Quote:
Originally Posted by Jaggu Reason better be good! ehm eh!
Glifford wake up and post that review, editing we can do later! |
Sorry Jaggu! Crazy work got the better of me and every moment I was waiting to update the thread. Very late nights, tight schedules and (I admit) one more DIY project (ICE) that flopped and I burnt (actually cut & bled) my fingers (& time) on. Even now I am pushing a stroke of midnight to post this out.
Anyway amplyfryed has just given a good review and mine is just a preview.
So here comes the first part of the preview:
Need for a Tyre Change and Requirements from the new set:
I was overdue for a tyre upgrade. The stock Goodyear GT3 195/60R15s on the
used Ford Fusion + ABS I had bought at around 42,000 km were already near-end-of-life. Still these tyres performed decently well. Except for uphill enthusiastic (read nervous) uphill standing starts, they rarely ever skid. And if they did (when braking), ABS kicked in to compensate. So I was not complaining. Although the ride was hard (typical Fusion), the cornering was excellent and so was the way they handled bad roads. At the first service under my ownership, they said a life of 5000 km was left on them.
I neared that 5000 km and was pushing my luck. Ignored wheel balancers and service guys who asked me to change ASAP as I wanted to touch that mystical 50,000 km figure and then change immediately. I did get stuck once atop
Mulaingiri as it rained and the sandy soil got water logged and the front wheels spun liberally. But barring that incident, they performed perfectly fine. The tread had also lost chunks off the shoulder on the inside shoulders because of climbing up bad road shoulders on bad/broken roads. I was pushing 48,000+ by now.
Then it happened! Returning from a 1000 odd km trip to Wayanad and Coorg, the steering suddenly developed a strong sway / wobble after Kushalnagar. It was strong enough that my wife could feel it in the passenger seat. Limped into Cauvery Ford Mysore and they cited any of the three reasons for this:
1. Alloy Rim Bend (ouch, gonna cost a bomb
)
2. Balancing Needed (no point balancing on worn tyres, weight consumption will be huge)
3. Tyre Damage (as near end of life).
They quickly identified the front left as culprit and interchanged it with the rear left. Ride was much smoother and sway was down. We drove back comfortably. Back in Bangalore,
Tyre Empire helped me identify it as a flat-spot / tread-separation on the culprit tyre. On touching it revealed that the circumference on the tyre suddenly gives way to a flat spot (see the pic in later posts). It was a relief for me as I was scared of a rim bend and finding a single OE alloy rim (that too a Ford) was giving me nightmares!
So it was replacement time overdue! Started looking out.
Here were my requirements from the new tyre (not necessarily in order of preference):
1. Slight Oversize: 205/60R15 over the stock 195/60R15. (Would have preferred 215/55R15, but not sure they would fit without spacers and the incremental cost was prohibitively high). My research with oversizes can be seen
here,
here and
here. Reasons for an oversize included looks (who wouldn't?
), better ground clearance (more is never enough), better (cushier ride) and dry grip. Of course was wary of poorer handling (increased CG) and fuel efficiency.
2. Good Grip: Not complaining about the stock ones
3. Better Ride: This was a sore point (not necessarily for me) about the stock tyres. The Fusion itself has a pretty hard setup (also means awesome handling tho’) and the stock ones don’t help.
4. Decent Price: Considering stock Goodyear GT3 195/60R15s were a bargain at around 2700 a piece
5. Decent Life: The existing ones overwhelmed me. So anywhere near 60% of that should be good enough I guess.
6. Ability to handle Bad Roads as well as Good ones: This was important as this is primarily a weekend/getaway vehicle for me (not used to commute). On trips out of town I do come across some really bad stretches and I don’t want to land up with tyre damage at the end of it.
7. Less Noise: The GT3s were noisy (not that I was complaining). The Fusion because of its shape (not exactly aerodynamic) is noisy and tyre noise filters in through.
8. Steering Feel: This was important. The Fusion with its weighted (too heavy for many a beginner) and sharp hydraulic power steering is definitely one of the best around. Is what makes the car so much fun to drive. You can feel the driving surface on your finger tips and cornering is exhilarating. Some research revealed that tyre manufacturers now intoduce a solid (no pattern) circumferential rib (normally around the centre of the tread). The original GT3s didn’t have it (never felt the shortage I admit). This became a new requirement.
To be continued...