[airbus]

Last year around this time I was driving to Assam from Bengaluru. In Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, TPMS alerted for high tyre temperature multiple times. I set temperature threshold of 55 degree Celsius, pressure thresholds of 32 psi (low) and 42 psi (high). Recommended cold air pressure is 35 psi, which reached up to 41 psi at times. My 215/75 R15 Ceat Czar HT tyres were brand new then filled with nitrogen. I maintained 80 kmph and things returned to normal in about 10 minutes. Maximum tyre temperature seen was 57 degree Celsius. I was prepared to stop if tyre temperature reaches 60 degree Celsius.

I am inclined to believe that during early morning hours, high temperature should not be cause of these tyre bursts. As fellow members pointed out, low profile might have resulted in some not so good physical contacts previously making some portions weak and gave up during this long drive.

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Please DO NOT check or adjust tire pressures on a hot tire!
. . .
By deflating a hot tire to cold recommended pressure, you're 'under-inflating' the tire, a safety hazard.

I agree. Safer option may be just to take some cold water and pour on the wheel

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Please DO NOT check or adjust tire pressures on a hot tire!

All recommended pressures (in the user manual or the label on the car) are for cold inflation, and a hotter tire naturally reaches a higher pressure while running. By deflating a hot tire to cold recommended pressure, you're 'under-inflating' the tire, a safety hazard.

Originally Posted by airbus

Last year around this time I was driving to Assam from Bengaluru. In Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh,

This is why it is important to fill up nitrogen instead of plain air. Nitrogen filled tires run cooler, and difference between hot and cold pressure is usually not more than a couple of psi.

It is also a fact that any mechanical issue with the car, be it improper alignment or balancing being off, or pre existing bubble in sidewall or any suspension issue or worn wheel bearing, they will exponentially add to the heat buildup. As it is, mass market tires are barely up to the task for running for hours at three digit speeds continuously on concrete in peak summer.

With world class roads and world class cruising speeds + Indian summer heat, a revised minimum standard of automobile is required. Tires are a critical part of that.

[MyLife_MyCar]

Originally Posted by condor

Looks like Samruddhi Mahamarg is a happening place for tyre bursts:

https://www.msn.com/en-in/autos/news...3923ccad&ei=15

Quoting from above article:

“Anyone traveling via samruddhi highway kindly check tyre pressure and fill it with nitrogen air. As there are a lot of accidents due to tyre blast. I face the same. And there are no facilities nor any help line and emergency number. My vehicles both rear tyres burst one by one in some duration. Lucky got help from roadside farmers.” (SIC). It is said that filling car tyres with nitrogen greatly reduces the chances of them bursting.

“Hope soon officials will take measures to reduce accidents on Samruddhi Highway due to tyre bursting as the summer is coming. Maybe an advisory to check the tyre pressure before joining the highway and to fill up Nitrogen in tyres. Care for everyone.”

As far as I know, nitrogen air is not easily available at Petrol Pumps. Only a few big petrol pumps have it in cities. Never seen any on the highways yet.
Also, nitrogen is not free of cost. This is what I have seen in Delhi where it is Rs.10 per tyre for top-up and Rs.25 per tyre for a complete replacement of normal air with nitrogen. However, the price is nothing compared to safety benefits it provides.

But, building up a concrete highway and then asking travelers to fill up their tyres with nitrogen feels very "Apple"ish - now that you have new iPhone, pls pay separately for the power adapter.

Isn't this a blunder from the authorities? Building a world class highway with fanfare, without duly considering the safety aspects. I never liked concrete roads. It's not as smooth as a tar road and also very loud (tyre noise can be heard inside the cabin). Though tar roads need frequent maintenance, I always prefer it over concrete roads.

[tharian]

Originally Posted by MyLife_MyCar

Quoting from above article:



As far as I know, nitrogen air is not easily available at Petrol Pumps. Only a few big petrol pumps have it in cities. Never seen any on the highways yet.
Also, nitrogen is not free of cost. This is what I have seen in Delhi where it is Rs.10 per tyre for top-up and Rs.25 per tyre for a complete replacement of normal air with nitrogen. However, the price is nothing compared to safety benefits it provides.

