[nidhin0816]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Welcome to Team-BHP!

Just wondering whether you drove your car back to back with each make of tyre in similar conditions to arrive at your views? Asking because unlike when buying cars , with tyres you don't get 'test drives' and we have to make decisions based on either on past personal experiences or by referring reviews on magazines and forums like ours.

I arrived at my views by testing another Swift Vxi Shod with brand new Michelin Primacy LC which takes the same road as mine every day.

Rides were swapped and consensus arrived at the end were common.

I also got an opportunity to test drive another Swift Vdi although the PLC's were 28k old and did not had a fair comparison with brand new ZLO's.

[pranav4x4]

I just fitted out my Honda City with ZLOs (195/60 R14)... The car had Yokohama ES100 before this, and Goodyear Stock tires before that. Initial impressions:

1. The tires have a grip level somewhere between the Yokos (which are brilliant) and the stock tires (which were downright scary bad) Not as impressive as some of the reviews suggested... just good enough.

2. At low speed, the ride improved significantly over the Yokos - the car feels like it has an extra cushion going into potholes, paver-blocked roads etc. The Yokos had a thick side-wall, which transferred all the shock straight through to the steering and seat. They are also more silent than the Yokos in potholes.

3. At high speed, ZLos are very noisy, to say the least - there is a constant whirring noise over 80 - initially I thought something was amiss with the engine, till i realized it was just tire whirr. Yokos weren't silent either, but ZLOs are just so much worse.

4. These tires have a very thin and supple side-wall - which to me is a slight risk - the Yokos had a side-wall which allowed one to run flat for 10-15 km, no loss of balance or damage to tires - in the ZLO, which I inspected before fitting, I can bend the side-wall easily with two fingers. Haven't just had a puncture, but I am sure I can't run flat, and am apprehensive that the car will lose balance if they puncture at speed.

5. Aesthetics - The Yokos obviously look MUCH better, these have a straight grooved outer side, which looks very ordinary - the inside with curved grooves looks great when exposed by turning the wheel.

6. Asymmetric Vs Directional Tread: ZLOs have asymmetric tread, but not directional tread like the V-groove of the Yokos. This means there is a in-side outside marking for each tires to indicate which side is out while fitting on rim - but no restriction on fitting any tire on any side of the car, front or back. With the Yokos, one could only fit the tire on the same side as otherwise it would reverse direction.

7. Though both tires are 195/60 R14, the ZLOs ARE taller than the Yokos, and have raised the ride height to where the car doesn't bottom out that much. Not sure how this is possible with the same spec. The side-wall also looks taller than the Yokos.

[arvind71181]

Originally Posted by nidhin0816

I arrived at my views by testing another Swift Vxi Shod with brand new Michelin Primacy LC which takes the same road as mine every day.

Rides were swapped and consensus arrived at the end were common.

I also got an opportunity to test drive another Swift Vdi although the PLC's were 28k old and did not had a fair comparison with brand new ZLO's.

Nice review of the tyres!!! Am looking out for a change of tyres myself and will put this as the first contender. Thanks.

[LP640]

Originally Posted by pranav4x4

3. At high speed, ZLos are very noisy, to say the least - there is a constant whirring noise over 80 - initially I thought something was amiss with the engine, till i realized it was just tire whirr. Yokos weren't silent either, but ZLOs are just so much worse.

4. These tires have a very thin and supple side-wall - which to me is a slight risk

Hi. I am now using ZLOs for nearly 8000 kms. To me they have been sufficiently silent upto 120kmph. I felt some noise after I changed to ZLO(rattles and vibrations) which were later diagnosed to be caused due to a worn engine mount and a loosened dashboard.

These noises were heard only going over potholes and in city traffic at low engine rpms. When I met MRF service engineer, for this rattling noise/vibration issue he felt the noise was from dash and not from Tyre.
But then he did say that ZLO pattern has wide treads for water channeling which sometimes creates mild whirring noise at high-speed when the air collides against the pattern. Some people with extremely sharp ears do hear this.

