[anjan_c2007]

Broadly, the two factory fitted components in a new commuter car, that can only be chosen are the battery and the tyres.

Quite a few dealers oblige with the customer's choice, but these days many fail to do so, given the ant like population of factory fresh cars in their stockyards/godowns and the rush of customers out to grab their new drives.

My preferred brand of tyres is Bridgestone, while the battery brand preferred is Amaron for a new car. I also put forth my request to the dealer in case I am taken by friends to choose their new car. The colour shade choice is personal and the friend's family members have their way, where I do not normally put forth my say. But as far as tyre and battery choices are concerned, I usually suggest these two brands that they accept.

It would be preferable to know our fellow members views on the subject and maybe we all can modify our choices if proper justifications are put forth for other competing brands.

[vigsom]

Although I've never gotten myself a new car this far (and probably will never), my choice of battery will be the Amaron. I've been loyal to this brand since 2004, when I got an Amaron in my Esteem.

On tyres, I'd say Bridgestone is safe. Here is a summary of my experience with tyres of various brands:

1. MRF Legend and CEAT - the Legends were very good while the CEATs were okay
2. Bridgestone DONUTS - excellent tyres for their time (early 2000s)
3. Bridgestone L607 - light truck tyres and I had no puncture in the 48,0000km that the tyres did before change. I replaced the tyres with the same type
4. Michelin Primacy LC - super silent but wouldn't be expected to go beyond 40k kms at the max
5. Yokohama Geolandar G012 - noisy but very long mileage tyres. Not even a hairline crack in seven years.
6. Apollo Alnac 4G and Amazer 3G - not satisfactory

[Kosfactor]

Same here!

Why Bridgestone? Use case involves remote places and rough terrain.
Why Amaron? I prefer to change the battery ~ 5 year mark before it fails.

I remember one of our Esteem having a Prestolite battery, it was very good. The Exide that was installed afterwards did not last long and then comes Amaron. My own esteem too was fitted with Amaron.

All our M&M vehicles that followed came factory fitted with Amaron and Bridgestone Dueler , except one of them which came with JK. I liked the JK as well, they sure did their testing with it. I have never seen a tyre that good in the rain - ever.

From what I observed, Amaron keeps the water level inside for longer despite all the heat inside the engine bay, maybe that's why it lasts longer.

[Cresterk]

My i20 came with mass market spec bridgestones from the factory and the grip was definitely sufficient but the tyre noise was very audible. In fact, while cruising at higher speeds, the noise from tyres was higher than the engine! I had always just chalked it up to being a design failure from the car for not providing adequate dampening in the wheel wells. It was pretty worn over 45k kms and I finally splurged on some michelin primacy 4s after seeing all the reviews praising them for being silent and good in wet conditions. Well all I can say is that now I can finally hear the engine while cruising

[carthick1000]

Usually here in NL where I live, there is not much choice to opt for tyres or battery, when it comes from factory. The standard fitment of the OEM is something to live with, unless you spend some extra bucks to replace. The last few cars, I had came with Michelins and once a Bridgestone. However, the winter tyres (and the forthcoming set of tires) can be chosen, as it is done externally at a 3rd party (or dealer which is less often the case) garage. I prefer Nokian. It is a Finnish brand (not very popular) and they make some excellent tyres for summer/winter/all season for various class of cars. I find them good qua road noise, efficiency and wet grip.

For most commuter car tyre sizes, they are on par (or even better) when compared to other popular brands.

Regarding batteries, I just pick what the OEM recommends and not make much of a deal about it.

[itsmeparvathy9]

I had JK tyres and an Amaron Battery on my Kwid, although I would have preferred MRF tyres and an Exide Battery.

[sunikkat]

My preferred choices of tyres are Michelin and Continental. For battery Exide and Amaron.

But I don’t think we have an option to select these before delivery. It comes as default. For VAGs, though tyres we can change aftermarket at same specs, an aftermarket battery will void the warranty.

[ajayc123]

I never knew that dealers would oblige with change of battery. If I had a choice, I would prefer Exide battery over other options.

[anjan_c2007]

Originally Posted by ajayc123

I never knew that dealers would oblige with change of battery. If I had a choice, I would prefer Exide battery over other options.

Dealers as you put it, in reality never oblige with swapping of either the factory fitted battery or tyres. They just note your colour shade choice and oblige by sighting one or two cars as the case may be with such shade in their stockyard, with factory fitment of the battery and tyre combo of your choice of makes.

[narayans80]

I wish we had a choice of 2 or 3 brands to choose at OEM level, depending on whether one wants comfort, low noise, grip or durability

My S-Cross came with JK UX Royales from OEM. I believe some were sold with Apollo Accelere. But this was not given as a choice and one had to live with the tyres that came with the car.

Among those who have plants in India, I am satisfied with Continental UC6. I would have wished for Michelin P4ST, but its tad too expensive, and the UC6 does most of it at 2000 Rs apiece lesser. But this is because of my personal preference, some owners have stuck to JKs since it lasts longer.

With batteries, Exide has been decent. I went for a proactive battery swap at the 3.5 year mark. Lot's of recommendations for Amaron, might try it next time.

[Scarlet_Rider]

Got Apollo tyres and Exide battery with my new Baleno. Would have preferred Bridgestone tyres and Amaron battery.

Been using Amaron batteries in all our previous cars. One thing I have observed with Amaron batteries is that they begin to give you warnings like weak cranking, horn, etc. before they give up. Exide ones that we used previously gave up without any warning. Not sure how the latest ones are.

[achyutaghosh]

Have never bothered about battery brand, but i am particular about tires. I believe most OE tires are poor quality, irrespective of the brand. For example, even the Energy XM that my 2010 Honda City came with is the runt of the Michelin stable.

I also think that for tires, we need to consider model/variant specific choices rather than brand, as there is wide variation in individual models in a brand's portfolio. Further, other than brands, factors like warranty, ride quality, performance, price are also equally important.

Given the above, my preferred tire brands have been Michelin and Yokohama. I had the Michelin Primacy in the City, the Yokohama A Drive in the Swift and the Geolandars in the Fortuner, and all three of them made massive difference to the cars. As for model/variant specific choices, i felt the Falken Wildpeaks in the Compass were an excellent choice, even though Falken brand support was non existent in India.

[GTO]

I drive all new & important cars launched in the year and among OEM tyre brands, my choices are either Apollo or Michelin.

Among batteries, my top choice has always been Amaron. Exide somehow seems designed to fail in the month / quarter that the warranty ends.

[harry10]

OEM or otherwise my choice of tyres were always Michelin. However, we got Apollo couple of times as OEM and they worked quite well for us. Even Yokohama we had a good experience. Outside of these 3 we haven't tried anything else. Though i would love to try Continental this time when the tyre change comes as Michelin have become hard to procure and if they do then price has gone quiet high.

As for Battery the preferred choice is always Amaron.

Currently we have Apollo Alnac 4g in Sonet which are OEM. Haven't had a single puncture so far in 17k running. For their life expectancy we will see how long they last.

[RubberGuru1113]

Can somebody convert this into a poll please?