But, building up a concrete highway and then asking travelers to fill up their tyres with nitrogen feels very "Apple"ish - now that you have new iPhone, pls pay separately for the power adapter.

Isn't this a blunder from the authorities? Building a world class highway with fanfare, without duly considering the safety aspects. I never liked concrete roads. It's not as smooth as a tar road and also very loud (tyre noise can be heard inside the cabin). Though tar roads need frequent maintenance, I always prefer it over concrete roads.

I don't think filling nitrogen is the solution. Nitrogen we get in the bunks are not the ones used in performance/racing tyres and mainly consists of air itself.
The main point to look at is the age, wear/tear and the manufacturer recommended tyre pressures all around. Tyres are one of the least looked upon part of a car for the general public. Maybe because it is expensive to replace or maybe because they think it needs to be used till it is completely bald. Add to this, overloading and over-speeding for long stretches which our cars are not normally not used to, this is bound to happen.

[Chetan_Rao]

Wheel & tire condition, improper inflation (low or high) and low-quality stock tires in the budget segments are far bigger culprits than the composition of air inside the rubber.

On our Verna review run on the new Delhi-Bombay expressway earlier in the week, we saw plenty of cars whiz past us at unmentionable speeds on wheels/tires that were a matter of when, not if, they'll give way.

[tazmaan]

My feeling is the low profile tyre along with poor quality OEM Tyre.

The Tyre's might have been damaged (Not visibly) over previous usage and must have developed a weak spot not enough to notice under normal usage. But on the express highway with continued stress of high speed the weak spot gave up.

This is just an assumption.

[GeeTee TSI]

Insightful account and the first thing which struck me was the impressive support from MG - situation could not have been worse, early morning & middle of nowhere (read Samruddhi express highway).

Does OE installed tyre pressure warning system (not the full blown TPMS) also warn of high pressure? Is there even a threshold for high pressure (unlike low) because quite understandably pressure and temperature can get high on a tyre.

With tubeless OE tyres coupled with TPMS on a modern car, the prospect of a tyre burst still is quite unnerving

[tj123]

After going through this discussion, it appears to me that the Hector's OEM tyres either have a quality issue or were running below the recommended pressure. If the pressure is too low, the sidewalls of the tires can flex excessively at high speeds on highways, causing heat build-up and potentially leading to a blowout.

Personally, I aim to keep my tire pressure a couple of PSI higher than the recommended level to ensure safety on highways.

I believe that everyone should read the article titled "You Should Never Let Your Tires Get Low" on Car & Driver.

[FiatDiesel]

Car was surveyed yesterday and 1 rim (rear one) and two tyres were approved for replacement by insurance. On further investigation front rim was not found to be damaged hence was not approved for replacement.

Car has been fitted with new tyres and rim. Tyres are Continental however no upsizing.

Once insurance claim billing is settled which should happen hopefully by tomorrow, planning to get the car back from Nagpur on Saturday via Samriddhi expressway.

Originally Posted by MyLife_MyCar

@FiatDiesel, glad that you and your family are safe and car also survived the situation without any damage (except for the rims).

Thanks MyLife_MyCar, yes we were lucky that bursts didn't cause any untoward accident. Just a minute before burst I was at 115+ KM/hr so I count my blessings that I had slowed down for a random reason.

I see mixed set of reasons with primary being low profile tyre as a cause of burst. Obviously this new expressway seem to catalyzed the situations leading to burst.

Originally Posted by shancz

I would bank more on the low profile which caused this over the other slightly lesser significant but also valid reasons.

I agree with you Shancz and this is what is pointed out by Shreyans also. Surprisingly my TPMS didn't gave any warning before the burst. My car tyres have gone through innumerable bumps and potholes in my trips and may be that could have weaken them over the thousands of KM's. I was doing constant 115+ KM/hr for last 150 KM's on expressway on the day of burst. And I did constant 119 KM/hr while going up north to Varanasi 6 days before for most of 540 KMs stretch of Samriddhi between Shirdi & Nagpur.