I believe if this is the issue, we can modify the cars aerodynamics by making a small projection that channels the air away from tyres. Just an idea though, in theory!

Other thing though, where the ES100 is a soft compound rubber, lasting 25-35k kms, ZLO looks a bit harder, lasting 40-50k rpm. A bhpian is now running them close to 40k without any issues at all! Even mine at 8k still looks brand new! Don't know if compound hardness has a huge role to play in noise levels.

Regarding the sidewall, ES100 seems to be a performance tyre with stiffer sidewall for cornering/handling.

I bought ZLO only for one reason. It had much stiffer sidewall compared to A and C drives, Conti CP2 and even the PLCs. Compared them side to side on tyre shop. The shop did not have ES100 though.

I have never used ES100. All the the above is as per my research and understanding. No offence meant.

[blueblooded]

I have procured ,a pair of Z.Lo for my fiat punto mjd .Its too early to comment on performance of the car post the change but one that is sorely missed is fuel economy which has taken a dip .I am not sure whats the culprit .Moreover I have gone for upsizing from stock 165 75 R 14 to 175 70 R 14 .It would take at least few thousand kms for the final verdict on the performance
regards
praveen singh

[PremjitS]

What should be the tyre rotation pattern for 185/70 R14 ZLOs fitted on my Punto 1.3 MJD?

The reason I am asking this is since I got the tyres rotated in early October, the car starts to pull left with the steering left alone. Upto 60Kmph it doesn't veer to left and only starts to do over that speed. Since the ZLOs are asymmetrical, could the idle tyre tread be confirmed (like the tread design facing the sidewall)? The shop where I got this done did the cross rotation pattern: front left-to-rear right and front right-to-rear left.

Any guidance on this would be appreciated. This issue has been driving me nuts since the alignment has been re-done during my 15k service 10 days back.

[neel385]

Originally Posted by PremjitS

What should be the tyre rotation pattern for 185/70 R14 ZLOs fitted on my Punto 1.3 MJD?

The reason I am asking this is since I got the tyres rotated in early October, the car starts to pull left with the steering left alone. Upto 60Kmph it doesn't veer to left and only starts to do over that speed. Since the ZLOs are asymmetrical, could the idle tyre tread be confirmed (like the tread design facing the sidewall)? The shop where I got this done did the cross rotation pattern: front left-to-rear right and front right-to-rear left.

Any guidance on this would be appreciated. This issue has been driving me nuts since the alignment has been re-done during my 15k service 10 days back.

As far as I know, the tread pattern should not have any bearing on the issue you are reporting. The ZLO has a asymmetric tread pattern, but not a unidirectional one, so, doing a cross cross rotation should ideally have no effect. Just ensure that the side marked "outside" on the tyre is outside!

As far as the pull is concerned, I guess it has more to do with the alignment than anything else. Is the wear of all the tyres the same or is a particular tyre facing excessive wear issues? Suggest try a different alignment center.

[PremjitS]

Originally Posted by neel385

As far as I know, the tread pattern should not have any bearing on the issue you are reporting. The ZLO has a asymmetric tread pattern, but not a unidirectional one, so, doing a cross cross rotation should ideally have no effect. Just ensure that the side marked "outside" on the tyre is outside!

As far as the pull is concerned, I guess it has more to do with the alignment than anything else. Is the wear of all the tyres the same or is a particular tyre facing excessive wear issues? Suggest try a different alignment center.

Well, that's the thing: alignment has been done by that original shop and then by the service center as well. But I seem to remember that the problem stemmed from the tyre rotation done earlier.

But what you are saying does make sense, will try out a different alignement center this time and check back. Thanks!

[neel385]

Originally Posted by PremjitS

Well, that's the thing: alignment has been done by that original shop and then by the service center as well. But I seem to remember that the problem stemmed from the tyre rotation done earlier.

