[Samurai]

Originally Posted by shivmarwaha

P.s. the jerkiness i am talking about is for ride quality. Bumpy ride would be a better phrase than jerky ride. The fuel system has nothing to do with it.

That completely changes the problem description. My Baleno Lxi runs on 195/60R14 Yokohama ES100 and I do not experience any bumpy ride at 29(city) or 31(highway).

Ride comfort is relative. The Lxi stock tyres give the best ride comfort, but bad handling. If you are on stock tyres and complaining about ride comfort, I suggest you take a second opinion from another Baleno owner. Let them ride your car and see how they feel.

[Ram]

My Baleno VXi came stock with eleven-spoke Aura D3350 alloy rims and Goodyear Eagle NCT5 185/65R14 tires.


I keep the tire pressure 29 for city and 31 psi for expressway driving.

And top up the tank with HP Speed whenever it comes down to 50% position.
900 km so far and first service coming up.

No jerks yet. She slinks furtively along at 2000 rpm and accelerates and runs away like a surprised stallion between 2250-2750 rpm.

Ram

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by ram

I keep the tire pressure 29 for city and 31 psi for expressway driving.

That's exactly what I maintain, what is the maruti recommended value for Vxi? Floyd de Souza is claiming a much lower value.

[theMAG]

Originally Posted by shivmarwaha

footwear upgraded to 185/65 r14 goodyear tubeless with alloys. I have noticed that the low speed ride is not as smooth and found it jerky
Shiv

Upsizing to lower profile tyres than OEM tyres always improves handling albeit at the expense of ride quality. The ride quality delta is inversely proportional to tyre profile.

Don't worry abt your slow speed jerks. Try increasing pressure to 30 psi all-around.

[santosh.s]

MUL recommended pressure range for VXI (current, with NCT5s) is 24.xx to 29 psi. I have the same tyre/size and I keep between 26-28 which gives a nice ride. I remember some tbhpians having same tyres on baleno and mentioning 30 or more was too much since they observed tyres wearing out significantly in the middle (I think it was "buffetfan"). So I would discourage baleno owners having 185/65R14 NCT5 to cross 28-29 psi mark.

[sivadas]

Originally Posted by ram

And top up the tank with HP Speed whenever it comes down to 50% position.
900 km so far and first service coming up.
Ram

You meant BP Speed I believe, or is it HP Power?

[rks]

Originally Posted by shivmarwaha

Hi all,
I bought a baleno lxi recently and got footwear upgraded to 185/65 r14 goodyear tubeless with alloys. I have noticed that the low speed ride is not as smooth and found it jerky on otherwise smooth looking roads. Tyre pressure is around 28-29 psi. Hi speed ride is slightly better but not comparable to my ford ikon that i exchanged for the baleno. Do other baleno owners fell the same or is there a problem with my car. Can you suggest why this is happening and how do i rectify it.

Your tyre pressure looks OK for city drive. You say you are not happy even with the high speed ride. Do you feel any vibrations? If so you may need to check your wheel alignment/balancing -- a common problem when one uprades to alloy wheels. Did you switch to company-supplied alloys used in Vxi? If so there shouldn't be a problem with the fit, provided the tyre size is within the range suitable for these alloys. Otherwise you need to pay attention to the fit, including the width of the alloy wheels and alignment/balancing.

When I see posts like these, it makes me extemely reluctant to meddle with the company-supplied stock rims and tyres in my car -- it seems that the alloys and tyre dealers don't have enough expertise to do the kind of professional job that the company does.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by rks

When I see posts like these, it makes me extemely reluctant to meddle with the company-supplied stock rims and tyres in my car -- it seems that the alloys and tyre dealers don't have enough expertise to do the kind of professional job that the company does.

The sad truth is most alloys/tyre dealers do not have enough knowledge, something you can learn in a week in Team-BHP. I replaced my Baleno wheels/tyres on the day of delivery. But I researched for couple months on Team-BHP, banged my head on rim-width, offset, inset, sidewall, profile, rolling radius, GC, speedo error, etc, etc. Then on the D-Day I asked the alloy dealer about the offset of the alloy wheel I liked and he says, what is offset? The guy could be selling vegetables. The fact is these guys sell auto parts like consumer goods, the burden of research is left to the customer. For example, while getting the Santro alloys/tyres, I had 165/65R13 in mind and he suggested some other size (175/65R13) he had instead. I asked what would be the difference in GC, and he said "C'mon, don't ask me technical questions!".

Modifications are for people who are willing to research and try different things with their cars. If you want to play safe, stick with stock. Whatever limited mods I have done on my cars were result of the research I did on Team-BHP. Although somebody else did the fitting, I don't make any mods to my car that I don't understand.

