Team-BHP - Skoda Laura : Tyre & wheel upgrade thread

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Originally Posted by Unrealistic (Post 3852423)

Hey,

Thanks for your input. I've effectively ruled out the Michelins. The S-Drives were never in the running considering I'm coming from 17" PS3's and sporty tyres are out of the question.

Unfortunately, I'm still on the fence between the Yoko DB and Conti CMC5. Would love to get someone's feedback on those.

Used the yoko for 35k kms on stock size. Excellent tyres. No complaints whatsoever. Over the 35k kms they had no more than 4 punctures. Wet grip was excellent too. Just remember that they are unidirectional tires. So be careful when rotating.

Rohan

So, I zeroed in on the Yokos. Unfortunately, they're only available in 22/14 manufacture date. That's almost a year and a half old. Not too keen on paying 6K a pop for 1.5 year old rubber.

I've asked some dealers to get me the manufacturing date and price on the MaxContact5.

Assuming he conti's come with a 2015 manufacture, would it be better to try those out of should I stick to the 1.5 year old Yokos?

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Originally Posted by Unrealistic (Post 3867931)

Experts say that the service life of a tire is 6 years, and up to 10 years from the date of manufacture.

Road & Track: How to make your tires last 10 years

Even assuming the worse possible scenario and a total life of 6 years (instead of 6 years of just service life), your tires will still have 4.5 years of life in them, which means the real question is: is there any chance your tires are lasting beyond that, or more simply, is your annual usage at least 10,000km? If no, look elsewhere. Else, in my personal experience, the AVS db v550 are brilliant tires, with superior grip & steering feel and are absolutely silent, so I'd go for them.

On a separate note, the MC5's are made in India, so a recent manufacturing date won't be a problem. The AVS db, on the other hand, are Made in Japan, and imported, so will usually be older. My tires had the manufacturing of 41/14. There's no way my tyres are lasting beyond the next 3 years, so I went for them instead of MC5. Also, another point to consider: since no dealer stocks AVS db, they're stocked at the company warehouse, you can rest assured they will be stored in optimal conditions, which can only extend their service life.

I have been using the AVSdB from Yokohama since 2010 on my Mitsubishi. The tires I bought then have a 2009 manufacturing date, so no surprises on the longish manufacturing date there.

As coincidences go, one of the tires got damage thanks to the lovely road engineering and I replaced it this weekend past by a Continental MC5 with a manufacturing date of 0616.

The MC5 can be found fresh off the line and is a very good BUT an ugly looking tire. Unlike the various creases/edges and chamfered shoulder belt of the Yokos it just inflates like a round balloon and looks ugly, now that's my opinion.

I will be replacing the other 4 tires with Michelin P3STs and the MC5 will be relegated to spare bunk in the boot. This just for looks and 'vanity' even though the P3STs @5600/- are Rs.900/- more expensive than the MC5 for each tire, size being 195/60R15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unrealistic (Post 3867931)

I want to change tyres on my 2010 Laura TSI which has done 45000km and is still on the OEM Goodyear Eagle NCT 5s. From all the tyre related threads, I see the top contenders are Continental MC5, Michelin P3ST and Yoko AVS dB. Incidentally I was googling and stumbled upon UTQG ratings and started looking for tyres withTraction rating of AA. AVS dB seem to have the AA rating (saw them on a friend's car). Are MC5 also AA?

BTW, what are these S drive's? Are they supposed to be sportier than AVS dBs? I need 195/65R15 which is not available in S Drives but 205/60R15 is, but it has speed rating of H (210kmph) and not V (240kmph). How can the "supposedly" sporty tyre have lower speed rating???

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Originally Posted by anandpadhye (Post 4020828)

BTW, what are these S drive's? Are they supposed to be sportier than AVS dBs ?

Between the two only the S-Drive is a sporty tyre. The decibel series is more of a superior comfort and super silent tyre.

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Originally Posted by anandpadhye (Post 4020828)

How can the "supposedly" sporty tyre have lower speed rating???

Can't comment on the speed rating part, but S-drives are definitely more grippier around corners and otherwise compared to the DB series.

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Originally Posted by anandpadhye (Post 4020828)

BTW, what are these S drive's? Are they supposed to be sportier than AVS dBs? I need 195/65R15 which is not available in S Drives but 205/60R15 is, but it has speed rating of H (210kmph) and not V (240kmph). How can the "supposedly" sporty tyre have lower speed rating???

Maybe in the size you are looking for or due to the stocks maintained by dealer/Yokohama, you are able to get only H rated tyres. I run 205/50 R16 S-drives on our Polo with a W rating. There are 205/55 R15 W rated S-drives also. It is definitely a sporty tyre. If better is in terms of dry/wet grip and braking, then then the S-drives are better than the AVS dBs. But the S-drives are quite noisy and have slightly stiffer sidewalls for similar profiles. The noise is drowned by the diesel clatter of the Polo, but might be annoying in the TSI.

