[mrwalker]

Hi Folks

My old faithful WagonR VXi has hit the 40K kms mark and it is time to replace all tyres... One has developed a sidewall bubble (and duly banished to the boot) and the rest have a very worn please-forgive-us look.

In the past the car has done Bangalore-Pune (when NH4 was under construction!), Pune-Mumbai/ Goa etc but now in its old age it will only be used within-city and that too by my wife who is a fairly sedate driver.

So in order of priority, requirements
1. Toughness, Pune roads are no picnic
2. Wet grip, to handle the monsoons
3. Ride and Noise, here the limiting factor is really the car

Plunked on getting an exact replacement of the existing tyres (not necessarily the same make though), i.e. normal with-tube 155/65R13. Don't want to go for tubeless as one of my friends had done this (TT to TL) and then ended up changing all the rims as well...

Visited Darshan tyres who tell me Michelin does not do this. He suggested Bridgstone (S322 I think)...

With some research I have the following
- Bridgestone S322: Quote Rs 2450 per tyres (Rs 12,550 for 5, including balancing and alignment)
- MRF ZV2K: Do not stock, asked one more dealer as well (Atul Tyres)
- Apollo Acelere: Do not stock, asked one more dealer as well (Atul Tyres)
- JK Tornado: Didn't ask, expecting a similar response

Continental site says "This tire is a discontinued model...", Yoko doesn't have normal with-tube ones in this size (as per Atul Tyres)... And as mentioned before Michelin doesn't have this size either...

Any suggestions of which tyre would best meet the stated requirements?

Thanks!

[aargee]

Hey Walker, I own a VXi too & I'd the same response when I went to change the tires (don't ask me when, too embarrassed to quote the mileage) I'd been given the same response that 155/65 R13 is discontinued & that was 2 years ago. Now, I find the same size available abundant at Carnation. However I'm not sure if its from JK or Bridgestone; anyway fate had Bridgestone 155/70 R13 written for me. Check out these sites to avoid the mistake I did.
1. Tyre calculator 1
2. Tyre calculator 2
3. Tyre calculator 3

I would attribute my little knowledge on tyres to TBHP from this thread.

EDIT - Oh!!! yes, do not forget to check out the recommended tyre upsize chart from this post that is available in this thread.

[mrwalker]

Thanks for that! Though I'm not upsizing at all, getting the exact same size of tyre that I currently have, which is the stock one from JK...

Originally Posted by aargee

Hey Walker, I own a VXi too & I'd the same response when I went to change the tires (don't ask me when, too embarrassed to quote the mileage) I'd been given the same response that 155/65 R13 is discontinued & that was 2 years ago. Now, I find the same size available abundant at Carnation. However I'm not sure if its from JK or Bridgestone; anyway fate had Bridgestone 155/70 R13 written for me. Check out these sites to avoid the mistake I did.
1. Tyre calculator 1
2. Tyre calculator 2
3. Tyre calculator 3

I would attribute my little knowledge on tyres to TBHP from this thread.

EDIT - Oh!!! yes, do not forget to check out the recommended tyre upsize chart from this post that is available in this thread.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by mrwalker

Thanks for that! Though I'm not upsizing at all, getting the exact same size of tyre that I currently have, which is the stock one from JK...

Stock is 155/65 R13 and you may or may not get that from JK. Pls check the excel link that I've provided, whether you need to upgrade or stick with OE, it contains all the information you need.

[Nikhilb2008]

For the Wagon R, 155/65 R13 isa good size. You get that in JK as well but I recommend you go in for a Michelin/Yoko/Continental. These are tubeless but it will be fine even on a steel rim as long as your rims are in decent shape.

[mrwalker]

Originally Posted by aargee

Stock is 155/65 R13 and you may or may not get that from JK. Pls check the excel link that I've provided, whether you need to upgrade or stick with OE, it contains all the information you need.

I did check the Excel sheet, while it does provide the appropriate tyre sizes for each vehicle/ rim size, it doesn't provide any details of manufacturers that make that size. In fact the sheet doesn't recognise that 155/65 R13 is the stock size for WagonR VXi.

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

For the Wagon R, 155/65 R13 isa good size. You get that in JK as well but I recommend you go in for a Michelin/Yoko/Continental. These are tubeless but it will be fine even on a steel rim as long as your rims are in decent shape.

Thanks but I'm permanently off moving from tubed to tubeless based on my friend's experience. Would you be able to suggest which of the tubed options I have found (Bridgestone S322, MRF ZV2K, Apollo Accelere, JK Tornado) would best meet the main requirements (Toughness, Wet Grip) for sedate in-city driving.

