[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by bala80

Oh yes, got the OEM alloys from an local tyre dealer for half the price. Details available in the earlier posts vb-san, let me know if you need any additional details.

Thanks Bala, I remember reading that you found the OEM alloys in a local shop in Chennai (for half price), but missed noting that you bought it.
Anyways, good that the footwear issues are finally sorted out

[drpullockaran]

The width of the tire has nothing to do with the area of the contact patch other than the shape of the contact patch. For similar compound of tires with similar tire pressures the contact area remains the same what ever be the width of the tire. The contact patch in wider tires will be more rectangular and less wide tires will have a more square looking contact patch. Here I am considering the weight of the vehicle to be the same on each tire. Also please note that width of the tire does nothing to enhance grip. Please google on factors affecting tire grip and contact patch.

The play of the steering is dependent greatly on the rigidity of the side wall under the premise that steering box is perfect. If you want a direct feel then your ride is going to be compromised. Take your pick.

From this thread it seems the Yoko C drives have a very thin side wall resulting in a pliant ride at the expense of handling.

Its best to stay clear of tires in which you can make a dimple/depression with your little finger when they are on display at the tire store especially for Indian conditions.

[bala80]

Thank you very much for dropping by drpullockaran and an very informative post. The michelin XM1+ that I was using earlier on my swift was a good compromise between ride quality and steering feedback.

Ofcourse now the BS Turanza's feel a whole lot better than Yoko's, so we can safely conclude if your priority is ride quality and less noise, than be ready to compromise on the steering feel and feedback.

Originally Posted by drpullockaran

The play of the steering is dependent greatly on the rigidity of the side wall under the premise that steering box is perfect. If you want a direct feel then your ride is going to be compromised. Take your pick.

[drpullockaran]

Originally Posted by bala80

we can safely conclude if your priority is ride quality and less noise, than be ready to compromise on the steering feel and feedback.

Tire noise need not depend on the hardness of the compound.
Please bookmark this below mentioned site. Very very informative on things regarding tires. Read up variable integrated pitch.
TireSafety.com

Another informative site is mentioned below though commercial in nature.
Tire Noise | Dunn Tire Blog

[bala80]

Ok, time for ICE'ing the car now

After having been fed up with the junk that VW provides along with the vento as the stock music system and so called speakers, I have decided to get the ICE upgraded in my car to the following. Equipment list is almost finalized, just waiting for the HU to arrive.

HU - JVC AVX 646 (DVD touchscreen, no BT)
Front Compos - 6.5" Morel Maximos
Rear Co-Axials - 6" Morel
Amp - Auditor - 4 Channel Amplifier - Driving front speakers and sub-woofers on the bridged mode.
Sub Woofer - JL audio
Wiring Kit - Audison

I have discussed all the requirement with my installer and these will most probably be my final equiment list, will be doing the installation as soon as the HU arrives by next week. Will keep you all posted on the progress.

[bottle]

^Looks good, if you don't mind give me a buzz when you do the install , would like to hear how it sounds I stay about 20 mins from powerzone

[krish.sathish]

Bala did you consider 205/50/16 when shopping for tyres ? any thoughts/recommendations ?

[bala80]

For sure, tentatively the install is scheduled for next wednesday, subject to the HU arriving by then. If not, it will be rescheduled a little later, but would ideally want to close this next week as I'm off work the entire week.

Originally Posted by bottle

^Looks good, if you don't mind give me a buzz when you do the install , would like to hear how it sounds I stay about 20 mins from powerzone

That reminds me, when I was shopping around for alloys, I had this urge to upsize to 16 inchers as well, but the recommended size in 16 was 205/50/16 (or was it 205/55/16?, cant recollect exactly now) and only Pirelli's were available in this size. They were mighty expensive at around 7400/tyre, that I gave up the idea of 16 inchers altogether.

Originally Posted by krish.sathish

Bala did you consider 205/50/16 when shopping for tyres ? any thoughts/recommendations ?

