[Sheel]

My friend has got himself a Hyundai Tucson GLS 4WD and it has not even done 1,500 kms that we see a cut in the tire.

The tire size 225/55 R18. We are open to increasing the contact patch as well as the aspect ratio as long as it doesn't hamper the dynamics or the odo readings.

What tire/brands is recommended for the Hyundai Tucson? Would be nice if we can get an AT tire which is silent and a bit rugged.

Suggestions?

[gkveda]

Originally Posted by Sheel

My friend has got himself a Hyundai Tucson GLS 4WD and it has not even done 1,500 kms that we see a cut in the tire.
Suggestions?

If it is just 1500 KMs, I assume that it is not older than an year. Probably, you can claim warranty since usually the warranty will be for 3 years for any tire.

If the tire is older than 3 years, then, I recommend to use the spare tire for another 1-2 years and keep the cut tire as spare if there is no air leak. After 5 years of overall usage, anyways, you need to change all 5 tires.

If it is already 5 years and time to change all five tires, then, based on my earlier experiences, I would simply go with Michelin. It has given me fullest satisfaction for all my cars (Santro(Appx 32,000 KMs), Qualis(42,000 Kms), Fortuner(4000 Kms and still going strong)

For me, parameters I consider are(In the order of preference)
1. Ride Quality : The best among the lot.
2. Road Grip: Superb since the compound is soft.
3. Tires noise : minimal,
4. Durability: Around 40,000 Kms

[GTO]

Yokohama Geolandars are still the best A/T tyres IMHO. Second choice would be Pirelli Scorpions or the Michelin LTX.

Personally, if I owned a Tucson, I'd go with on-road tyres only (not A/T) as its a crossover built for tarmac.

Originally Posted by gkveda

If it is just 1500 KMs, I assume that it is not older than an year. Probably, you can claim warranty since usually the warranty will be for 3 years for any tire.

Good suggestion! Try through the official Hyundai channel too. This is a premium product and Hyundai might bend over backward to accommodate.

keep the cut tire as spare if there is no air leak

No, no, no, no. If a tyre has a noticeable cut, better to change. Imagine the loss of car control if this spare tyre is in use on the front side, and has a tyre burst in the middle of a corner. If something like this happens even at 60 kmph, it'll lead to total loss of car control.

[sidhu_hs]

Originally Posted by Sheel

225/55 R18.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think that particular tyre size is available in the market from any of the well known brands. Your best and cheapest bet is to source one tyre of the same make from Hyundai, even though they might charge quite a premium for that.

Next step is 245/50R18. That is BMW F25 X3 territory. You'll also get RunFlats in this size, but Tucson has 7J rim size (I think so, but double check that from the spare wheel), and it'll look a bit bloated.

If you are up for changing your alloys (upsizing/downsizing) as well, then a whole lot of option open up.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by gkveda

If it is just 1500 KMs, I assume that it is not older than an year. Probably, you can claim warranty since usually the warranty will be for 3 years for any tire.

Good suggestion. Just a thought as I recall reading somewhere that the standard 3 years warranty is not applicable on tires that come fitted with a brand new car. It's the same warranty as that of the car, which is probably one year. I am not 100% sure, best to check with Hyundai.

Regards,
Saket.

[Sheel]

We will try for a warranty replacement in a day or two and then think over it. No, I actually did not mean an AT tire, but say, something like the Latitude Touring Sport tires from Michelin.

I will update with the warranty part. And till then, please keep suggesting tires which are available in India in this particular size or in 18 inchers where we can play with the width and aspect ratio and be still staying under tolerance levels.

Yokohama has one tire [forgot its name] and the price is a whooping 25K per tire

[MNITDEVIL]

Originally Posted by sidhu_hs

Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think that particular tyre size is available in the market from any of the well known brands. Next step is 245/50R18. If you are up for changing your alloys (upsizing/downsizing) as well, then a whole lot of option open up.

Seems to be the case. And alloy change will be additional expense. So have to find options which are both financially sensible and give at-par/ better performance.

Originally Posted by GTO

Yokohama Geolandars are still the best A/T tyres IMHO. Second choice would be Pirelli Scorpions or the Michelin LTX.

Personally, if I owned a Tucson, I'd go with on-road tyres only (not A/T) as its a crossover built for tarmac.

Geolanders are massively upsized in width terms - min 18'' tyre is 265 mm wide. Does it even make sense for Tucson? Also, from speedo error POV, 275/45R18 has zero error but available geolander size is 275/60R18. So I think it's a no go.

Originally Posted by Sheel

Yokohama has one tire [forgot its name] and the price is a whooping 25K per tire

Yikes!

[sidhu_hs]

Originally Posted by MNITDEVIL

And alloy change will be additional expense.

If the roads you travel on are not up to mark and you plan on keeping the car for more than a couple of tyre replacements, I'd say, plan on downsizing to 17s.

Ask your dealer if anyone buying the base variant with 17s would like to upgrade to 18s. 17s have more suitable options (like this), they are cheaper, less prone to damage and ride quality is going to be better as well.

[MNITDEVIL]

Originally Posted by sidhu_hs

If the roads you travel on are not up to mark and you plan on keeping the car for more than a couple of tyre replacements, I'd say, plan on downsizing to 17s.

Ask your dealer if anyone buying the base variant with 17s would like to upgrade to 18s. 17s have more suitable options (like this), they are cheaper, less prone to damage and ride quality is going to be better as well.

