[padmrajravi]

Voted for the third option. Depends on the model and tyre. It looks good on an SUV or a well designed enthusiast car like Lancer. But I can't imagine a Celerio or a WagonR with white lettered tyres.

I think the trend is coming back now, because the motor vehicle departments are not leaving anything for us to modify. Even the roof wraps and stickers are cop magnets now. So tyres are one of the few things which you can personalize without much hassles.

[TorqueKnight]

Tires with white letters increases the muscularity of the SUV's and Sport Sedans. They lose the appeal on non sporty hatchbacks. I drooled a lot on my cousin's bolero with white letter tires and I have a plan to own a Toyota Fortuner with tires like that in near future.

They are absolutely gorgeous

[vijayshouree]

Voted for Depends on model/tyre size. The obvious choice for most of us who prefer little attention to detail of everyday things.

I think they look damn good on SUVs and trucks. For hatchbacks and sedans, they might look too loud. Mostly, I would prefer highlighting anything if and only if it really commends.

[Motor_Nut]

I chose to go with first option 'Yes'.

Would like to stick with factory painted/sticker-ed tyres instead of after market job for quality reasons. White lettering is not only a kool thing but in a way, it also helps in branding of a tyre manufacturer.

Some of the members expressed their reservations about white letters on smaller cars, but in my humble opinion, a smart and stylish design can make things look beautiful on small cars too. Since trend is coming back, let us see how this unfolds in larger context of the Indian Car scene.

[Aafaq]

Originally Posted by UK07Rider

Pardon me if this is a dumb question to ask, but this got me thinking..was there a purpose for the white lettering when it was first
done on tyres or was it solely for aesthetic appeal from the start?

I think the white lettering has nothing to do with anything else but looks and regarding the white colored sidewall of older cars, I have found a related article in the below link.
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index....-lasting-tire/

[Crankpin]

As long as the car/ SUV is not under-wheeled ( good stance) and has well styled alloys, the white lettering should look good. Again its up to personal taste.

[CarCynic]

My dad was a big fan of these and so am I. I have been painting our family's Jeeps and SUVs for decades now. They make a car really stand out and look sporty.

Usually the paint comes off very soon when painted on new tyres. When I paint after a year or two of use, it stays and just needs a quick touch up every few months because it tends to lose the brightness due to dust. I wish there was a more elegant and long-lasting way to achieve this without the need for periodic touch-up (other than factory option, of course).

[truezealous]

Voted for First Option "Yes".
In my opinion tyres with white letters improves looks of car, they looked super-cool!
And yes, I still remember, back in my school days, I had white-painted letters on my bicycle .

[Shashwat B]

Originally Posted by UK07Rider

Pardon me if this is a dumb question to ask, but this got me thinking..was there a purpose for the white lettering when it was first
done on tyres or was it solely for aesthetic appeal from the start?

Early pneumatic tires were all white as a result of mixing natural rubber with zinc oxide to increase grip. Carbon black was later added to the tread portion for better durability, leaving white sidewalls. While difficult to keep clean, wide whitewalls stayed in vogue for a while. Later, tastes changed to prefer carbon black on the sidewalls, as well. The whitewalls got thinner and thinner until they disappeared entirely. The white layer still existed under the thin coating of black rubber, which could be scuffed away to reveal the bright sidewall underneath.

Some manufacturers took advantage of the black-over-white construction to highlight their brand name. By molding raised text on the white rubber sidewall, coating it with black, and then removing the layer covering the letters, the raised-white-letter tire was created.

[RoadGlide]

I find it really cool to have tire stickers. In fact, I am on the lookout for Continental branding tire stickers since I have MC5 on my Ertiga.

If anyone finds anything, do let me know. Thanks!

[DicKy]

Big fan!!!, but voted for the third option.

Frankly, the general rule is thick sidewalls and a pretty bulky design.

Anything other than that feels akin to the body plastered with sponsored stickers.

Sucker for these in pickup trucks.

Mcfly's Toyota truck



Aah, the Challenger.


Other than the BOF SUVs, only the Contessa can gracefully carry the white lettered tyres with grace in the Indian market.

Oh, and this guy too.....

[ant_vas]

Voted Yes!