[bala80]

Its been more than 3 weeks of new set of tyres and I feel this is a good time to write a very short review on them -

- Steering has become normal again as compared to the yoko's, however it doesnt weigh any heavy compared to the stock apollo's.
- Ride quality has definitely improved over aceleres, but may be a tad lower than the C-drives. C-drives was just too good as far as ride quality was concerned. If your priority is ride and dont mind the vague steering, just pick this up eyes closed.
- The thud/thunk sound on running through a pothole is very much there, only the intensity of impact is a little less now compared to acelere's.
- Grip levels (dry/wet) are pretty good (but still feel michelin XM1+ was better), braking feels surefooted. Havent tried any emergency braking yet.
- Tyre noise is much lower than the acelere's but may be a little more than the C-drives.

Overall, I'm happy with the change, haven't gotten an opportunity to take it on the highway yet, but will do pretty soon and update my comments post that.

On a general note - car is doing pretty well apart from the squeaking door beads. Coolant level is below the minimum mark at cold and engine oil level is a little over the minimum mark. Have decided to get these addressed in the "inspection service" at 7k km's along with getting the speed sensing auto lock activated. My steering is also a little off center which needs to be corrected too.

ACC takes its time in cooling the car, but at this time of the year, it helps you to maintain a very pleasant temperature in cabin. Real test will be in summer though.

Except the incident where the alloys broke, its been good going so far. I only hope VW works on making spares/parts more readily available, increase localization, thereby reducing maintance costs. The performance is still as good as it was on day one, which is what is probably the most addictive thing about this car. ICE upgrade process is on its way and most probably should be able to close it another week or two's time. Currently delayed due to continuous rains caused by cyclone "thane" in this part of the country.

[bala80]

Continuing from my earlier post on my feedback on BS Turanza's -

I took the car out for a highway drive today after the tyre change and noticed the following characteristics

- Handling/Agility is marginally compromised with BS Turanza's compared to the stock apollo's. This can be attributed to the increased height of sidewall and wider contact patch.

- Mild Steering vibration observed when cruising at speeds around 90-100kmph. I'm not talking of tramlining here, but this kind of behaviour points out to imbalance of the front wheels. I'm unable to understand why, since the wheels were balanced when the new tyres went in. But then, I also have a complaint of steering being a little off center but the alignment values were in desired range. They tried to correct it, but were unable to do so, finally it was decided that the steering tilt correction has to be done at the VW workshop. While I'm not certain that they tried fiddling with something which caused the wheels to go off balance, but couldn't help trying to relate both these incidents. Earlier the steering used to be rock steady at cruising speeds, Another thing to get addressed during the check-up im planning on doing in another 1000 odd km's.

Never had so much trouble with my other cars for a simple tyre change. I have spent lot of time and money on changing tyres, checking alignment, balancing only to come back with some complaint or the other. Still not completely satisfied on this aspect.

Keeping my fingers crossed. Will post the updates after I get the inspection service done and issues rectified. Thanks for reading and happy new year to all.

[bala80]

Fixed up an appointment with VW to do my inspection service and also to attend a few minor issues. The earliest that I could get an appointment was on 18th of Jan and nothing before that. The other service center in chennai has appointments for service only beginning from 1st Feb, beat that!

While they said we can walk in for oil top-up anytime, even for attending to running repairs and complaints, it may not be possible before the above mentioned dates. Anyways, following is the list of complaints that needs to be addressed.

- Check/top-up fluids
- Suspension check - I'm sick of the thudd/thunnk sound when running through potholes.
- Wheel balancing/alignment check - correct the steering tilt and balancing issue.
- VAS updates, enable auto lock, sound/clatter reduction.
- Creaking noise from door beading
- Anything else that may come up before 18th of Jan.

I will update this thread with my feedback and service experience post this. My ICE plans have been delayed a little bit due to some official travel schedules, looks like I will be able to get it done only post the 3rd week of Jan.

