[FlyingSpur]

Hi everyone.

We are faced with the decision of changing the tyres of our Jan '05 Toyota Corolla H2 M/T. Note that this is the pre-minor-facelift model, which did not come with tubeless tyres as standard. The car has served us very well and has clocked almost 90,000km till date. The original tyres had been replaced "sometime" (I was not informed of this decision till it was implemented). I am rather oblivious to the specifications of the '05 Indian spec Corolla, even the alloy size for that matter. They must be 15" 195/60 I suppose (not sure what those figures mean)? The following are the requirements to be met :-

• Usage : 70% urban, 30% Expressway/State Highways. Pushed to the limit frequently in urban conditions and on highways, 140kmph is regular. All to minimize time of commute for my busy dad.
• High mileage clocked, still it's a petrol. Therefore FE should not see a drop as far as possible. (Does that rule out fatter rubber?)
• Should I go for tubeless or regular tyres? From what I hear, tubeless is the way to go. Honestly, the car sees 160kmph too, on several occasions.
• Should be safe at high speeds even in wet conditions. Lonavala in the monsoon is like an extention of the suburb, frequent trips.
• Stock 6-spoke alloys will be retained, the tyres have to be fitted onto the stock alloys only. Dad will not entertain any negotiations on this point!
• Should not induce vibrations at high speeds.
• No preference of Indian or Imported brands, but compromise in quality and safety are not an option.(Please suggest accordingly!)

Those are all the points I can think of. You guys may all have noticed that I haven't explicitly mentioned a budget. That's because I haven't exactly been specified one. So when you folks make suggestions, I request you to please explicitly mention brand name and tyre model, and if possible, followed by what approximate cost I would be facing while choosing this option.

Past history includes an issue with certain vibrations at speeds specifically between 110-130kmph. This was resolved by changing the front two tyres only, apparently. The issue no longer persists. (Again, I had no knowledge that this had occured till the two tyres had been changed). A repeat of this problem should hopefully not occur with the new shoes. Any suggestions as to what should be checked before and after the new tyres are fitted?

I have mentioned my requirements from a layman's p.o.v. who has no knowledge of tyres and alloys whatsoever. If any of my points contradict each other, or if additional information is required, please let me know. The decision has to be taken within 4-5 days max.

Thank you in advance for all your help.

[FlyingSpur]

If it helps at all, here is a pic of my car with the alloys and rubber it is currently running.

[bhp1]

Go in for stock size only, 195- means the section width of the tyre which is coming in contact with the road, 60- means the height of the trye & offcourse 15" is the rim size.
Prefer tubeless, are safer & provide more supple ride because of them being softer(side wall).
Stock tyres are Bridgestone Potenzas, which IMO are not good. I find them to be made keeping costs in mind.
Try Michelin Energy mxv8 & Yokohama's. Both are reputed tyre manufacturers & offer good tyres.

[paras211]

i went for 205/60 15, its a wrong up grade i know
pp2 s mich but grip is good and road noise is down a lot form stock.

[lancer123]

Originally Posted by bhp1

Go in for stock size only, 195- means the section width of the tyre which is coming in contact with the road, 60- means the height of the trye & offcourse 15" is the rim size.
Prefer tubeless, are safer & provide more supple ride because of them being softer(side wall).
Stock tyres are Bridgestone Potenzas, which IMO are not good. I find them to be made keeping costs in mind.
Try Michelin Energy mxv8 & Yokohama's. Both are reputed tyre manufacturers & offer good tyres.

bhp1..rightly tubeless are safer but there is no difference in the sidwall of Tube type of TL tyres & you want to say potenzas are cost oriented tyres ?? sry bro..i dnt agree..they are most expensive tyres (equal to michelin)in the market & belong to same class of F1 tyres,moreover bridgestone is world's no1 tyre manufacturing co. now so you can't say its less reputed than Michelin or yokohama

[FlyingSpur]

alright so as of now a couple of things are clear I think ie stick with the stock tyre size, and I have to go for tubeless tyres only. any more suggestions regarding tyre brand and model, specifically? and the approx cost if possible.

[Akshay1234]

michelin mxv8 would be the best bet. also yoko c-drives if available. the michelins would cost about 5.5k at the least and the yokos a few 100 cheaper.

