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Old 9th May 2007, 08:31   #1
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GoodBye & Thankyou JKs, Welcome Michelins...

Well, it finally happened on Monday (7th May, 2007) evening when I drove down my Alto with its new Footwear...

Background-My Stocks: Car came with JK Ultima XP 145/80R12 74T as stock. It helped me in all my long drives without a single puncture. In all the 16325 kms, it faithfully accompanied me and survived all the situations be it hills, beaches, heat of TN, AP, Orissa and Bengal, good/bad roads. The Stocks also thanked me for the regular rotation, alignment and balancing that I have done strictly within 5000km.

Life must go on: Although I was nostalgic about my JKs but life must go on and I have to upgrade to at some time. The stocks didnt handle well in the curves and the wet weather. The research was on for quit some time now. But during the Saligrama drive (which was powerpacked as for first time there was not female in the car), I decided the footwear needs to be changed where the handling will improve a lot, and i need not have to stretch my stocks as I did in the Shiradi ghats where I felt slight body roll as well...

Which Tyre: Initially I wanted to put 145/80R12 tubeless Turanzas. Checked out Suzuki Japan website and found that Alto sells in abroad with 155/65R13 as stock and I did some analysis on tyre bible and the error was 0.95% which is absolutely nothing. Definitely Suspension will not take any beating if I change to 13". I fail to understand MUL selling on 12"? Why cost cutting on the footwear...Ok, 13" means I need to change rims as well so why not Alloys?

Which Shop: After Shiva Tyre to Sai Iyengar to Tyre Zone and finally into Super TireTec (discussed in a separate thread, "tyre shop in bangalore"). Thanks to Rover, I liked the attitude of Prakash, the owner of Super TireTec and also showed him team-bhp website and what people think about him and other guys. He was impressed and told that he might join in as well.

He gave me 2175/- per tyre for Michelin XM1 (155/65R13 73H) Tubeless. I already bought the Alloys (C9350 Aura) from the distributor himself. ALso exchanged my 5 JKs with wheels at 700 / wheel. I put in alpin nuts which looks great and Prakash also gave me a 21" spanner free of cost.

Finally I came out of the shop as a very satisfied and happy customer. Anybody thinking of change of tyre please move to Prakash, His phone number is there in the other thread, You can also name team-bhp or my name or Rover's name (Ronnie)...Thanks to Rover to introduce me to Prakash...

Demo on new tyres: I can see a marked difference in the handling and the ride comfort too didnt changed much beacuse of the lower Aspect ratio.
I thought to do some fun on seeing a empty Inner ring road at Koramangala. while returning back Monday night, I thought to check its handling...In Inner ring road at the S turn at Domlur side, I took the speed up to 100kmph and left the accelerator at the start of the curve and car handled beautifully on the fast lane and while I came out of the curve the speed was 85kmph, I didnot apply breaks...I could never do in this speed and with that ease in my stocks....

Some questions for experts:
1) Do you require any run-in for new tubeless tyres? Any suggessions pls shoot...
2) After reaching home, I touched the Alloys, front was very hot and rear was cool...Is it because front is disk brakes and the heat is conducted to the Alloys, is this phenomenon normal in all cars?
3) I am using 30psi pressure. Is it OK? I plan to keep 30 for city and 32 for highway...

Here are some of the pics
The threading:


The Wheel


The Car


Abhi
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Old 9th May 2007, 08:36   #2
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You changed your Alto's shoes at 16325 KMS. Is n't that too short for a change?
I would anyways keep Prakash number and shop for my future reference.
Can you PM his contant no.
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Old 9th May 2007, 08:44   #3
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Hi Abhi,

Nice report, I have spoken to Prakash as well few days back I plan to change my stock Goodyear to Bridgestone or Michelins soon on Innova also plan to go with alloys as well. not decided yet although, will take 2 months to decide I feel since I am not in a hurry..

Prakash is quiet good and honest I feel where Shiva tyre guy uses lot of marketing gimic I can feel it just by talking over phone

Have a nice time with new shoes.

Regards,

Ravi.
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Old 9th May 2007, 08:50   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by raajks View Post
You changed your Alto's shoes at 16325 KMS. Is n't that too short for a change?
I would anyways keep Prakash number and shop for my future reference.
Can you PM his contant no.
Hey, I do a lot of Highway driving and I was thinking for Tubeless for the last 5-6months, but somehow I was not able to do it due to budget getting on the way....
My present tyres were as good as new, the way i maintained polished, rotated etc...but i had to shift to tubeless...
I will PM you Prakash number... Let me reach office first...