[souravc]

Hey Bala , happy new year ! I am concerned to see that your travails with the tyres are continuing especially after you have spent so much money and effort . Were the problems such as mild vibrations and off centre behaviour there earlier too or did they crop up when you changed to the C drives ?

Originally Posted by bala80

Fixed up an appointment with VW to do my inspection service and also to attend a few minor issues. The earliest that I could get an appointment was on 18th of Jan and nothing before that. The other service center in chennai has appointments for service only beginning from 1st Feb, beat that!.

Are you serious ? Is it due to cars getting impacted during cyclone Thane ( couldn't they get a better name ? )

Originally Posted by bala80

- Suspension check - I'm sick of the thudd/thunnk sound when running through potholes.
- Creaking noise from door beading

I have given up on the above two , accepted them as part of life

[bala80]

Thank you souravc and wishing you a very happy new year too.

I'm now kind of convinced that it is a balancing issue, probable explanation is the weights might have fallen off (they are the sticker kind in alloys), this should hopefully sort out the issue. Steering tilt was there right from the day I bought the car, steering vibrations surfaced only after the latest tyre change. Earlier apollo's didnt have them. Not sure about the yoko's since I never took the car out on a highway with those tyres.

Originally Posted by souravc

Hey Bala , happy new year ! I am concerned to see that your travails with the tyres are continuing especially after you have spent so much money and effort . Were the problems such as mild vibrations and off centre behaviour there earlier too or did they crop up when you changed to the C drives ?

I myself couldnt beleive it when I first heard it, to their credit they were ready to do oil top up's if we walk in, but were not ready to attend to any other complaints unless we have an appointment. There are only 2 center's in chennai and both seems to have been booked out for this month. I dont think this has anything to do with cyclone, but more to with number of new cars/deliveries that happened during the new year. If I recollect december was fairly easy with people getting appointment for service the very same week. I'm just guessing!

Are you serious ? Is it due to cars getting impacted during cyclone Thane ( couldn't they get a better name ? )

I'm preparing myself to accept it too, but nevertheless wanted to give it a try. The TSB that VW had issued for the creaking noise the service center states this issue is resolvable, however I dont think its a permanent fix. This looks to me like a design flaw as you pointed out.

Suspension - I'm hoping against hope!

I have given up on the above two , accepted them as part of life

P.S - Just added fuel filter check to the list after reading about it in prabhuferrari's thread.

[el lobo 6061]

Originally Posted by bala80

Fixed up an appointment with VW to do my inspection service and also to attend a few minor issues. The earliest that I could get an appointment was on 18th of Jan and nothing before that. The other service center in chennai has appointments for service only beginning from 1st Feb, beat that!

Bala, sorry to hear about the continuing problems with the change of tyres that have cropped up. Hope they all get rectified and you some peace for a while.
Was waiting for your ice update, but sorry to know about the delay.

Originally Posted by souravc

Are you serious ? Is it due to cars getting impacted during cyclone Thane ( couldn't they get a better name ? )

Same is the scene with VW Navi Mumbai KSM Motors Nerul. Once had called them up for an appointment and they were booked for 3 weeks. Don't know what's the situation right now, but considering they are the only VW Workshop in the whole of Navi Mumbai, there is a lot of cars and backlog.
Having doubts whether a customer will get proper attention and after sales experience.

[nileshch]

Bala, sad to hear about all the problems you are facing with the tyre upgrade and squeaking sounds. Looking at all these issues faced by you and Sourav, I am not planning to change my tires soon. My steering has weighed down over the last few thousand kms and I am pretty comfortable now. All I have to do is bear the noise till I find a suitable replacement.

About the squeaks, I am surprised so many of you are facing problems and not me . I listen very carefully every day for any sounds but none so far. My Blue has happily crossed 12k kms now and getting more and more joyful to drive!