[nishchal316]

At least you could spot a pothole. I was taking a turn few days back at just about 10kmph and i heard a blast and this is what happened to my Michelin Primacy HP. The worst part is i couldn't even spot the cause

[udainxs]

Originally Posted by noblecr

This incident happened to me while I was travelling from Trivandrum to Kochi with my wife and 2 year old son in my 3 month old Hyundai Fluidic Verna.

Hi
It is unfortunate that this happened but I doubt you will be able to have the tyre replaced under warranty as this would not be covered under manufacturing defects

I had a similar experience in Bangalore, within city limits, and blew an Apollo Accelere with just around 5000km on it.

[aerohit]

Originally Posted by sourav9385

Driving into potholes at 60-65 Kmph, and expecting car/tire manufacturer to honor replacement claims?

I'm sorry, but that is not right. The tires didn't go off on their own while you were driving on smooth tarmac. They went off because you drove them into potholes at high speeds.

I'd be genuinely surprised if someone agreed that the car/tire manufacturer is responsible for this, and should give you a replacement.

Well, he didnt decide to do speeding run into a pothole intentionally.

He must have been cruising on good road and suddenly encountered a pot hole. Ideally, in this case, the local municipality should pay a fine to him for not repairing the road, but that may not happen in India. (this is a practice in several other countries though)

[sourav9385]

Originally Posted by aerohit

... Ideally, in this case, the local municipality should pay a fine to him for not repairing the road, but that may not happen in India. (this is a practice in several other countries though)

Wow!

I didn't know something like that even existed! Thanks for sharing that btw.

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by aerohit

Well, he didnt decide to do speeding run into a pothole intentionally.

He must have been cruising on good road and suddenly encountered a pot hole. Ideally, in this case, the local municipality should pay a fine to him for not repairing the road, but that may not happen in India. (this is a practice in several other countries though)

I wonder why there are no politically backed protests, PILs, pleas etc about topics like these.

[Maverick14]

Originally Posted by nishchal316

At least you could spot a pothole. I was taking a turn few days back at just about 10kmph and i heard a blast and this is what happened to my Michelin Primacy HP. The worst part is i couldn't even spot the cause

I lost 5 Yokohama tubeless tires on my Santro in the exact same way - POTHOLES!! I lost the 1st one and then I got a 30% discount on the replacement. Then while I was going to Mandarmani with family, 2 left side tires burst at the same time in Kolkata itself. The Yokohama Eastern region head called and apologized and gave me the offer of 50% off on a new set and that this can happen to any tire. I agreed and that was the worst mistake that I made. This time I was travelling to Puri and then again 2 left side tires burst! I thought enough is enough and bought good old MRF tube type ones from a village in WB. This has been my bad experience so far with Yokohama tubeless crap. The tire dealer called me today and said the new tires have come and I can come and collect cash instead if I wish to. Will go tomorrow and do so.

[BeantownThinker]

Originally Posted by GTO

For the situation faced in the OP, hard tyres (the type made by JK, Apollo, MRF) would probably be preferred

Am really surprised as to how fast the tyre punctured when it was not a tyre burst. I have hit a deep pothole at about 90kmph, a bad hit at that, and still have been able to drive 25kms without the tyre losing too much pressure. Woke up the next day to find tyre punctured with sidewall damage and a complete write-off. The tyres were Apollo Aceleres that came OEM with my Manza.

Any tyre at best can only delay the loss of pressure but cannot prevent it at hit at high speeds.

Also of late have not been hearing of good reviews of Bridgestone tyres. Some tyre dealers I have spoken have been saying that the radials do not cover the entire width of the tyre. Could this have been a reason for the fast loss of pressure?

[DeepakS]

Dear OP, its good to hear that nothing/no one else else was harmed due to this incident.
No matter how much other bhpians tell you that you were wrong that you took your card over the potholes at 60kmph, i can assure you, you're not the one that caused this.
The Fluidic Verna, has had 2 problems since it's very launch.
1. It's suspension is very softly tuned. Even a simple 1 inch undulation on the road causes it's front suspension to travel all it's reach and hit the underbody.
2. It's highway dynamics are very poor. It handles like a boat.

Now, we cannot do anything about the 2nd part.
Coming to the 1st point... I myself had a Fluidic Verna for 3 long years. I had upgraded from a Swift, hence i had no idea that the Verna would be such a female canine in the potholes. So one fine day i was cruising down the highway and i hit a very small pothole which even a Honda City or an Accent wouldn't think before going through twice. I hear loud thud. I pull over the car and get off to check what caused the noise and what damage had happened. To my surprise, nothing was noticeable. I went on with my cruising and nothing popped up.
The next day, at work, while the car was parked under the sun, i noticed a small bulge in the front left tyre. Curious enough, i took it to a friend's tyre shop. He examined it and told me that the radial wire(steel) inside the tyre had broken and it was protruding out. Apparently the pothole which i hit, at a speed of 50-60kmph, caused the front spring/suspension to compress/travel all it's length and when it hit it's limit, it hit the underbody and the impact was transferred to the tyre which caused the radial to break.
There are 2 culprits here, the soft suspension, as well as the single ply sidewall of the Bridgestone tyres which are provided with the vehicle. Mind you, this problem is only in the 16" alloy wheel version, not the 15" steel wheel one.
Over the time, as famously leveled our roads are, i managed to get those bulges on all 4 tyres and finally had to go in for a change. I got Michelin Primacy LC 205/55 R16 installed on all 4 wheels.
Since then, i didn't have a single bulge in the tyre...but the "thud" sound whenever i drive on any pothole/undulation/road patch is still the same. But atleast the tyre doesn't take a beating as bad as the Bridgestone did.
Don't even try to file for a warranty claim, because there would be none. According to Hyundai as well as Bridgestone, this is not a defective tire, but only a poor manufactured one.
For future safety, i would suggest going in for an immediate change of tires to a good set. Unfortunately, Verna's size is so unique, that only 2 or 3 options are available.
I got Michelins, those were pretty awesome. You can go in for either Michelin or Yokohamas. Both would serve you good.