When doing the alignment this time, please check the alignment values yourself. A lot of times, I have seen the alignment guys passing off anything in the name of alignment. Check the ideal values and the achieved values. In addition, after the final printout is given to me, I always insist on another check after re-tightening of all nuts/bolts, and at times, the re-checked alignment values are very different form the printout!!

Nor sure of your ride, but at times, all alignment centers don't attempt to adjust camber/caster issues. If the same is possible in your car, insist on camber/caster adjustments. In the Punto, generally only the toe is adjusted, but, in the alignment report, if you find the caster/camber to be way beyond limits, you might have to visit a facility which can correct the problem!

[PremjitS]

Thanks for the detailed information! Will be trying MRF' s own centre here and report back what they are able to achieve.

[bivin]

guys my swift is due for a tyre change soon and i am currently running on continental CPC2s, which are pretty decent, but was wondering if the ZLO would be a good replacement compared to them.. cos i have no idea how the 2 stack up against each other in terms of performance.. any inputs are welcome and much appreciated!!

Cheers!!

[nidhin0816]

Originally Posted by bivin

guys my swift is due for a tyre change soon and i am currently running on continental CPC2s, which are pretty decent, but was wondering if the ZLO would be a good replacement compared to them.. cos i have no idea how the 2 stack up against each other in terms of performance.. any inputs are welcome and much appreciated!!

Cheers!!

I don't have much knowledge about CPC2's

I am currently running ZLO's 195/60/R15 on my Swift which are 1700kms old and i am pretty happy with the performance.

ZLO's Wet/Dry grips are phenomenal and are silent enough till 80/90 Kmph.

In my opinion its a true value for money product.

[Schoudhury]

Originally Posted by bivin

guys my swift is due for a tyre change soon and i am currently running on continental CPC2s, which are pretty decent, but was wondering if the ZLO would be a good replacement compared to them.. cos i have no idea how the 2 stack up against each other in terms of performance.. any inputs are welcome and much appreciated!!

Cheers!!

My ZLO's are 25k + old and I can safe say that the grip is awesome .
Also if you check the prices of the other tyre compared to zlo ,nothing comes close to ZLO.
Cheers

[LP640]

Just had a trip in a friends Vista and here are some quick facts for my conclusion on Tyre noise levels

Car1:
2005 Hyundai Elantra Petrol
All four 8000 km old MRF ZLO
195/60R15


Car2
2008 Indica Vista Quadrajet
All four 10000Km old Yokohama A-drive
(don't know tyre size)15inch rims

(I understand the cars are lot different to be compared and the C-Drive pitches against ZLO on perfomance and price level)

My car with ZLO was way more silent on tar/asphalt roads. The noise made by A-drives, especially on grannular finished (I mean NOT so silky) pothole free roads was quite irritating.
We thought it was may be better insulation in the Elantra and so we rolled windows down. Still the result were the same. A-drives made much higher noise compared to ZLOs.

On the concrete roads (Pune-Mumbai Expressway), the A-drives were somehow sufficiently quiet nearly at par with ZLO!

[Ranendra]

I will be getting delivery of my Ertiga ZDi in 3 days.

Want to change the stock 185/65 R15 MRF ZVTV to something that gives plush ride.

Usage would be 50% City - 40% Highway - 10% rural / hilly roads (occasional visits to the hills once a year).

Have used Michelin XM1+ on my Swift VDi. Hence am more eager for a plush ride and cruising. Am not expecting the Ertiga to be so much a dirver's car as the Swift D. So driving will be more composed and comfort oriented.

Was planning between the following:

1. MRF ZLO
2. Yokohama C Drive
3. Yokohama AVS Decibel
4. Michelin PLC

Michelin XM2 would have been good but its not available in Kolkata now. Called atleast 4 stores and each seem to have 1 or 2 piece.

Can you suggest which will suit my requirement and Ertiga ZDi perfectly?

Thanks
Ranendra