With total 3 bursts, and with all inputs, little more wiser now.

Originally Posted by airbus

Last year around this time I was driving to Assam from Bengaluru. In Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, TPMS alerted for high tyre temperature multiple times. I set temperature threshold of 55 degree Celsius, pressure thresholds of 32 psi (low) and 42 psi (high). Recommended cold air pressure is 35 psi, which reached up to 41 psi at times. My 215/75 R15 Ceat Czar HT tyres were brand new then filled with nitrogen. I maintained 80 kmph and things returned to normal in about 10 minutes. Maximum tyre temperature seen was 57 degree Celsius. I was prepared to stop if tyre temperature reaches 60 degree Celsius.

Hi airbus, that's what my plan is, to get sprinkler system installed around tyres.

Jokes apart, yes keeping close eye on TPMS will be the norm now to modulate the drive accordingly.

Originally Posted by MyLife_MyCar

Quoting from above article:

As far as I know, nitrogen air is not easily available at Petrol Pumps. Only a few big petrol pumps have it in cities. Never seen any on the highways yet.

I wonder what will happen when 1200 KM stretch of Mumbai Delhi expressway will open. As you rightly said the associated infrastructure needs to be planned in right way to address such situations.

While we were stranded for 4 hours on expressway, there was no highway patrol which get passed us on either ramp. Glad we had mobile network so that we could get support else it would have been different story.

[tj123]

Originally Posted by FiatDiesel

Surprisingly my TPMS didn't gave any warning before the burst.

As per this article "A TPMS warns the driver when tires are low on air, but this warning isn't issued until a tire's air pressure is 25 percent below the automaker's recommended pounds per square inch.' So in short dont wait till the TPMS sounds its warning, it may be too late by then.

Source

[shancz]

Originally Posted by FiatDiesel

- Surprisingly my TPMS didn't gave any warning before the burst.
- I was doing constant 115+ KM/hr for last 150 KM's on expressway on the day of burst.

- Assuming it was too sudden for the TPMS to give out any warnings. So a tyre failure is what we're left with.
- This would've meant the tyres were running hot(as expected) with increased pressure which at some point lead to the failure.

My takeaways from your unfortunate experience is :
- Low profile tyres don't work in our regular highway usage, erring on the side of caution is the wiser option over looks.
- Stay away from Goodyear.
- RSA works

Wishing you better luck and magnificent drives from the Continentals. Might think of replacing the remaining tyres to the same type if not already done.

[FiatDiesel]

Originally Posted by GeeTee TSI

Insightful account and the first thing which struck me was the impressive support from MG - situation could not have been worse, early morning & middle of nowhere (read Samruddhi express highway).

Does OE installed tyre pressure warning system (not the full blown TPMS) also warn of high pressure? Is there even a threshold for high pressure (unlike low) because quite understandably pressure and temperature can get high on a tyre.

With tubeless OE tyres coupled with TPMS on a modern car, the prospect of a tyre burst still is quite unnerving

GeeTee, yes though we should not get into situation of RSA however MG RSA has been good the two times I used their services.

The flatbed truck guy had a comment while handing over the job card to me at 9:30 AM that it seems order to them(vendor) came very fast as I got the service too quick given the incident happened only at 5:30 AM as otherwise normally on an average it would have been 2 PM.

OE installed TPMS does gives warning on low pressure, that's how I got to know the front tyre losing air. I have seen high tyre pressure upto 45 at times while driving but during this trip when I was entering Samriddhi I remember TPMS showing me around 39 PSI on an avg across tyres and temperature around 35 degree. I have never received high pressure warnings from TPMS.

Originally Posted by tj123

After going through this discussion, it appears to me that the Hector's OEM tyres either have a quality issue or were running below the recommended pressure. If the pressure is too low, the sidewalls of the tires can flex excessively at high speeds on highways, causing heat build-up and potentially leading to a blowout.