[aargee]

From what I heard, JK is the best, though I run on Bridgestone 155/65 R13. MRF's looks like it splashes away the water & has good grip in the middle section & Bridgestone has zigzag pattern which would make best for dry roads. I'm no expert here, but just spoke what I felt looking at those tires. However, I would strongly agree with you moving towards tubeless tires. If possible, get alloy wheels & fill in Nitrogen.

[Nikhilb2008]

mrwalker -- You are misinformed.

Acelere, ZV2K are tubeless...

If you want tubetype, then you will have to stick to the bad OEM compounds like JK or BS S322.

[mrwalker]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

mrwalker -- You are misinformed.

Acelere, ZV2K are tubeless...

If you want tubetype, then you will have to stick to the bad OEM compounds like JK or BS S322.

I was just going by the MRF site: http://www.mrftyres.com/Products/TyresZoom.aspx?pid=7

There it lists the following, and the 'TT' led me to believe that it is a normal tubed tyre (I felt the 'TL' ones referred to tubeless tyres)

• 155/65R13 ZV2K TT

I checked with the MRF T&S dealer here in Pune just now and he has confirmed tubed tyre is available: Rs 12,500 for 5 including balancing and alignment.

Re Apollo Acceleres checked with local Apollo office and yes you are right, in this particular size they only sell tubeless ones.

Would the MRF ZV2K ones be better then Bridgestone/ JK for the given requirements?

[Nikhilb2008]

Sorry. I got confused between the ZSLK anthe Zv2K.

I think the ZV2K would be better. But not such a large margin. I still fail to understand why you dont just go in for a tubeless.... It makes no sense!!

[mrwalker]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

Sorry. I got confused between the ZSLK anthe Zv2K.

I think the ZV2K would be better. But not such a large margin. I still fail to understand why you dont just go in for a tubeless.... It makes no sense!!

Thanks I guess I'll go for the ZV2K ones...

Re tubeless, this is based on my friend's experience who changed from tubed to Michelin tubeless and had problems with air leakage. This was finally resolved by working on one rim, replacing another rim and changing a valve.

And the guys who replaced the tyres (Darshan Tyres) 'discovered' all these rim problems later so I have little confidence in their ability to detect these problems before purchase/ fitting of the new tyres.

I have no idea of the condition of my WagonR's rims (though I have changed one recently which was damaged by clipping a curb) so I don't want to take the chance of going thru all this. Also IMHO given that I've been using the stock JKs all this while, the MRF ZV2K could only be an improvement! And I think they are 'good enough' for my requirements.

Of course when the time comes to replace the tyres on the SX4 I will go for good tubeless ones...

[mrwalker]

Getting a little confused between ZV2K and ZVTS, while trying to understand the features in ZV2K...

If one looks at the MRF site, their Features/ Benefits are identical, though the tread pattern is a little different, so what's the difference?
ZVTS: MRF Tyres
ZV2K: MRF Tyres

Though I should ignore this as ZVTS doesn't come in the size I need...

Also read the whole tubed -> tubeless and tubeless -> tubed threads till I went crosseyed but am unable to understand what's going on...

The only thing I gathered was that I should look at the sidewall on each tyre before fitment and check that it doesn't say 'Tubeless' (or maybe 'TL' which is the MRF terminology)?

[sukiwa]

Originally Posted by mrwalker

The only thing I gathered was that I should look at the sidewall on each tyre before fitment and check that it doesn't say 'Tubeless' (or maybe 'TL' which is the MRF terminology)?

Look for 'TUBE TYPE' on sidewall of ZV2K.

[mrwalker]

Originally Posted by sukiwa

Look for 'TUBE TYPE' on sidewall of ZV2K.

Thanks! Will take care...

[mrwalker]

Got the MRF ZV2K 155/65R13 tubed tyres from Deccan Tyres, MRF's T&S franchisee in Bopodi. Rs 12,700 for set of 5 tyres, including balancing and alignment.

Pretty quick and effective job, though one needs to keep an eye on the wheel balancing guy to ensure that machine shows zero weight adjustment reqd after weights are added.

The tyres themselves are not marked Tube Type or Tube Less or TT/ TL on the sidewall. The tube for each tyre was packaged inside the tyre itself, inside the plastic wrapping, so I'm reasonably sure I have the tube type tyres. Of course its possible that the exactly same tyre is sold under ZV2K TT/ TL...

Initial impressions as follows, though this is comparing against the 40K kms old JK Tornados, so should be treated with care
- Ride is definitely better, bumps and potholes don't give you the same kick-in-the-backside effect as the old ones
- Tyres seem a little 'slippery', but I believe this should sort itself out after some running in

Will update further impressions on the Long Term ownership thread here. Thanks all for the input!