[lancer123]

Originally Posted by flyingspur

alright so as of now a couple of things are clear I think ie stick with the stock tyre size, and I have to go for tubeless tyres only. any more suggestions regarding tyre brand and model, specifically? and the approx cost if possible.

Bridgestone has recently launched ER60 Turanza in 195/60R15 Tubeless...good tyre with excellent grip,comfort & attractive tread design.approx 4500/tyre..try it

[bhp1]

Originally Posted by lancer123

bhp1..rightly tubeless are safer but there is no difference in the sidwall of Tube type of TL tyres & you want to say potenzas are cost oriented tyres ?? sry bro..i dnt agree..they are most expensive tyres (equal to michelin)in the market & belong to same class of F1 tyres,moreover bridgestone is world's no1 tyre manufacturing co. now so you can't say its less reputed than Michelin or yokohama

Tubeless tyres offer a plusher ride because their side wall is softer than tube type tyres this is because the tube inside tube type tyres does not flex like tubeless tyres.
Regarding Potenza's you got it wrong, I mentioned the stock tyres on Corolla, these are Potenza RE88 & not Potenza G111 which are meant for sporty handling.
I had Potenza RE88 on my car & I can say the tyres were useless piece of crap.

[reignofchaos]

^^Agreed RE88 is pretty much crap. Since FE is a concern here, I'd suggest the Mich MXV8 or Yoko C-Drive. Get 195/60 R15. I'd have suggested Michelin PP2 but they cause a drop in FE.

[bhp1]

Thanks Reignofchaos, Yes, Michelin Energy Mxv8 are a good choice.
BTW, new Altis is launched with Bridgestone Turanza's 195/65/15, how would be this size in place of 195/60/15 ?
I think 195/65/15 would be good for Corolla's ride as suspension is choppy.

[Vid6639]

You can go in for 195/60-15 or 205/55-15. If budget is a concern then the MXV8's are out. They are just too expensive.

Yokohama has the C.drive which I think are available in one of those size. Irags or KPzen can confirm that.

I am using the Bridgestone Turanza ER-60 on my lancer which is also available in 195/60-15. For bad roads these are excellent. Theres a thread here on them somewhere. Ride and handling are also pretty decent and tyres are lesser than michelin.

[FlyingSpur]

I am going to stick with 195/60 R15, as I will be keeping the stock alloys. I now have to make a choice between Bridgestone Potenza GIII, Bridgestone Turanza ER60, Yokohama C-drive and Michelin Energy MXV8. Can anyone please compare these three regarding (a)FE (b)ride comfort (c)road noise (d)reliability and (e)cost? And also, how long can I expect these tyres to last?

Budget is not an issue but if a cheaper alternative is available without any compromise except brand name, then I will opt for the less expensive option.

[kpzen]

Akshay

- Stick with 195/60-15 and get good set of tires.
- Michelin MXV8 are good but damn expensive. Not VFM.
- IIRC Yoko C drives are officially available in only one size i.e 225/60-15 for Innova.
- Turanza ER60 and Apollo Aceleres are good all round tires.. VFM.
- Its better if u don't consider GIIIs.
- Tomorrow, I'll let u know if there are any other options in yoko other than ES100.

[FlyingSpur]

Originally Posted by kpzen

Akshay

- Stick with 195/60-15 and get good set of tires. Yup, doing that.
- Michelin MXV8 are good but damn expensive. Not VFM. Avoidable, then.
- IIRC Yoko C drives are officially available in only one size i.e 225/60-15 for Innova. Are they? I will check this on Monday. If they're available in 195/60-15, would you recommend them?
- Turanza ER60 and Apollo Aceleres are good all round tires.. VFM.
- Its better if u don't consider GIIIs. Any specific reasons?
- I'll let u know tomorrow if any other Yoko options are available other than ES100.Sure, thanks bro.

Thanks a lot for the quick response to my PM, kp. I was going through other threads and the only thing that bothered me, from what I read, was that the Turanza ER60's cause a significant drop in FE (~1-1.5kmpl) and are significantly heavier. Can you confirm this? Drop in Fe, well that is something my father will not accept, unfortunately, and is a very avoidable scenario. FE is an important factor.