[GTO]

I personally tend to stick to the more reputed tyre companies since I believe tyres are too important a component in cars to screw around with them. Hence, I prefer companies like Michelin, Bridgestone, Yokohama, Pirelli etc.

Likewise. Well said. Call it a mental block, but I would never go in for a "Maxxis" tyre.

[scooby05]

Originally Posted by GTO

Likewise. Well said. Call it a mental block, but I would never go in for a "Maxxis" tyre.

I Agree too! Tires and Brakes are ones Lifeline.
Must have read about the Big Fake tire racket from China to USA! and the swoop by the Chinese authorities to save image.
e.g. if a person wants to save money on tires aka safety, they should drive a cheaper car, as a 800 or alto and Not a Swift! IMO. theyll save the money this way!!
Kumho and Hankook have brought up their quality, BUT, how do we know its not the seconds that are coming in here! everyone from production knows that there is always line rejects, and as a company gets stricter on Quality they only produce more rejects which are passed off as seconds!
Bottomline. Please buy established brands and from established dealers.

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by scooby05

BUT, how do we know its not the seconds that are coming in here! ....
Bottomline. Please buy established brands and from established dealers

That makes me wonder. Is there anyway to ascertain that the stuff dealers sell are also not seconds ? What stops them from passing on some of the bad stuff ?

For eg. when I got my Goodyear F1s, one of the 5 tyres had a NCT5 sticker on the tread (the others had F1) ! When I showed it to him, he said it must be a mistake someone made at the factory etc. Now the tyre did look brand new and the dealer is among the biggest in Kolkata. Needless to say I asked him to change it.

[iraghava]

Originally Posted by shuvc

That makes me wonder. Is there anyway to ascertain that the stuff dealers sell are also not seconds ? What stops them from passing on some of the bad stuff ?

I think buying tyres which are available officially with Bill & Warranty is your best bet.

[slipstream]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

hankook. someone here in chennai has got them & got them for a steal. where are you mr.slip in the stream ?

right here mate...having a whale of a time pushing the car round corners on hankook'sthe car is now distinctly comfy..feels more supple and steers easily as wellhad mrf zvt's before till I successfully managed to blow 2 of them (on seperate occasions). Got to know later that they were almost 7 years old !Did someone here mention hard as rock ?Cheers

[low_bass_makker]

Originally Posted by scooby05

I Agree too! Tires and Brakes are ones Lifeline.Bottomline. Please buy established brands and from established dealers.

But the availability of sizes is a big issue , If they are available then they are price at very expensive rates which one tend to leave it. Like I asked for a Michelin the price of a 215/40/17 was for 9k when compared to the Kumho is for 4.3k. As Kumho is not go good as a tyre company but it does the job quite good for the price we pay.

[BUSA]

As Kumho is not go good as a tyre company but it does the job quite good for the price we pay.

Kumhos are excellent tyres. I had very soft compound ones on the Optra and believe you me the grip was excellent, cant get similar grip with Dunlop SP9000 also.

[Desert fox]

Originally Posted by iraghava

That said I do believe that Kumho and Hankook are decent companies who are improving by leaps and bounds.

I prefer proven brands & treads anyday. This is one component in my car that I refuse to compromise with.

Damn well spoken! In how i have seen it,Kumho's were always decent to start with,Hankook are the company to watch out for.

Thier representative's are really giving some impresive reading as far as the product goes.

You have given a very true last line(s),which is the the point which hard to argue in todays market by the above said brands.

[itzzme]

All these tyres are sold in India through distributors and not backed up by the parent company.The sole motive of such distributors is to earn money without understanding the operating conditions and other factors.These tyres are generally imported at very low invoice values, sold without B&W.

One needs to be extra cautious while purchasing such tyres. One need to check for Manufacturing date which is the four digit number(only embossed figure on tyre sidewall) e.g. 1807, 18 means 18 week of year 07.
Also do check for UTQG ratings, Treadwear, Temperature and Traction.
Higher the Treadwear better the tyre mileage, generally above 280 is OK.
Temperature denotes the ability to dissipiate heat generated in the tyre AA is the best, B & C not suited for Indian conditions.

Happy and safe motoring.

[heavy_foot]

Alright tyre experts i need some help here, how good are Nankang NS-II tyres ultra sport?? This is for a Zen. The size which i am looking for is 185/45 R15. I dont think any other brands are available in that size or are they? Do we get Toyo proxes here in India? That brand has 185/45 R14, i think a safer bet to go with a zen. Please advice gurus.

[faithless_1984]

@heavy foot - Check out Rev_hard`s garage.......he has a zen with 14" Rims and Hankook Ventus 195/45R14 tyres.

[heavy_foot]

Originally Posted by faithless_1984

@heavy foot - Check out Rev_hard`s garage.......he has a zen with 14" Rims and Hankook Ventus 195/45R14 tyres.

I know Hankook is available in 195.. but i am looking for 185. I think 195/45 R14 would scrape the insides of the body in a Zen..i would be glad to be proven wrong though.

here are pictures of Nankang 185/45 R15 on Lenso Samurai SC-01 alloys on the Zen. They looked stunning!!!

[m4ugr8]

Gurus can we add silverstone tyres to this list as well!!! What do TBhpians have to say about that?? Anybody using them!!!!

[faithless_1984]

I think 195/45 R14 would scrape the insides of the body in a Zen..i would be glad to be proven wrong though.

PM Rev_hard or wait for his reply.

Gurus can we add silverstone tyres to this list as well!!! What do TBhpians have to say about that?? Anybody using them!!!!

Wait for Manveet`s reply.

[autopsyche]

A lot of my customers preffered silverstones a few years back and i realised how crappy they were only after i installed them in my esteem (13") and on my octy (17"), and in both cars i had frontal impact accidents due to tire slippage under harder braking, which had never happened under same driving and braking conditions on earlier michelins and dunlops on both cars respectively.

I recently sold a set Yoko S.Drives to a friend who was a die hard silverstone customer. It took a lot of convincing to make him experiment. The day he took his car i got an sms from him at 4am that night saying "dude amazing tires!" I guess he really took his MR2 to the extreme and realized the difference.