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Originally Posted by WasavaTyres (Post 4020880)

Can't comment on the speed rating part, but S-drives are definitely more grippier around corners and otherwise compared to the DB series.

OK, thanks. I looked up reviews for S drive, but saw negative reviews! Strange! Let's see, I need good tyres, 1.8 TSi deserves good tyres.

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Originally Posted by avinash_clt (Post 4021209)

Thanks Avinash. Looks like 205/60R16 is only H rated. H is a bit of an insult to the Laura :-)

BTW, My Polo GT TSi came with Apollo Alnac 4G and though those are T rated (for some reason VW think that Polo GT is not a fast car, and in a sense they are right!), My experience have been very good with them. They grip very well, don't lose traction even if I floor the pedal in M as well as S and they are very good looking tyres. I see Alnac 4G are available in 195/65R15 but again H rated! What's wrong with the world? Incidentally, Apollo have a "Manchester United" series (I have no idea what these are and how good they are) and they are only available in 195/65R15 and V rated! Any clue what these are?

Also, any experience/review of Vredestein Sportrac? They are available in my size and V rated.

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Originally Posted by anandpadhye (Post 4023681)

OK, thanks. I looked up reviews for S drive, but saw negative reviews! Strange! Let's see, I need good tyres, 1.8 TSi deserves good tyres.

Thanks Avinash. Looks like 205/60R16 is only H rated. H is a bit of an insult to the Laura :-)

BTW, My Polo GT TSi came with Apollo Alnac 4G and though those are T rated (for some reason VW think that Polo GT is not a fast car, and in a sense they are right!), My experience have been very good with them. They grip very well, don't lose traction even if I floor the pedal in M as well as S and they are very good looking tyres. I see Alnac 4G are available in 195/65R15 but again H rated! What's wrong with the world? Incidentally, Apollo have a "Manchester United" series (I have no idea what these are and how good they are) and they are only available in 195/65R15 and V rated! Any clue what these are?

Also, any experience/review of Vredestein Sportrac? They are available in my size and V rated.

S Drives tend to get noisy after a while is what I hear. Why are you not keen on Michelin. P3ST should be available in 195 and 205 section in 15 inches. And these will be V rated. Otherwise Conti MC5 also is a good option.

The Alnacs on the Polo GT are not Alnac 4G. Just regular Alnacs. They are quite decent for an OE tyre. In fact I was keen on upsizing my GT's tyres to 16 inches mainly for cosmetic reasons, but decided not to since the only tyre available in the right size i.e 205/50/16 are S drives and I don't like noisy tyres.

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Originally Posted by anandpadhye (Post 4023681)

Looks like 205/60R16 is only H rated. H is a bit of an insult to the Laura :-)

Indeed it is an insult. To be honest 195/65 R15 wouldn't be a stock size for the 160hp TSI engine elsewhere or generally for any modern car with similar outputs . Physically they are compatible, but the car has a top speed in excess of H (210) and close to V (240). Put in a safety factor, W would be the ideal recommendation, legal speed limits aside of course (possible here in the de-restricted Autobahn though). S-drives also don't do justice to the car, they are an old pattern and tread compound technology.

For truly better tyres that the car deserves, I suggest you upgrade to 16'' rims and 205/55 or 225/50 tyres. Ride quality would take only a marginal hit, but the traction and braking levels will be significantly improved.

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Also, any experience/review of Vredestein Sportrac? They are available in my size and V rated.

If it is Sportrac '5', they are good tyres and a better option than the S-drives.

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Originally Posted by Santoshbhat (Post 4023695)

S Drives tend to get noisy after a while is what I hear.

It certainly does. Won't recommend them anything on other than a diesel car cause of the same.

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In fact I was keen on upsizing my GT's tyres to 16 inches mainly for cosmetic reasons, but decided not to since the only tyre available in the right size i.e 205/50/16 are S drives and I don't like noisy tyres.

Yup, they are the only reasonably good tyre available in 205/50 R16 size. Unfortunately I had sold the original rims also when we upgraded to 16''. Cosmetically better, but ride quality takes a good hit. Being on the GT diesel, tyre noise isn't prominent.

Bumping up an old thread - any advice would be appreciated.

Changing tyres on a Laura TSI (Stock 195/65 R15), zeroed down on options below:

1. 195/65 R15 Pirelli P7s @ 5500/ tyre
2. 195/65 R15 Michelin P3ST @ 5850/ tyre
3. 205/65 R15 Pirelli P1s @ 5950/ tyre
4. 205/60 R15 Continental CPC2 @ 6200/ tyre
5. 205/65 R15 Continental CPC2 @ 6140/ tyre

What would be the best bet for (a) Delhi roads and (b) moderate driving style

I'm also going to be buying either thru SnapDeal or ChangeMyTyre.com - anything I should keep in mind for either of the websites?

TIA!