when I looked at the alloy fitted with the rubber, that we didnot even raise the car over the pit and checked if it was touching around anywhere on fully turning the steering wheel. Fitted all 4 wheels and it looked perfect. Now I thknk I could have safely put 205's huh.

4. Yokohama is good VFM, for a lot less than Potenza and any Michelin which all were 500 buck more per piece. They are the best deal I believe for anyone who wants V grooves after the sad demise of the Eagles F1 GSD-2 because of which I will always have a grudge against Goodyear, forever.

5. Thanks to Karkrazy for pointing out this model for me, I almost missed it when I was zeroing down on the models/patterns. This was an instant choice.

6. They are made in Japan tires. I have not yet checked on the date of manufacture but I will maybe today.

Here is the car being done up.

This is the final product, I clicked these today morning. The roads were the wettest on the day I got them fitted and not good for car fashion show...The rest of the pics too. They were taken in a hurry since wife was on her way downstairs and she does not know about the upgrade, nor did she notice and probable never will. Good for me

The car now looks complete to me. Nothing much left to be installed, already have the ICE sorted out with sub and amp. A video setup is still a possibility, though distant.

[HappyWheels]

Abhi,

Nice review about your experience with the new rubber!

The vehicle looks beautiful with those tyres. I would say, with the 2paise that I know, these are the ideal size and 205's would have caused steering and shock absorbers issues.

Originally Posted by abhi1309

... They were taken in a hurry since wife was on her way downstairs and she does not know about the upgrade, nor did she notice and probable never will. Good for me ...

Amen! All the best mate!

But, are you sure that she did not notice? Maybe she is just waiting for you to tell her!

[itwasntme]

Looks good Abhi1309!

In terms of harshness, I changed from Goodyear Eagles (soft but not very grippy and prone to body-rolls) to my ES100s and that's probably why I found it harsh. Your ZVTS were probably overly harsh themselves!

That is why you found the ES100s quieter :-)

[abhi1309]

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

Abhi,
But, are you sure that she did not notice? Maybe she is just waiting for you to tell her!

She has just learnt to tell alloys from wheel caps, I am damn sure my tires won't get noticed

[balenopower]

Welcome to the ES-100 family .Im running the exact same tyres too

[abhi1309]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Looks good Abhi1309!

In terms of harshness, I changed from Goodyear Eagles (soft but not very grippy and prone to body-rolls) to my ES100s and that's probably why I found it harsh. Your ZVTS were probably overly harsh themselves!

That is why you found the ES100s quieter :-)

I think you are right, I was just assuming that ZVTS was a comfortable tire, but then that is what they advertise on TV. MRF ZVTS - The comfortable tire

We shouldn't really compare MRF to Yokohama, no matter what the specs are.

[mobike008]

Good selection, even i am a lover of the V pattern on the tyres. I am also desperately waiting for my tyres to finish its life to get new ones.

Only mine would be more expensive proposition as need to change the alloys too since it will be a 13" to 14" upgrade

I am thinking of Yoko S-Drives. How are they?

Btw, 19K kms and change of tyres? I have done 30K on my Bridgestone S322's and they are still quite good with lots of thread still in.

[abhi1309]

Originally Posted by balenopower

Welcome to the ES-100 family .Im running the exact same tyres too

Yeah saw your garage... these tires look good. btw, that is one immaculate Baleno... headlamps look awesome.