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-   -   Tyre upgrade/alloys fitment - NHC (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-alloy-wheel-section/22406-tyre-upgrade-alloys-fitment-nhc.html)

Hi guys,

I would like to know if there's a case for tyres upgrade on my NHC (exi) which is on stock tyres (Goodyear 175/65/R14)..have just done abt 100+ kms on the same since taking the delivery on 15th march.

What I would like to know is if the tyre upgrade will bring better ride/handling or just putting in alloys on the stock tyres will be sufficient..

Pls suggest the tyres (brand/size) in case upgrade is required..Or else suggest the alloys brand that I can go for & approx.price for the 14" stock tyres.Not looking to spend a lot on alloys though..nor looking at Aura etc..

Ishan - r u there & can you help pls?

Thanks & Regards
Ash

Not to worry ash, team-bhp's official tyre dealer will be here shortly. lucky for you your in delhi. hehehe.

175/65-14 on steel wheels of 5J are not so great for the NHC. But if your happy keep them.

If you do want to upgrade then the best upsize is 195/60-14. good tyres available are Michelin Energy XM1 or bridgestone turanza ER-60.

For alloys look at HR(hijoin alloys) which are pretty reasonable. the size for you is 14"X6J.

These will be tubeless tyres. With this upgrade you will get a better ride since both these are soft compound tyres.

also since the width increases from 175 to 195 your handling will improve by a big margin.

vid has given all the good suggestions for the upgrade ....195/60-14 tyres with 14x 6j alloys would be the ideal combo


agree: lol:

Thank You for the excellent advice.

1. Goodyears have low exchange rates in comparison to Bridgestone..U can expect around 6K for the set of four stock tyres..


2. 14x 6j alloys will cost u 3 - 3.5 K per alloy..!!!

As a matter of fact I was indeed clocking some furious miles on Dhanno!!! So a good guess there :p

I would agree with Vid's & KP's suggestions, an upgrade is going to work wonders for your NHC's handling. Also recommended tyres would be Michelin Energy XM1's which you can use on your stock rims without an issue if you do not want to spend a lot of money.

So do tell us your budget & we'll see what's the best we can do for you!

Hey Ishan,
hi! I know you & your Dhanno are two inseparable souls :p so it was an obvious one!

Thanks for your revert..I have not thought of a budget for the tyre upgrade as such but would not like to spend a lot as it is I am a spent forcelol: after the car buying & the subsequent ICE setup..! Do let me know what differential I will have to shell out for Michelin Energy XM1 after exchanging with the stock tyres..(will it be around what KP has mentioned??) It would be great if you can work out something nice & a not so expensive deal for me !

Would you be kind enough to get me alloys as well..Let me know,I will PM you if its okay with you.

Thanks so much !
Ash

I think KP has given you a good ball-park figure for the exchange prices. Energy's in 195/60 cost around 3.5k so you should be looking at paying roughly 11k for 4 new tyres & exchanging your old ones.

As for alloys good ones like HR/Prestige etc. are in the range of 3-3.5k per piece, so now you have some figures to decide your budget & choose whether you want to upgrade only the tyres or the alloys too.

As for getting them for you I would surely be able to help you & no need to PM me as public discussion is good for other people's knowledge too. And contrary to the opinion that you seem to be getting, I do not deal in anything even vaguely related to cars!! Because of my interest in tyres & wheels I am referred to as the official tyre dealer of the forum as an inside joke!!

@ iraghava: Quoting iraghava "And contrary to the opinion that you seem to be getting, I do not deal in anything even vaguely related to cars!! Because of my interest in tyres & wheels I am referred to as the official tyre dealer of the forum as an inside joke!!"

I seriously was of the opinion that you were in the field of tyres and alloys. Holy cow, just happened to read this statement and guess you need to keep saying this more often for the other noobs to gather this. Hmmm just realised that this is passion and knowledge you for the subject..

Hi Ishan,

My response in bold..

Hi All,
I just joined Team-BHP...thanks to google where I was searching for good tyres for my Honda City GXI (2004) model. The car has done 42500 KM on the OEM Goodyear GPS 2. I expected tyres to last around 65K but the TWI started to show up + the rear tyres started puncturing a little frequently...the dealer (Deccan Honda) did not rotate tyres regularly I think (or this is just the normal life span of GPS 2).

This time I wanted to try better tyres and google + team-bhp + certain malyasian forums directed me to Michelin Energy XM1. Chose it over Bridgestone ER-60 as XM1 is said to use silica based compund instead of carbon black - saving on fuel and environment.

Michelin Energy XM1 (175/65 R14) costed me Rs. 3180 per tyre.
Not sure if I got the best price (was not a team-BHP member at that time unforunately).

Can you all experts comment if this is a good tyre and whether I got a good price ?

Also, the Honda City Gxi (2004) manual says the tim size is 5.5 x 14J. Not sure why you are saying it's 5J...

Anand you got a great deal on the Michliens. Remember, michelins are the most expensive of the lot but they are great tyres and u know that theres no cost for safety

Well they are great tyres Anand & even though you paid a wee bit more than necessary, trust me you won't regret fitting them on your car!

Enjoy driving the car on the new footwear & if possible do post a small user feedback on the tyres for the benefit of other users!

Thanks.

It's only 70 KM on the new tyres so far so a quick feedback is:

Ride quality:
Ride has become very smooth, a bit quieter and slightly stiff (not problematic though). In fact, the difference is so much that i feel like I have got new suspensions. Of course, we need to discount the "brand new tyres" aspect before attributing this to Michelin XM1's. Unfortunately, I don't remember the exact ride quality 2.5 years ago when the car (and hence the Goodyear GPS 2's) were brand new...

Handling:
I get a feeling that grip has reduced but it actually may not have. Today I had to apply sudden break once when I was at 80 KM/Hr and slowed down to 40 KM/Hr in a flash and the car maintained a straight line (I may have pumped the break - as it has become my reflex action in case of emergency on my NHC).

Fuel Economy:
I am really interested to see if there is any improvement that Michelin claim. Again, tyre change is coincident with 42KM service wherein spark-plugs, oll, filters, transmission fluid...everything is replaced and fuel injector system cleaned so don't know how to isolate credit to Michelin...

Tread Life:
Fingures crossed. What do you guys foresee ? With Rs. 16000 down the drain (for all 5 tyres), I hope to cross 70K on these. Do you think that's possible or seen before on XM1 ?

You mean 70k on this set alone? If yes, the I would say Good Luck becuase AFAIK they will ideally last you around 45-55k at the most. Expecting a tyre to last 70k in our conditions means that you're willing to sacrifice all other qualities (like ride comfort, grip etc.) for the sake of tyre life. If that is fine with you then no issues, but in my book that is being a bit too miserly/over-expectant.

Remember that if the only determinant for judging a tyres is tyre life then of course there is going to be a compromise in other departments. You can;t have everything in one package, hence if you have a tyre which is going to last 70k be prepared to live with poor grip & a hard ride.

Of course, if you mean going from 42.5k to 70k on this set alone then whatever I said above was pure rambling!!