[sushanthr77]

My Palio 1.2 is fitted with the combination of Goodyear gps2 165/80/13 and steel rims. The tires have done about 33k so far. After a recent trip, I noticed a couple of circumferential tear on the side walls (along the contact path with the rims) on two of my tires. The tear is about 2.5" on one tire and about 1" on the other.

It is obvious that I need to change my tires.

Some characteristics of the current tire:
01. Poor wet grip
02. Excessive road noise
03. Squeaks too much.
04. Normal wear
05. Average dry grip
06. Good road feedback
07. Average comfort
08. Weak but flexible sidewall


Now, the requirements: (Mentioned according to Priority)
01. Excellent wet grip.
02. Normal wear (should last 35k-40k)
03. Strong sidewall (stiff or flexible)
04. Normal comfort
05 Low road noise
06. Good dry grip
07. Good road feedback
08. Low squeaks


Additional requirements:
01. VFM
02. Considering (only) - Apollo, Goodyear, Bridgestone, Michelin, Pirelli
03 Size: 185/70/R13 on Steel rims only


My usage is:
01. Predominantly Highway
02. Bad roads are encountered often
03. Lots of driving in the rains
04. Lots of night driving.

Kindly help guys.

[amtak]

I am not too sure if Michelin XM1+ is available for Palio. If it is, go for it. Totally VFM. Low road noise, amazing grip on wet roads and great performance.

[iraghava]

Sushanth - First things first, you need to replace the tyres with the sidewall cuts asap as they can suffer a blow out at any time. Very very dangerous & not certainly worth the risk.

As for options, keeping your detailed preferences in mind along with shortcoming of the GPS2's that you've listed above, here are my suggestions:

Michelin XM1
Yokohama A.drive
Apollo Accelere
Bridgestone Turanza ER-60

Any of these would do very well for your requirements.

[WasavaTyres]

You could try the Goodyear Ducaro GA too in 185/70/R13 size.

[gowda79]

Go with Michelin XM1 - No problems and good grip and less noise, i have used it on Esteem and has run nearly 50K without any problems and till date running

[sushanthr77]

Guys after reading lots of reviews on various forums and physically checking out various brands and makes, I've finally made the change.

The Tire: Michelin XM1 - 185/70/R13 - On steel rims.
The Difference: -0.81% (Circumferential)

I am currently running in the tires and hence can not comment on all of my requirements. I plan to run in the tires for about 10 hot and cold cycles.

The below mentioned were my priorities for the selection (mentioned according to priority).

|Sl.No / Requirement / Comment|

01. Excellent wet grip: Not Tested.

02. Normal wear (should last 35k-40k): Not Tested

03. Strong sidewall (stiff or flexible) - The side walls on the XM1 are pretty soft and hence this requirement is not met. I checked out a few other tires of the same spec and found all of them to be pretty similar. Most manufacturers make them soft for ride comfort. The only solution to this problem is to change the tire spec so that the side wall area is minimum. (Are these called low profile tires?). So I basically needed to upsize my rim size to say 15" and then fit a low profile tire which basically eliminates the soft area but compromise on the ride comfort. Obviously I can't do this!

04. Average Comfort - Well, I was only looking for average comfort but these tires give you much more than this. The ride is much more comfortable because these tires seem to absorb the unevenness of the road surface better. Pretty smooth!

05. Low road noise - Almost nil! That humming noise the old tires used to make is gone!. These are excellent in this department. The car no simply prowls in stealth mode!

06. Good dry grip - Not Tested

07. Good road feedback - Well, since the absorption of the road surface is better here, I am not able to figure the tiny little unevenness of the road. So in that sense the road feedback has reduced. It is just about sufficient enough. Frankly when the ride is this comfortable, I don't want to feel those tiny irregularities on the road anymore!

08. Low squeaks - Not Tested.


Additional requirements:
01. VFM - Well, these cost me 3600 INR per tire with B&W. Are these VFM? YES!

02. Considering (only) - Apollo, Goodyear, Bridgestone, Michelin, Pirelli - Yes purchased Michelin

03. Size: 185/70/R13 on Steel rims only - Yes.


Now, one major factor that I had missed out among my requirements is "Low rolling resistance". Yes! I completely missed out this and this was no where in my mind until I drove the car on XM1.

These tires simply roll on and on compared to the GPS2! This is very evident on neutral and 1st gear. Slide the gear lever to neutral and let the car roll on! I was stunned with this experience! I now need to accelerate relatively lesser. This should in turn translate to higher FE in city at least.

So, I am pretty satisfied with my purchase and would recommend anyone who has similar requirements. This is just a preliminary review, and I'll post more as I burn more XM1.

Thanks to all the guys for the suggestions.

Cheers,
Sushanth

[tortoiseNhare]

Originally Posted by sushanthr77

Guys after reading lots of reviews on various forums and physically checking out various brands and makes, I've finally made the change.

The Tire: Michelin XM1 - 185/70/R13 - On steel rims.
The Difference: -0.81% (Circumferential)

Additional requirements:
01. VFM - Well, these cost me 3600 INR per tire with B&W. Are these VFM? YES!

Hi!
Is that price of Rs. 3600 per tyre (with rim) in exchange with the 165/80/R13 GPS2 incl the factory fitted rim?

[teknophobia]

I have been using xm1+ since the last 6000 odd kms and have used them across bad roads and sustained speeds of 140+ over 80km stretches. You can go for these tyres blindfolded

[sukiwa]

Is that price of Rs. 3600 per tyre (with rim) in exchange with the 165/80/R13 GPS2 incl the factory fitted rim?

@ tortoiseNhare:

You have opened up a six month old thread & prices could be different in your area.
a. Quoted price of Rs. 3600 would be price for new tyre without any exchange value. Also remember that this person had to change tyres due to sidewall damage, hence he might not have got back any significant value for exchange.
b. Don't understand rim part of your question. Why does one need to change rim if staying on 13" size for tyres? 'sushanthr77' would have mentioned steel rim just to emphasize that he hasn't opted for alloy wheels.

[tortoiseNhare]

Originally Posted by sukiwa

@ tortoiseNhare:

b. Don't understand rim part of your question. Why does one need to change rim if staying on 13" size for tyres? 'sushanthr77' would have mentioned steel rim just to emphasize that he hasn't opted for alloy wheels.

Thanks a lot. My confusion is cleared now. I was not sure before reading your post that same 13" rim could fit different types of tyres.