[aseem]

I am planning to take delivery of ANF on Saturday (barring last minute changes). I plan to upgrade the wheels as soon as I got the car. I have some specific questions that I would really appreciate TBHP members expert opinions on. The stock tire size on ANF is 195/60/15 and the stock tires are Goodyear NCT 5. I love sporty driving and dont care about tire sounds as in India with the ambient noise being what it is, from honks, to brake sounds to ppl shouting, tire noise is least of my concern. Ride is important though, as long as its not bone jarring.

- I plan on replacing the stock wheels with 15" or 16" alloys. I drive on good roads 75% and bad roads 25%. Is ride going to suffer a lot if I go with 16"?

- Do 16" compromise the ride too much, what about all TBHPians wiht 16" and cars like Skoda that come with 16" as standard? Do they have a bone jarring ride?

- I am planning to go for either of the three choices:
a) Upgrade to the same stock size 195/60/15 but with better rubber (conservative)
b) Upgrade to 205/55/15 with better rubber (compromise) (<1% speedo error)
c) Upgrade to 205/55/16 with better rubber (this is what I want) (2.7% speedo error)

I am not considering for 205/50/16 (ideal upsize) as I feel the ride will go for a toss with such low profile. I need your opinions on which choice you consider as spending money I do want improvement in looks, handling and dont want a huge compromise on ride. I dont want a half hearted or conservative effort nor do I want to end up in tears.

Now that we have the upsize out of the way, I need your opinions on the right rubber as well. TBHP is full of confusion, I have read each and every thread and I feel that everyone has fault in each and every performance tire out there. However I do need to make a decision on whats available in the market. Here are my choices that I need your opinion on:

a) Yoko S.Drive (Sporty Look and expensive at 6k but mixed reviews)
b) Bridgestone Potenza GIII (old but tried and tested)
c) CPC 2 (again conflicitng reviews)
d) Any other tire that you suggest

I want to thank you all for your inputs


P.S. Mods, I have extensively searched the forum and there is no dedicated thread for ANF and the tire choices for it. I request you to please not delete this thread as it will help many existing and potential buyers of ANF.

[aseem]

Did some more research after reading GTO's posts in other thread. Reffered the calculator on 1010. The tire choices are the following as per 1010tires:



As you can see both 205/55/15 and 205/55/16 (2.66% error) have the same sidewalls roughly 5 mm less than the stock tire. The 205/50/16 that has less speedo error and is perfect size otherwise has 15 mm smaller sidewall (ride compromised).

Is it safe to assume that 205/55/15 and 205/55/16 both will offer the same ride quality given that they have same sidewall. And is 205/55/16 with 2.7% speedo error, and 50mm bigger diameter would still be ok and within the specified limits.

I read at one site that exceeding 3% speedo error can cause break failure . I am within if I choose 205/55/15 but pushing the limits. Your inputs would be really helpful.

[avira_tk]

Brake failure with a tyre upsize sounds implausible, I would suggest you stick to the ideal upsize, approximately 12 mm less sidewall is unlikely to affect the ride so much. The NFS ride over bad surfaces is not really up there, maybe because the car is lighter, I am comparing with my Punto here.

75% of your drive is over good surface, why go with a wrong upsize? I think options in 205/50R16 are wider and the tread should be adequate for good handling.

[anachronix]

Most of the Fords inherently have a hard suspension setup which works well in getting the handling right. When you are going to a lower profile be prepared for more harder ride quality. My 1.6S with 15" wheel used to bounce a lot more than the normal Fiesta with the 14" wheel.

Adding to that Ford usually makes your suspension related warranty void if you go for an upsize. The New Fiesta is yet to prove its reliability vs durability factor and I would recommend you to stick to the stock size for the first few thousand clicks. I have heard stories where suspension warranty was not given to folks who used aftermarket alloy wheels even in the OE size. Get some clarity from your dealer on the warranty part of it!

Stay away from the CPC2, had bad experience with them. Average grip, bad braking distance and the sidewalls are pretty hard. I have used the Maxxis MAZ1 and those are great tires. I am not sure if you get them in the size that you are looking for. I dont have any experience with the S-Drives, but I have driven the GIII in my friend's Estilo. The tires were awesome, but they were imported from Japan at that time and I dont think you get the imported lot of GIIIs here anymore.

[aseem]

I too think suspension warranty would go for a toss even if I get aftermarket alloys in same size as stock. However if I was to claim warranty than I can always go buy to stock rims before filing for it and they generally look the other way. In either case I cant live w/o alloys and if that means no warranty than so be it.
I did have 15" on my Figo (20k km) and Swift (100k km). The Swift suspension did give way at 90k km, but that was probably more to do with driving style.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by anachronix

Most of the Fords inherently have a hard suspension setup which works well in getting the handling right.

Adding to that Ford usually makes your suspension related warranty void if you go for an upsize. The New Fiesta is yet to prove its reliability vs durability factor and I would recommend you to stick to the stock size for the first few thousand clicks. I have heard stories where suspension warranty was not given to folks who used aftermarket alloy wheels even in the OE size. Get some clarity from your dealer on the warranty part of it!