Abhi
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Old 9th May 2007, 08:55   #5
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Cool Alloys and tyres for an Alto...Congrats akroy....Even i am thinking to changing my stock 175/70/R13 of my Accent CRDi to Potenzas - 195/60/R14 tubeless. My car had done only 6100 Kms and 3.5 months old....Should have changed during the delivery ! Will contact Prakash for a quote for my used tyres..akroy, can you please PM his number?
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Old 9th May 2007, 08:57   #6
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There is no run in required for tyres of any kind. Just fit them and rip. Front tyres getting hot is a normal phenomenon. It is because of as you have already rightly pointed out because of the disc brakes. For the tyre pressure I would recommend you keep 28psi all round and would also recommend you try nitrogen. That way you will not have to keep two different pressures for for city and highways.
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Old 9th May 2007, 09:09   #7
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Thats makes sense Abhi, I am doing highway predominantly..I plan to go for tubeless too.. Iyengars were giving me peanuts for the Bridgestones ..
thats why I did not change in the first place.

After you give me Prakash's no. Let me check with him
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Old 9th May 2007, 09:35   #8
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Congrats! Amongst all the tyre brands I have tried, Michelin has impressed the most. I truly believe that they offer the best rubber.
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Old 9th May 2007, 10:55   #9
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refer this and if you buy into follow it: Car Bibles : The Wheel and Tyre Bible

Running in your new tyres

It may sound like an odd concept, but if you buy brand new tyres and slap them on your car, then try to drive the nuts off it, you're going to come a cropper. The reason, believe it or not, is that all tyres need a running-in (or scrubbing-in) period. When tyres are made, they're typically injection-moulded in a heat press. In order to get the tyres out of the mould, it is first lined with a non-stick coating. When the tyres pop out, some of that releasing agent sticks to the tyres themselves. What you get is a nice shiny new tyre, with 'shiny' being the operative word. The releasing agent can take as much as 500 miles to scrub off. Now for the everyday Joe, this isn't really so much of an issue, but for people who are fast drivers, or think they're fast drivers, this can lead to a distressing loss-of-grip mid-corner and a visit to something large and solid. It's doubly important for motorcyclists because they have half the number of tyres and a much smaller contact patch per tyre to boot.

Follow company recommended pressure and yes front wheel will be slightly hotter but do get the front brakes checked to ensure they are not sticking
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Old 9th May 2007, 11:20   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by abhilashvk View Post
Cool Alloys and tyres for an Alto...Congrats akroy....Even i am thinking to changing my stock 175/70/R13 of my Accent CRDi to Potenzas - 195/60/R14 tubeless. My car had done only 6100 Kms and 3.5 months old....Should have changed during the delivery ! Will contact Prakash for a quote for my used tyres..akroy, can you please PM his number?
Great Idea...Even Rover changed his Alloys and tyres of his Accent there...

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Old 9th May 2007, 11:51   #11
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Abhi,

Since they're asymmetrical tyres, I hope the tyres on one side of the car match with the other side not only w.r.t the patterns but also direction.
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Old 9th May 2007, 12:38   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by theMAG View Post
Abhi,

Since they're asymmetrical tyres, I hope the tyres on one side of the car match with the other side not only w.r.t the patterns but also direction.
I didnt get you...
The tyres are assymmetrical wrt to itself but it is symmetrical wrt to the car...also the tyres are non unidirectional as directional tyres do have arrows marked... there is no arrows marked in this case...

Do u mean that I cannot do 5 tyre rotation as I used to do with my stock and treat it like a directional tyre?
Pls comment !!

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Old 9th May 2007, 12:41   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by akroy View Post
also the tyres are non unidirectional as directional tyres do have arrows marked... there is no arrows marked in this case...
Ummmm Abhi look closely your sidewall is clearly marked "Outside" so no need of arrows.
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Old 9th May 2007, 13:00   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GTO View Post
Congrats! Amongst all the tyre brands I have tried, Michelin has impressed the most. I truly believe that they offer the best rubber.

Thats my impression too. I have convinced quite a few people in my circle to get michelins over the bridgestones that are available here & they are all happy. Bridgestone believes in passing off very old series of tyres here in India whereas they have gone several notches ahead in the world market. Yesterday I saw an imported Bridgestone MY01, fantastic piece of rubber, but these are not available through bridgestone india, very sad.
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Old 9th May 2007, 13:11   #15
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Abhi,
Congratulations on the Michelins! They look real cool. Good pictures, too. The tyres will be directional, please check closely.

Cheers,
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