Live/ travel in NCR region - so roads 80% of the time are not an issue. And ride quality on a tucson is fairly good for a soft roader. Do help with the tyre solutions, TBHP folks!!

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by GTO

Yokohama Geolandars are still the best A/T tyres IMHO. Second choice would be Pirelli Scorpions or the Michelin LTX.

Geolandars are still good but I wholeheartedly disagree on the Pirellis. I would place the Pirellis third after the Michelins.

Michelin now has 2 options for people with SUVs. In many SUV sizes, they offer an LTX Force which is more of an off-road tyre and a Michelin Primacy SUV better suited for cars that see more of highway driving. Superb ride comfort and grip on highways.

The Geolandars of course are the best of both worlds but make compromises to ensure they can still do an all round job.

Originally Posted by Sheel

We will try for a warranty replacement in a day or two and then think over it. No, I actually did not mean an AT tire, but say, something like the Latitude Touring Sport tires from Michelin.

Yokohama has one tire [forgot its name] and the price is a whooping 25K per tire

This size has very few options. You may not be able ot choose whatever you want. It will be a case of just going for whatever is available, to be honest.

A Latitude Sport 3 would be awesome if available in this size. But keep in mind it's a high performance tyre. Will not last as long as many other tyres and if you drive badly, it is more susceptible to sidewall damages and stuff.

In 1500kms, you already have a damaged tyre. I wouldnt give the Latitude Sports a high chance of surviving this kind of driving!

The only option from Michelin is a 245/50-18 Primacy 3 ZP. This is a Runflat tyre(as indicated by the ZP ---- Zero Pressure marking). This is a car tyre but the Tucson is more of a car anyway. And the ZP rating means the sidewall can take some abuse. This is the closest to your stock size. Just a 0.36% change.

235/50-18 has a Continental ContiSportcontact 5 SUV.

These are the only options I'm seeing.

Apart from this, you have to go to the grey market.

[Tony2298]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

Geolandars are still good but I wholeheartedly disagree on the Pirellis. I would place the Pirellis third after the Michelins.

Michelin now has 2 options for people with SUVs. In many SUV sizes, they offer an LTX Force which is more of an off-road tyre and a Michelin Primacy SUV better suited for cars that see more of highway driving. Superb ride comfort and grip on highways.

The Geolandars of course are the best of both worlds but make compromises to ensure they can still do an all round job.



This size has very few options. You may not be able ot choose whatever you want. It will be a case of just going for whatever is available, to be honest.

A Latitude Sport 3 would be awesome if available in this size. But keep in mind it's a high performance tyre. Will not last as long as many other tyres and if you drive badly, it is more susceptible to sidewall damages and stuff.

In 1500kms, you already have a damaged tyre. I wouldnt give the Latitude Sports a high chance of surviving this kind of driving!

The only option from Michelin is a 245/50-18 Primacy 3 ZP. This is a Runflat tyre(as indicated by the ZP ---- Zero Pressure marking). This is a car tyre but the Tucson is more of a car anyway. And the ZP rating means the sidewall can take some abuse. This is the closest to your stock size. Just a 0.36% change.

235/50-18 has a Continental ContiSportcontact 5 SUV.

These are the only options I'm seeing.

Apart from this, you have to go to the grey market.

Respected Sir, I've been reading your threads for many years now and highly respect your informative insights. I have recently purchased a Hyundai Tucson CRDi, the car is excellent but the tyres which came as OE fitment are Korean made Nexen tyres which are not very good and I'm thinking to change them ASAP. Now as you've already mentioned that 225/55 R18 is a pretty rare size and in India only Bridgestone makes it that too their Turanza T001 series which as far as I know are pretty mediocre and many people who got these as OE fitment (Innova Crysta owners) aren't satisfied with it and trading it for Michelins. I'm ready to upsize to 245/50 R18 which shall cause minimum errors but as we all know that Michelins have stopped their operations and has presence in only a few select regions, unfortunately my town doesn't have any Michelin dealers left. So for that size I can acquire Potenza S001 from Bridgestone which would be RFTs as well, so can you please tell me how good they are and should I buy these or I'm better off with stock sized Turanzas only. Thank you! 😊

[funda2max]

Originally Posted by Tony2298

Respected Sir, I've been reading your threads for many years now and highly respect your informative insights. I have recently purchased a Hyundai Tucson CRDi, the car is excellent but the tyres which came as OE fitment are Korean made Nexen tyres which are not very good and I'm thinking to change them ASAP. Now as you've already mentioned that 225/55 R18 is a pretty rare size and in India only Bridgestone makes it that too their Turanza T001 series which as far as I know are pretty mediocre and many people who got these as OE fitment (Innova Crysta owners) aren't satisfied with it and trading it for Michelins. I'm ready to upsize to 245/50 R18 which shall cause minimum errors but as we all know that Michelins have stopped their operations and has presence in only a few select regions, unfortunately my town doesn't have any Michelin dealers left. So for that size I can acquire Potenza S001 from Bridgestone which would be RFTs as well, so can you please tell me how good they are and should I buy these or I'm better off with stock sized Turanzas only. Thank you! 😊

You can check out 235/50 R18 Yoko C drive 2 (MO approved). These tyres (Hyundai Alcazar | Tyre upgrade options) are really good, but bit pricey. I am sure this will perfectly fit Tuscon!

-AV