The hard suspension was specially tuned up for the 1.6S variant whereas the other variants have soft suspension. This was as told by the Ford dealer to me.
+1 to what you have said. It is always better to stick to the OE rims initially, you can go for an upgrade once you get a clarity from the dealer. If you have a good rapport with the dealer then you can get away with an upgrade at the time of delivery itself.

Originally Posted by aseem

I too think suspension warranty would go for a toss even if I get aftermarket alloys in same size as stock.

The warranty does not get nullified if you go for stock size rim alloys. But do confirm it again from the dealer, preferably in writing.
Have you considered Michelin XM1+ tyres?

[anachronix]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

The hard suspension was specially tuned up for the 1.6S variant whereas the other variants have soft suspension. This was as told by the Ford dealer to me.

I am sure the struts are same as the one in the normal Fiestas. I have changed them recently!

The steering rack is different for the S compared to normal Fiesta to compensate for the wider profile of rubber. I have heard that the springs are harder in the S but I am not completely sure.

[aseem]

Two things in the approaches you have mentioned:

1) I wont get a buyback for the used tires that I am getting right now if I dont upsize immidiately after purchase

2) Dealer (sales guy is a friend) said warranty goes for a toss even if I go with aftermarket alloy as Ford wants to push their stock alloys for 30k. I am not worried about the suspension warranty as I can always revert to stock rims if I need to claim it (worse case scenario)

Regarding the choices:

3) I have 195/60/15 Michelin Primary LC on my 2010 ANHC AT, I absolutely hate the ride quality on them. The car throws me around at speeds of 100 kmph if there is a hump on the road. So no more Michelins (though this may have to just do with the fact that ANHC is a terrible handler).

4) I also have 195/55/15 on my brothers Figo. The tyres are Yoko S.Drive. He swears by them and has no problems with ride. I have driven the car and it handles like my Siwft that again had GIIIs i.e. tight, not bouncy, not bone jarring, just right. The Figo sidewall is 107.18 post upgrade and stock Figo sidewall is 113.5.

Now with the choices I have for Fiesta upsize to 205/55/15 or 205/55/16 I get the same sidewall of 112, which is 4.5 mm less than Fiesta's stock sidewall. The million $ question is that if the sidewall is the same, technicall should there be any difference in ride quality between the 15 or the 16 inchers mentioned above???

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by aseem

Two things in the approaches you have mentioned:

1) I wont get a buyback for the used tires that I am getting right now if I dont upsize immidiately after purchase

2) Dealer (sales guy is a friend) said warranty goes for a toss even if I go with aftermarket alloy as Ford wants to push their stock alloys for 30k. I am not worried about the suspension warranty as I can always revert to stock rims if I need to claim it (worse case scenario)

@Aseem,
1) Not neccessary, you can get a buyback for the old tyres from the dealer where from whom you are purchasing the new ones albeit the cost of buyback might not be attractive. it depends upon your negotating skill.
2) The dealer is BSing you, write to Ford and get a clarification. As long as the rim size does not change, Ford is not bothered. You intend to keep both the alloys and the steel rims

[aseem]

Friends, I want to upgrade the tires and need you to help me. It looks like everyone is discouraging an upsize or even alloys. What happened to the mod scene??? I thought we all had boy racers in all of us. Reading the above posts is depressing me no ends. My mom will be very happy reading the "practical" advise heeded here

[thenomad]

Originally Posted by aseem

Friends, I want to upgrade the tires

Keep in mind that you don't have a good load of options in the 205/55/15 (Yoko S drive and CPC) and there are wide variety of options in the 195/60/15 range.
I'd probably also consider a change from Goodyear to a better tire like Michelin/Yokohama at the same size to improve the ride/handling without risking the warranty. Sometimes it's best to keep the car as stock as possible.

Let us know which way you finally decided to go for.

[aseem]

Went for Yokohama s drives S.Drive 205/55/15.. Am very happy with the purchase.

[Surprise]

Originally Posted by anachronix

I have used the Maxxis MAZ1 and those are great tires

From where did you sourced this trye? What's the size and how much it costed you at the time of purchase? Iam looking to buy one, but none of the Chennai dealers seems to deal with this Maxxis..Raja tyres says they can source it, but indicates only the tentative pricing & want to pay advance amount. I prefer to know upfront on the cash outflow so that there are no confusions later

[SBR]

Hi,

I recently purchased a pre-loved 2012 Ford Fiesta Titanium.

It has 195/65/r15 Tyres which need replacement.

For better ride quality over bad roads and straight highways with moderate speeds, what are my options in tyre size for replacement / upgrade.

Any advise will be helpful.

Cheers

[deetjohn]

Originally Posted by SBR

I recently purchased a pre-loved 2012 Ford Fiesta Titanium.

It has 195/65/r15 Tyres which need replacement.

For better ride quality over bad roads and straight highways with moderate speeds, what are my options in tyre size for replacement / upgrade.

Congratulations!

The stock size is 195/60 R15 and I would stick to that. It gives the perfect balance between ride and handling over most sort of roads. It just loses out on aesthetics when compared to 195/55 R16.

And I will opt for Michelin Primacy 4. Totally worth the money.