Personally, I aim to keep my tire pressure a couple of PSI higher than the recommended level to ensure safety on highways.

I believe that everyone should read the article titled "You Should Never Let Your Tires Get Low" on Car & Driver.

Hi tj123, Goodyear is not good. I don't know why OEM's keep using this brand. I agree low tyre pressure are in general one of the causes of the burst. Normally I am very vigilant about the overall health of my car and specially before trips. I keep check on cold pressure of tyres always and it was 34 PSI which is recommended pressure from MG.

Originally Posted by shancz

- Assuming it was too sudden for the TPMS to give out any warnings. So a tyre failure is what we're left with.
- This would've meant the tyres were running hot(as expected) with increased pressure which at some point lead to the failure.

My takeaways from your unfortunate experience is :
- Low profile tyres don't work in our regular highway usage, erring on the side of caution is the wiser option over looks.
- Stay away from Goodyear.
- RSA works

Wishing you better luck and magnificent drives from the Continentals. Might think of replacing the remaining tyres to the same type if not already done.

Thank you shancz for your wishes. You nailed it with three points. While nothing much can be done with low profile tyres while car is in warranty however being careful with them on highways is way forward.
Two tyres are already changed, the remaining two I will change in Pune once car is back.

Other key observation from the last two episodes of getting stranded in remote areas is to have good RSA which is responsive, understands the urgency and includes cashless services. A person stranded with family in middle of nowhere is already in stressful situation, if help is provided in timely seamless structured fashion, goes long way in reaffirming the trust in org.

The taxi driver who took us to Pune has this query to me that why I have not paid anything to flatbed driver while handing over the keys & why he is being paid by company and not me for trip over 600 KMs? I explained him the MG Shield for 5 years I have with the car. His very next question was do they also have cheaper MUV's for taxi's?

[supermax]

What was the speed rating on the tires? There's probably no legislation in India that checks for speed rating compliance, but in Europe, it's strictly enforced. If a car has a top speed of 180+ km, it has to have a minimum speed rating of 'T' or above. Tires like W, Y, etc are for supercars and high end sports cars, but T is pretty much the default tire on most passenger cars in the EU. If a car exceeds the rated speed for a tire, the tire begins to get delaminated, and under stress, it can simply fail. Check the images below to see where a tire's speed rating can be found, and what the letters mean.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by FiatDiesel

Surprisingly my TPMS didn't gave any warning before the burst. My car tyres have gone through innumerable bumps and potholes in my trips and may be that could have weaken them over the thousands of KM's. I was doing constant 115+ KM/hr for last 150 KM's on expressway on the day of burst. And I did constant 119 KM/hr while going up north to Varanasi 6 days before for most of 540 KMs stretch of Samriddhi between Shirdi & Nagpur.

With total 3 bursts, and with all inputs, little more wiser now.

I do not think there is anything wrong with the tyres as such, they may not last beyond 40K as is the case with most OEM tyres these days.

215/55/R18 would need some careful driving over rough patches, there is not much we can do about it. It would certainly help to maintain exact cold air pressure by using something like a digital tyre inflator at home.

It is quite common to see tyre related problems on newly opened highways, no tree cover, hot surface temperatures and relatively higher speeds, all contribute to such things.

[88_TANK_88]

Originally Posted by supermax

What was the speed rating on the tires? There's probably no legislation in India that checks for speed rating compliance, but in Europe, it's strictly enforced. If a car has a top speed of 180+ km, it has to have a minimum speed rating of 'T' or above. Tires like W, Y, etc are for supercars and high end sports cars, but T is pretty much the default tire on most passenger cars in the EU. If a car exceeds the rated speed for a tire, the tire begins to get delaminated, and under stress, it can simply fail. Check the images below to see where a tire's speed rating can be found, and what the letters mean.

Attachment 2435137

Attachment 2435138

This is the reason I always opt for H or T(only for Ritz which is more or less a city bound car) rated tyres for all our cars. Just to be sure that even the top speeds of my car stay well within the speed ratings.