[sandeep108]

Very well stated, Samurai!

[rks]

Originally Posted by Samurai

The sad truth is most alloys/tyre dealers do not have enough knowledge, something you can learn in a week in Team-BHP. I replaced my Baleno wheels/tyres on the day of delivery. But I researched for couple months on Team-BHP, banged my head on rim-width, offset, inset, sidewall, profile, rolling radius, GC, speedo error, etc, etc. Then on the D-Day I asked the alloy dealer about the offset of the alloy wheel I liked and he says, what is offset? The guy could be selling vegetables. The fact is these guys sell auto parts like consumer goods, the burden of research is left to the customer. For example, while getting the Santro alloys/tyres, I had 165/65R13 in mind and he suggested some other size (175/65R13) he had instead. I asked what would be the difference in GC, and he said "C'mon, don't ask me technical questions!".

That is shocking, to say the least. These guys don't seem to realize that they are playing with lives.

Modifications are for people who are willing to research and try different things with their cars. If you want to play safe, stick with stock. Whatever limited mods I have done on my cars were result of the research I did on Team-BHP. Although somebody else did the fitting, I don't make any mods to my car that I don't understand.

For someone like me who does the Mumbai-Pune route every week along terrible roads with massive potholes in the rainy season, safety and reliability become paramount. Especially since I am mostly driving alone, often at night and carrying my laptop/mobile, etc. The purpose of going in for tubeless/alloys is primarily to reduce the risk of a catastrophic tyre burst accident and secondarily to improve the performance and handling of the car. But if other serious risks are introduced -- like alloys breaking or tubeless tyres tearing or coming off the wheeels or vibrations at high speeds due to imbalance/misalignment in the wheels -- then the move to alloys/tubeless is not justified. I just don't want to be stranded alone in a desolate stretch of the highway at 9-30 PM -- or worse, suffer some serious accident.

I just cannot afford to experiment here. I need cast-iron guarantees from the suppliers that the alloys/tubeless tyres will be chosen correctly and fit to company standards and there will be none of the issues that I have mentioned above. The fact is that the stock Bridgestone S322 tyres and stock rims have performed with amazing reliability so far despite the harsh conditions and high speeds that I have hit. I need a similar, if not better reliability from alloys/tubeless tyres.

[Ram]

Originally Posted by sivadas

You meant BP Speed I believe, or is it HP Power?

Sorry, it is indeed HP Power.
Ram

[shivmarwaha]

Originally Posted by rks

Your tyre pressure looks OK for city drive. You say you are not happy even with the high speed ride. Do you feel any vibrations? If so you may need to check your wheel alignment/balancing -- a common problem when one uprades to alloy wheels. Did you switch to company-supplied alloys used in Vxi? .

No, I do not feel vibrations arising out of wheel balancing or alignment. I got my tyres and alloys from a goodyear authorised dealer in karol bagh. But i am sure there is a mismatch somewhere. i will have it checked by a knowledgeable friend who incidently deals in alloy wheels.

I need to also drive someone else's baleno with 14" to see whether it is a common problem. i am concerned because in my ikon that i exchanged i never felt like that.

[sandeep108]

RKS: Basically one needs to stick to as close to oem fitment as possible. Even on my OHC, many were changing / upsizing to alloys and 185-195, even 205 from 175. But my tire fellow advised even against 185. And stated that for all practical purposes, alloys were only for looks...which another friend also confirmed! I just fitted 175 tubeless on the old rims (which were in good condition) and have been very happy with no tire related issues at all and much enhanced grip/handling as compared to the older tubed bridgestones.

So in case of tires/alloys, try and go for mfr alloys (e.g. baleno lxi/vxi, swift lxi-vxi/zxi) even at some premium. Even then, the dealer or good tire workshop may have to change wheel alignment, etc.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by sandeep108

RKS: Basically one needs to stick to as close to oem fitment as possible. Even on my OHC, many were changing / upsizing to alloys and 185-195, even 205 from 175.

My Baleno moved from 165/80R13 to 195/60R14 and it is considered playing safe on Team-BHP. The chap who helped me this had a Baleno that moved from 165/80R13 to 205/50R15. BTW, he had one of the finest modded baleno on this forum.

Originally Posted by sandeep108

But my tire fellow advised even against 185. And stated that for all practical purposes, alloys were only for looks...which another friend also confirmed!

As I said before, they know nothing about tyres/alloys. Ask you friend to check out Tyre or Alloys section on team-BHP, it will be an eye opener.

Do your research well before talking to the tyre/alloy dealers, you'll realise how less they know.

[Samurai]

Check this link. Also I am moving this thread to tyre & alloy section where it belongs.