[#aj]

What a coincidence the exact same thing happened to me on the 29th of this month and that too @ chavara just before the signal @titanium (while going towards ekm). Speed was around 60-70 it was around 7am and i spotted the pothole really late, the right front tyre sidewall gave away.since they were my stock honda city tyres and have already done 41k km's I duly replaced all my tyres to 195 60 r15 bridgestone turanza ar-20.

[RajeVenu]

Originally Posted by BeantownThinker

Also of late have not been hearing of good reviews of Bridgestone tyres. Some tyre dealers I have spoken have been saying that the radials do not cover the entire width of the tyre. Could this have been a reason for the fast loss of pressure?

I fully agree with Beantown Thinker, I too had a high speed bump on a Toll Road near Indore thanks to a 8" gap between the culvert and road the bang was such that it bent my alloy wheels and there was a noticeable bulge in the sidewall of the Bridgestone tubeless tyre. I was due to change my tyres and was surprised when my tyre dealer told that Bridgestone has thinner sidewalls and are only worth being driven on good roads. I had also noticed numerous hairline cracks on all tyres on the sidewalls. The tyres were hardly 3 years old and were in constant use. I went for Michelin XM2 as replacements and am very happy about the decision, the ride quality has also improved.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by #aj

What a coincidence : the exact same thing happened to me on the 29th of this month and that too @ chavara just before the signal @titanium (while going towards ekm). Speed was around 60-70 it was around 7am and i spotted the pothole really late, the right front tyre sidewall gave away.

Like I do most weekends, I did this stretch last weekend too. Since I was on my CBR, I was riding carefully and noticed that currently the problem (potholes) is only at the stretch in front of KMML/Titanium @ Chavara. The potholes near Karunagapally seem to have been covered up.

Ofcourse the whole Kayankulam - Kollam stretch is a patched-up piece of tarmac - so it is a bumpy uneven ride all through. But looks like except the KMML stretch, the other potholes have been filled-in (even if temporarily).

P.S.: BTW, in answer to someone's query about why the highway expansion work is not happening even after 60 years (can you imagine this in any other state?) of land acquisition, the CM said work will start in 3 months. Oh yeah. And pigs will fly.

[Maverick14]

Originally Posted by Maverick14

I lost 5 Yokohama tubeless tires on my Santro in the exact same way - POTHOLES!! I lost the 1st one and then I got a 30% discount on the replacement. Then while I was going to Mandarmani with family, 2 left side tires burst at the same time in Kolkata itself. The Yokohama Eastern region head called and apologized and gave me the offer of 50% off on a new set and that this can happen to any tire. I agreed and that was the worst mistake that I made. This time I was travelling to Puri and then again 2 left side tires burst! I thought enough is enough and bought good old MRF tube type ones from a village in WB. This has been my bad experience so far with Yokohama tubeless crap. The tire dealer called me today and said the new tires have come and I can come and collect cash instead if I wish to. Will go tomorrow and do so.

I went to the dealer and got a cash of Rs. 3200 instead of getting another useless set of Yokohama tires.

[veerubhai]

Originally Posted by noblecr

Attachment 1333504

Good god for getting out unharmed & the ABS worked perfectly..

Looking at the scratch marks on your alloys it shows the pothole is very big. Could be more than 5 inches deeper. Also unfortunately both your front and rear wheel landed into them causing the damages. Seems you didn't applied brakes Hardluck ..!

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by veerubhai

Looking at the scratch marks on your alloys it shows the pothole is very big. Could be more than 5 inches deeper. Also unfortunately both your front and rear wheel landed into them causing the damages.

The scratch marks were majorly gifted to the alloys by the tyre removing tools that were used by the guy. Not that the OP have any choice but to accept it due to the time of the incident plus he had his family with him and place to abandon the car wasn't possible.

Originally Posted by veerubhai

Seems you didn't applied brakes Hardluck

Braking at that speeds and hitting the pothole will crack the alloys or Evelyn damage the underpinnings (suspension, chassis) as the weight would have transferred into the front reducing sorting travel to absorb the impact.

IMO brake should be used prior to entering the pothole.

[AutoNoob]

Originally Posted by GTO

For the situation faced in the OP, hard tyres (the type made by JK, Apollo, MRF) would probably be preferred

Thanks GTO for this input. I am planning to change my tires and would have gone for Bridgestone; but now I am reconsidering my options.