I had Hankook tyres on one of my previous cars (Palio MJD SDX) and i personally felt the white lettered tyres went well with the car

[artemis_fowl]

Absolutely! I’m a big fan of them, as they ooze C-H-A-R-A-C-T-E-R!
But, they only look good on SUVs (just my thoughts). No, not wannabe compact SUVs. I’m talking about the muscular brawny body on frames. I just drool over a dual-tone (red) Pajero SFX with white lettered tyres! And just imagine how would they look on the grand-daddy of them all: The Wrangler!
P.S: I had them on my Forester for a while, and it did wonders to its (admittedly) bland looks.

[truezealous]

Interesting facts:
Originally rubber tires were white, which is the natural color of rubber.
In the early 1900s, Binney & Smith began selling their carbon black chemicals to Goodrich Tire Company, as it was found that the use of carbon black in rubber manufacturing significantly increased certain desirable qualities for rubber meant to be turned into tires.
Adding carbon black also helps conduct heat away from certain hot spots on the tire; specifically, in the tread and belt areas, which can get particularly hot at times while driving. This reduces thermal damage on the tire, further extending its lifespan.
Source

Old school white letter tires use a solid white layer sandwiched into the sidewall that is squeezed outward through raised areas in the tire mold. Then a cosmetic layer of black is applied to the surface white layer. Finally a machine buffs away the black cosmetic layer only on the raised portions and that is how the white letter look is achieved. On modern low profile, performance tires, there is not enough room to sandwich this solid white layer.
Source

[SCORPION]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

In fact, I'd found tyre stickers available on Amazon and was on the verge of picking them up.

Originally Posted by RoadGlide

I find it really cool to have tire stickers. In fact, I am on the lookout for Continental branding tire stickers since I have MC5 on my Ertiga.
If anyone finds anything, do let me know. Thanks!

I love white lettering on the side walls especially on chunky SUV tyres. It is this love that drove me into getting a set of 'MRF WANDERER' stickers for my 2016 Endeavour. Anything else wouldn't have looked original. The white lettering on the Endeavour in the MRF Wanderer ad looks really cool and I thought I would be able to replicate that to some extend with tyre stickers.

I bought the stickers on line from a guy in Ludhiana. You can get customised stickers and even have your name stickered on to your side walls if you have that kind of a fetish. You can even choose between white, red, yellow or blue. I opted for white. No choice of font I guess. You only have to specify the tyre size.

The stickers arrived in about a week as promised and they are identical to the ones that you see on Amazon these days. They came with adhesive films on both sides for protection only. The stickers are not self adhesive. Instead they provide a small (but sufficient) bottle of super glue, a hard wire brush and a 500 ml plastic bottle with a sprayer. The sprayer is for spraying a cleaner like acetone. But turpentine or a paint thinner would work just fine. I used turpentine. The wire brush is for roughening up the surface for better adhesion.

These stickers dont work. I will tell you why later on. I actually removed the first tyre and took it all the way up to my flat in all that josh and realised it is a back breaking job with these massive SUV tyres. The other 3 were done in situ and it was no better because the cleaning and sanding takes a long time especially when your tyres have run a few thousand kms. These stickers rely on good surface to surface contact for the glue to work. There is hardly any smooth space on the side walls. The tyre branding itself, then the tyre information, warnings, load rating information and, like in the Wanderers, designs which cover what is left. So it is extremely difficult to get proper adhesion if you want to maintain some sort of symmetry. There in lies the problem. After all that back breaking work which took about 4 hours, the first letter disappeared in about 2 weeks of city and highway driving. Now most of the letters lie scattered somewhere along the lengths and breadths of South Indian roads. My hard work in vain. All that is left in the best one looks like this 'M F W D RE '. I have stopped trying to pull them out because what is left is really clinging to the tyres. They will eventually fall or I will find new shoes for her soon - WITH PROPER WHITE LETTERING FROM THE FACTORY! I unfortunately lost the pictures I had taken to show off, soon after I finished the job.

So in short, tyre stickers don't work if you ask me. Don't waste your money. If you are really dexterous or if you are an artist or if you can find someone like that, painting might work with regular touch ups. Else wait until you need a new set of tyres.