[vikram31]

Mod team note: Please avoid Quoting entire large post for short replies. Thanks.

Originally Posted by tharian

You were lucky in many ways. That there were no vehicles on either side of you or in front and most lucky that the tires did not grip enough when sliding side ways and topple.
===========
Maybe, if your car was loaded with 4, it may not have drifted . My tires were new and run less than 10k then, so there are many factors.
But yes in your case, you do need to change your rear tires.
Drive Safe

Regards

Wow, certainly less freaked out now that I know someone's been in the same situation. The tyre change is mandatory as I see in the other posts but will be careful. period. Just feel really lucky right now honestly but I dont want to push my luck!

[brraj]

Originally Posted by vikram31

Hi brraj, I am happy to loog at 10 mm increase if that improves comfort and stability. Any idea in %age terms how that impacts mileage ?

If ABS can be retrofitted by maruti that should be good option. I have heard the same option from Hyundai aswell, for santro cost was 25k.

If you increase the tyre width your Pickup and Mileage will be affected but that is negligible amount compared to your life.

[pjbiju]

Originally Posted by bblost

If I understand them correctly.
EBD helps stabilize the front and rear bias during heavy braking.

ABS helps in the left and right bias.

I think ABS only makes sure that none of the tyres gets locked up during braking. This ensures that you can brake hard and still steer and you will not drift as a result of wheel/tyre locking up. In a sense it helps in the left & right bias because it stops the vehicle from drifting to the left or right. EBD works on top of/along with ABS to distribute the braking forces between the tyres more efficiently. I guess someone will be able to shed more light on EBD.

[premc44]

Originally Posted by brraj

For peace of mind change your car which has ABS+EBD or even better if it had ESP.

I have told n number of times to my relatives, friends to go for safety features like ABS,EBD,ESP and which has Airbags. One and only answer i get in return is "I am not a racer like you".

How true, people are reluctant to spend that extra on ABS, EBD or Airbags, the same guys will go and spend thousands of rupees on upgrading their car audios with fancy amps and speakers and many not so essential extra fittings. Many of them do not know what is ABS or EBD and do not even bother about knowing. You can see many fancy cars on the roads, fitted with airbags and mothers with young children in their lap in the front seats; that too without wearing seat belts. Absolute ignorance. In the event of a crash,when the airbag gets deployed, that child has no chance of survival.

I have asked many people, driving cars with SRS airbags, what that SRS stands for, surprised that many of them, even my doctor colleagues do not know. That is our commitment to safety.

[Altocumulus]

Originally Posted by vikram31

Thanks pjbiju, I am confused whether I should change all 4 or just 2. Plus I dont want Acelere's any more so considering the Yokohama S Drives or Michelin Primacy LC. Could 2 of these go with my Acelere's in the front or should I take a small hit and go for a brand new set of shoes ?

Yokos offer good side and comfort however are prone to punctures and side wall damage in our kind of roads since its soft compound.

[vikram31]

Originally Posted by Altocumulus

Yokos offer good side and comfort however are prone to punctures and side wall damage in our kind of roads since its soft compound.

So Michelin better? Also hearing good things about Conti Premium Contact 2. Any thoughts ?

[ghodlur]

Vikram,

You are indeed lucky. Fortunately since there was no car following you, you emerged without any accident. Or else the situation would have different altogether.

Can you post the pics of the rear tyre to understand whether they had indeed gone bald to lose the grip? As others have suggested, replace the rear tyres ASAP. I would suggest Michelin XM2 or Yokohama's which do have a strong road grip. Check out if they are available in your tyre size.

[PGNarain]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Can you post the pics of the rear tyre to understand whether they had indeed gone bald to lose the grip? ...

Bit OT - In this case since the road was dry, bald tyres would have offered better grip than conventional tyres with treads (assuming they are evenly worn out).

As has been already discussed, Vikram's car basically drifted. Professional drivers will deliberately induce oversteer and cause their rear tyres to loose traction and in this case the same thing happened albeit unintentionally.

Changing the old tyres (preferably change all 4, to ensure similar grip levels to all four corners) to new ones should be a sufficient fix.

[Jignesh]

Helo Vikram,

Firstly let us thank God for no injuries & accident.

To the best of my knowledge, SX4 has Disk Brakes on front tyres & drum brakes on rear tyres. Now as we all know Disk Brakes can instantly stop the tyre movement when brakes are slammed hard. But when it comes to drum brakes, the tyres keep on rotating for a while in case of hard braking.

Probably in your case the 90 degree skid was due to worn out rear tyres along with limited capacities of rear drum brake as compared to front disk brakes. Thus when you hit the brake hard the front wheels stopped moving but rear wheels were still moving leading to 90 degrees skid.

Frankly speaking I will definitely suggest to replace all four stock tyres at one go. Also 55,000 kms on stock is way too much.

Thanks,

[bblost]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MkSW_cbuvg

Helps understand ABS, EBD and BA.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwlEslInxyE

Demo of EBD.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by vikram31

Rear: Original OEM Apollo Aceleres (Driven 55k ks)

Buddy, you were very, very lucky to have gotten away without any damage to yourself, others on the road and the car.

That's why some people on the forum insist: Change your tyres once they hit 40,000 kms, EVEN IF there is tread depth left. Some Indian tyres are made of awfully hard rubber. While they aren't bald @ 55K, the grippy rubber is completely gone.

Please do replace the tyres at the earliest

Originally Posted by vikram31

I have heard that MAruti offers ABS as an addon.

Nope, Maruti doesn't offer ABS as a dealer add-on.

Originally Posted by vikram31

So Michelin better? Also hearing good things about Conti Premium Contact 2. Any thoughts ?

Mod Note: Please continue the discussion on tyre brands & sizes in the dedicated SX4 Tyre thread.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by Altocumulus

For effective braking its always the front tyres which contributes the most. The rear ones are to reduce the momentum and help the front brakes. .... Else it would have been the other way around.

Agree with the part about braking. But when it comes to new tyres, its always better to put them on the rear axle:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oa9hzcjdi5Q

TBHP thread on this is here : link

Originally Posted by vikram31

Hi brraj, I am happy to loog at 10 mm increase if that improves comfort and stability.

More important than a 10mm increase is the quality of rubber you choose (ie. brand & model of tyre). See this thread (ARTICLE: Choosing The Right Set Of Tyres for your Car)

cya
R

[karan561]

Originally Posted by vikram31

Looking for advice on what could have gone wrong. Should I replace the rear tyres? I am happy to replace the entire set as nothing is more valuable than life.

Looking forward to your advice!

Thanks

Did you only slam the brakes hard ?

What about engine braking/down shifting ?

That would have contributed to an earlier & a much safer stop

[vikram31]

Originally Posted by karan561

Did you only slam the brakes hard ?

What about engine braking/down shifting ?

That would have contributed to an earlier & a much safer stop

Hi Karan561, I downshifted parellelly but the key culprit definitely was the hard braking..

[vikram31]

Originally Posted by GTO

Buddy, you were very, very lucky to have gotten away without any damage to yourself, others on the road and the car.

Please do replace the tyres at the earliest

Nope, Maruti doesn't offer ABS as a dealer add-on.
.

Hi GTO

Yes, thanking god still. Going over to replace the tyres today itself. Taken quotes on the following:

Conti CPC2
Mich XM2
Yoko C Drive

Will post pics on the other SX4 tyres thread..cheers