[ysak]

Originally Posted by vivekgk

At the moment, 8 lacs is the maximum I can afford to spend on a car. I know the LDi is barebones, and that the Baleno Delta diesel at the same price, or any other small sedan/premium hatch in the same price range is probably more VFM, but I do want the SUV looks and the higher driving position. The waiting period is actually a blessing in disguise, as it will give me time to think. I'm considering booking both the Baleno and the Brezza now and making a decision after the car is alloted. AFAIK, the booking amount is refundable.

Yes, the booking amount is fully refundable. BTW, if you are looking to get either of these,then why waste time. book brezza ASAP to save some days in waiting.i guess Ldi has the least waiting period.

[Switch]

ZDi is the most VFM product amongst all...

[BoneCollector]

A quick question to all owners, do you find the headlights to be adequate for poorly lit highways? I drove through heavy rains yesterday and I found them to be not at par to my liking. My Wagon R has a 100/90W Hella setup with wiring relay and thats great for highway runs. Brezza was no match, same confirmed by my Dad who was in passenger seat and is an experienced driver for last 40 plus years.

[vivekgk]

Originally Posted by BoneCollector

A quick question to all owners, do you find the headlights to be adequate for poorly lit highways? I drove through heavy rains yesterday and I found them to be not at par to my liking. My Wagon R has a 100/90W Hella setup with wiring relay and thats great for highway runs. Brezza was no match, same confirmed by my Dad who was in passenger seat and is an experienced driver for last 40 plus years.

Unlike the WagonR which has H4 headlight bulbs with dual filament for H/L beam, the Vitara has separate bulbs for h/l beam, and probably has both high and low beams on when high beam is selected. While upgrading such a setup, it'll cost more to upgrade the wiring, as two kits will be needed. I faced the same issue in my Indigo which has the same dual beam setup. If you do the wiring and upgrade to 100w, you'll end up replacing four bulbs instead of two, and the setup will draw 400w+ when high beam is on.

A better and possibly cheaper option overall would be to go for HID setup for the low beam projector (if you have ZDi), or replace all the bulbs with high output bulbs like the Osram Nightbreakers or Philips Extremevision. Of the two, I've found Osrams to be supremely reliable and noticeably brighter. This has the additional advantage of not messing around with the original wiring, or adding new clamps and wiring to the battery and engine area.

BTW, is it advisable to downsize from the existing 205/60R16 tyres on the Ldi, to 215/70R15 or 235/60R15? I think SUVs look better with thicker higher profile rubber. Would this affect the handling and ride adversely?

[ysak]

:

Originally Posted by vivekgk

BTW, is it advisable to downsize from the existing 205/60R16 tyres on the Ldi, to 215/70R15 or 235/60R15? I think SUVs look better with thicker higher profile rubber. Would this affect the handling and ride adversely?

I dont think downsizing is a better option. and BTW,why dont you upsize it to get the same look?

[vivekgk]

Originally Posted by ysak

:

I dont think downsizing is a better option. and BTW,why dont you upsize it to get the same look?

If I upsize, it, for the same look, I'll need higher profile tyres, which will change the overall gearing and cause speedo error and suspension clearance issues (possibly). But, going down a rim size would allow me to retain the same overall tyre diameter, with a higher profile tyre. Theoretically, this should also improve the ride quality.

[Sree73]

Originally Posted by vivekgk

BTW, is it advisable to downsize from the existing 205/60R16 tyres on the Ldi, to 215/70R15 or 235/60R15? I think SUVs look better with thicker higher profile rubber. Would this affect the handling and ride adversely?

235 profile tyre for Brezza . Are you serious or just kidding?
205 is actually more than sufficient for the size of this car. Even the 215 profile on the top versions are slightly overdone.

Also, if you use 215/70R15, there will be an overall dia increase of ~5% and the same Speedo error.

[vivekgk]

Originally Posted by Sree73

235 profile tyre for Brezza . Are you serious or just kidding?
205 is actually more than sufficient for the size of this car. Even the 215 profile on the top versions are slightly overdone.

Also, if you use 215/70R15, there will be an overall dia increase of ~5% and the same Speedo error.

Well, I don't need 185 width for my Indigo either. It does absolutely fine on the stock 175s. I just wanted some because they looked better, and I was willing to make the tradeoff in FE for the additional grip and possibly longer life.

The 205/60 looks slightly undertyred on the Brezza. The 215 on the ZDi and above look about right as it's taller. There's already a 2% difference between the LDi/VDi and ZDi, which is very weird. Does this mean that the speedo calibration is different across variants? With the Swift, 165/80R14 on the LDi/VDi was 3% taller than the 185/60R15 on the ZDi.

Compared to the 215/60R16 on the ZDi, the 215/70R15 is only 3% taller. And the 235/60R15 is a mere 0.4% smaller.
Below is a pic of a 235/60R15 tyre on 15x7J wheels. This is the look I'm going for. Complete with the wide lipped wheels. Though I prefer 16 spokes or more.

The front on this car is 235/60R15 on 15x7J and the rear is 255/60R15 on 15x8J wheels.

[ysak]

Originally Posted by vivekgk

Compared to the 215/60R16 on the ZDi, the 215/70R15 is only 3% taller. And the 235/60R15 is a mere 0.4% smaller.
Below is a pic of a 235/60R15 tyre on 15x7J wheels. This is the look I'm going for. Complete with the wide lipped wheels. Though I prefer 16 spokes or more.

To look like above you need spacers i guess.

But im asking what Sree73 asked, 'Are you serious or just kidding?'

