[Sherlocked]

Hi guys,
We have a 2004 WagonR lx which doesn't come with a power steering.
At present its running on 145/70/R13 tyres which I'm planning to upsize to 155/xx/R13 during the next tyre change which appears to happen sooner than expected.

My doubt is since my car doesn't have power steering, will upsizing result in more steering effort as compared to what it is now with the present tyre profile?

I usually don't, in fact can't use the steering at a standstill since it's not power equipped and have the habit of keeping the car in motion, even a little, to use the steering which I believe is the correct way for these cars.

Thanks in Advance.

Mods, kindly merge with similar thread if exists. Thanks.

[sudev]

The effort would go up but recalling my days with M800 the difference was marginally higher. Braking improvement and handling was much better

[techiecal]

I had done that on my Zen Lx. Felt nice when driving through but was very arduous when reverse parking in tight spaces and there was a lot of this in daily city driving. I had to finally switch back to the original specifications and it was such a relief - it felt like power steering had been added to the car. So be forewarned.

[GTO]

145 -> 155 won't make much of a difference. The steering effort will increase marginally. I'd suggest going for it as your WagonR is under-tyred. The benefits of improved on-road behaviour far outweigh any disadvantages. Just ensure that the air pressures are properly maintained. Under-inflation will lead to a tighter steering.

It's only when you add 30+ mm on either side that things become much harder. In my Esteem, I upsized from 155 to 185 mm and the difference was noticeable.

Originally Posted by Sherlocked

have the habit of keeping the car in motion, even a little, to use the steering which I believe is the correct way for these cars.

Absolutely. Slight movement makes it much lighter. I follow this practice in my ol' Jeep with 225 mm tyres. Try doing it at a standstill and she'll give you an arms workout .

[Sherlocked]

Originally Posted by sudev

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Originally Posted by techiecal

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Originally Posted by GTO

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Thanks guys for the responses!
Have decided to go with the 155mm rubber and give it a try as and when the tyre change materializes.
The stupendous reliability of this tallboy doesn't convince me to let go off it just because it doesn't have EPS.

[IshaanIan]

From personal experience after having the EPS disconnected in my Wagon R and running on really wide Bridgestone Potenzas, I can tell you that at the end of the day the Wagon R is a fairly light car and so 155mm rubber will really not be that much of an issue. It will obviously take a bit more effort but that is only when the car is stationary or at negligible speeds. Once you get moving, it remains easy to drive

[shankar.balan]

I put fat 215/75/15 radials from Ceat (Rhino) on my old Gypsy. Same size as what I had later on my Bolero as OEM.
Yes it was tougher to steer at low speeds than when it had the normal HT75 Jeep tyres on.
But the ride, handling, comfort and braking improved no end and that was a good thing.

[johannskaria]

Its a safe option IMO.
Even I was looking at the similar (+10/+20) for next tyre change of my 2000 Maruti 800 which I daily use.
It makes a good difference with the positives outweighing the negatives.
Add to that a good branded one like Bridgestone would make it a world of difference and is worth the money.

[Sherlocked]

Thanks for the inputs. Will definitely be upsizing now.

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

From personal experience after having the EPS disconnected in my Wagon R and running on really wide Bridgestone Potenzas,

Well those are some adventures you are having with your Waggie.
Mind sharing why did you disconnected the EPS and what profile were those Potenzas.
One advantage of driving the Wagon R without power steering is the steering feels less nervous during high speeds. It was during a brief comparo when I drove my friends VXI.