[Sree73]

Originally Posted by vivekgk

Well, I don't need 185 width for my Indigo either. It does absolutely fine on the stock 175s. I just wanted some because they looked better, and I was willing to make the tradeoff in FE for the additional grip and possibly longer life.

Compared to the 215/60R16 on the ZDi, the 215/70R15 is only 3% taller. And the 235/60R15 is a mere 0.4% smaller.

Additional grip just by using wider tyres is a myth if you don't have a higher coefficient of friction in the wider tyre.
Please refer the below link for details.
http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible_pg3.html

If your upgrade is not into a softer compound compared to the stock tyres, you may not be getting any substantial increase in grip by a wider tyre.

If you use 215/70R15, the overall diameter goes up by 30mm compared to 205/60R16 (this is the stock in lower versions of Brezza) and this will result in around 5% speedo error which is not advisable.

[vivekgk]

Originally Posted by Sree73

Additional grip just by using wider tyres...If you use 215/70R15, the overall diameter goes up by 30mm compared to 205/60R16 (this is the stock in lower versions of Brezza) and this will result in around 5% speedo error which is not advisable.

Originally Posted by ysak

To look like above you need spacers i guess.

But im asking what Sree73 asked, 'Are you serious or just kidding?'

Thanks for all the info guys!! I admit I hadn't done that much research into it, and was thinking in simpler terms. I'll have to give this a bit more thought.

Do you think that the LDi/VDi that comes with different dia tyres have differently calibrated speedometers than the ZDi? I don't think so. I think that the error of 2% somehow falls within the "accepted margin", and is left unaddressed.

I'm more concerned about the handling being affected rather than speedo error.

@ysak: I meant the look of the tyres, not the offset. I like the look of thicker sidewalls on an SUV, the old-school look.

[deetjohn]

Originally Posted by vivekgk

Do you think that the LDi/VDi that comes with different dia tyres have differently calibrated speedometers than the ZDi? I don't think so. I think that the error of 2% somehow falls within the "accepted margin", and is left unaddressed.

The difference in circumference between the two tyres is 1.84%. So, as you said its within the accepted margins. I don't think the calibration will be different between the variants on account of this.

The same error (+/-) can be found if someone is running high/ low pressure on the tyres or due to the natural wear of tread.

[C'estlavie]

Originally Posted by vivekgk

............The price of the LDi(O) here in Trivandrum is about 8.3 lacs OTR. The next variant with ABS/Airbags comes at 9.2 lacs OTR. Is the extra lakh worth it? Amazingly, the ZDi that comes almost fully loaded with all essentials, is only 70k more than the VDi(o). IMO, there isn't enough in the VDi(o) variant to make it worth the extra lakh. Am I right, or is there something I'm missing here? Your thoughts on this are welcome.

The difference between VDi (O) and LDi (O) in Delhi was around Rs 70k, for what its worth.

However, before I start, a key factor that influenced my purchase decision was that I was paying cash down, ie no loan. So even a price differential of 70k was a considerable amount to me.

Now to the rest of my reasoning. IMO what car you choose is all about tradeoffs, and what you are absolutely not willing to give up. That is how it works for me, but obviously other people may think differently.

Key security features were common to both models (airbags, ABS, EBD, BA). However, I was completely unwilling to give up the following features present in VDi(o) but not in LDi(o)

- Power windows - front and rear,
- Remote lock
- Speed sensing door lock
- roof rails

There were other added on features, but these three were my absolute must haves. Were they worth Rs 70k? To me they were. To many people they won't be. But I somehow could not stand the idea of having an 8-9lakh car without power windows or a remote lock.

Now let's up the comparison to Zdi. These are the 'larger' (am not listing all) features that a ZDi has that are not present in VDi(o). Price difference is Rs 70k.

- Automatic climate control versus manual ac
- Driver seat height adjustment
-Rear seat armrest
-Rear seat 60:40 split
-Rear defogger
-Rear wiper
-Bunch of instrumentation and entertainment options

Except for the rear seat armrest, I'm ok not having any of the above. Were they worth and additional Rs 70k cash down to me? Nope. To someone else they would be absolutely worth it.

All the above is based on the fact that I paid cash down- however it is possible that if I were taking a loan I'd likely purchase the ZDi! Over a 5-6 year purchase, Rs 70k isn't much. But then if I were taking a loan why not buy the top end model, ZDi+ and be done with it? A further Rs 1 lakh isn't all that much either over a 5-6 year loan window.

The arguments are endless. In the end it's all about what works for you and your situation.

[romeomidhun]

Originally Posted by vivekgk

This is the look I'm going for. Complete with the wide lipped wheels.

Request you to take extra caution while doing such kind of upgrades. Brezza don't have bulging wheel arches. Tyres bulging out of the body will be awkward to look at, and dangerous at times too.

IMO, the stock tyres in top end Brezza are good enough. Bigger ones will be an over-kill a it is a sub-4m car.

Image sources: Zigwheels, EvoIndia.

[vivekgk]

Originally Posted by C'estlavie

The difference between VDi (O) and LDi (O) in Delhi was around Rs 70k, for what its worth....The arguments are endless. In the end it's all about what works for you and your situation.

Thank you for the detailed response. After looking through the Specs sheet, I didn't think that the extra stuff on the VDi was worth the extra 90K difference in OTR price (Tvm). The ZDi though is great value at 1.6 lacs over the LDi. Anyway, I have booked the LDi, because that was my maxed out budget. I'll just have enough left over for alloys and basics like rear PW, ICE, security system and some stickering work (on the pillars).

@romeomidhun: The tyres on the base model look rather weedy compared to the ones on the ZDi. Anyway, I have time to decide, the waiting perios is long enough to look at the various mods done and make a decision.