[cyneverdie]

Originally Posted by Path_Finder

The present day car user manuals also do not talk of any run in – in fact when I asked the service manager, he even said “crap, these cars are not like old Ambys”. But I guess even then it is a generally accepted fact a run in for first 2K is good for a new car.

Maruti Swift manual recommends a tire wear in period !
SO does the VW Passat manual, So does the Landrover range rover manual, will check an S Class soon very curious.
Cant believe you guy's missed a maruti manual !

Nitrous nailed it with his link anyway
NOTE: Be careful whenever you explore the capabilities of your new tires. Remember that every tire requires a break-in period for optimum performance.

[tadukuttan]

Originally Posted by cyneverdie

Remember that every tire requires a break-in period for optimum performance.

Aren't most of the links saying that for safety reasons you should not push new tires? At least the Pirelli link was about "driving safely".

Do we have good sources of information yet that suggest that if you push a tire during the initial few 100kms, that tire is "doomed" for life or similar?

[cyneverdie]

Originally Posted by tadukuttan

Aren't most of the links saying that for safety reasons you should not push new tires? At least the Pirelli link was about "driving safely".

Do we have good sources of information yet that suggest that if you push a tire during the initial few 100kms, that tire is "doomed" for life or similar?

I am not saying the tire is doomed man , but that the tire isn't at optimum grip levels till it is run in.

[Mr_Bean]

a little offtopic, Wondering what happens to the tyres used in the F1 racing, they do need a run-in period rite to get max performance?
How do we arrive at the initial few kms of run-in?

[rohan_fonseca]

F1 tyres cannot be compared to road tyres. They are of a different compound altogether.

[nitrous]

Racing tyres go through an extra process at the end called 'Scrubbing'.

[novice]

Originally Posted by tadukuttan

I trust your review of the tires, and I am not surprised at all. I have been doing some surveys and research etc on this topic, and what I have learned is that these tires have a higher chance of misbehaving on cars with unnaturally high braking bite. For eg, for my car, the 80-0 from autocar was some 21.xx meters. That is some mighty high braking power there, even when compared to a Merc/BMW etc at 24.xx meters usually. Most other road going cars are way higher than that. So what was happening is that the brakes grip like crazy, tires cant take it, ABS comes on, and I dont get to stop. So now, I try braking/squeeling etc for couple of times, the tires probably overheat, and lose it completely...

Even with the cheapest Michelins, the ABS almost never comes on, even when braking from 200. I think I payed some 4k each for my last set of Michelins, and those tires were at least 50% better under braking, on my car. Of course, no point in comparing to the PP2 I am on now. My poor car cant even make the bloody thing protest, what ever I do.

Sorry for bumping up this old thread...

I completely agree with your observation in the above post. I have these tires (205/55/R16) on my Mondeo. So far I have driven my car with S-Drives only on normal roads and they performed well; handling and braking at speeds up to 180 was just perfect. I was a happy customer but all that changed yesterday. I was returning to Bangalore from Mangalore through NH-48, most parts of the road are freshly asphalted and it was very tempting to floor the pedal. I was driving at speeds from 100 to 140 depending on the road condition. At one stretch the road is very curvy and there are too many turns at quick succession. This meant lot of breaking while negotiating curves and I took most of the curves at 80 to 100kmph. The Mondeo is very much capable of taking those curves at such speeds. But the tires started squealing after 15 minutes of hard cornering and braking. The last few corners made my car lose traction for a moment but it was never too much for the Mondeo or at least I thought so.

Then came the dreaded left hand curve and I braked while entering the curve to get the speed to 100 from 130. When I needed my tires the most they abandoned me and my car completely. The car started skidding through the corner and it soon started to fish tail. After two rounds of fish tailing it turned 90 degrees and went straight to the rocky surface of sidewall on the left side. There was a big boom and the car bounced back, turned another 90 degrees and dived into the 2 foot canal between the road and sidewall. Car was now in the opposite direction with the front right wheel in the ditch and rear left wheel up in the air. Luckily the side wall had a small boulder at the bottom and my car hit it right at the centre. The damages, the lower part of bumper i.e. the grill is broken and the crash guard is bent inwards at the middle. There is no damage to any other part.

I have negotiated far steeper curves at such speeds on plain roads numerous times. But with constant braking for 15 minutes the S-Drives gave up too easily and quickly. I am sure the PP2 would have never done that. I am a big fan of PP2's and used them for 70K kms on my previous car. Unfortunately PP2's were not available in 205/55/R16 when I changed tires on my Mondeo.

So my advice to anyone considering Yoko S-Drives - well, do I need to give one if you have already read my experience.

[ph03n!x]

Originally Posted by novice

Then came the dreaded left hand curve and I braked while entering the curve to get the speed to 100 from 130. When I needed my tires the most they abandoned me and my car completely. The car started skidding through the corner and it soon started to fish tail. After two rounds of fish tailing it turned 90 degrees and went straight to the rocky surface of sidewall on the left side. There was a big boom and the car bounced back, turned another 90 degrees and dived into the 2 foot canal between the road and sidewall. Car was now in the opposite direction with the front right wheel in the ditch and rear left wheel up in the air. Luckily the side wall had a small boulder at the bottom and my car hit it right at the centre. The damages, the lower part of bumper i.e. the grill is broken and the crash guard is bent inwards at the middle. There is no damage to any other part.

I have negotiated far steeper curves at such speeds on plain roads numerous times. But with constant braking for 15 minutes the S-Drives gave up too easily and quickly. I am sure the PP2 would have never done that. I am a big fan of PP2's and used them for 70K kms on my previous car. Unfortunately PP2's were not available in 205/55/R16 when I changed tires on my Mondeo.

So my advice to anyone considering Yoko S-Drives - well, do I need to give one if you have already read my experience.

Ouch! Hope you and others (if anyone) are safe, and came off unhurt.

I had 195/55 R15 in my Getz CRDi, and had a couple of bad experiences with sidewall cuts in two of my S.Drives, both in the same wheel (right-rear). I left the tire as it is after the 2nd cut with a bulge. The Entire set went on to complete 40k when I decided to retire them, in spite of a seemingly 5k life left - the bulged / cut tire did not give up on me for close to 20k, and I noticed a couple of nails to snugly sitting in it.

I have a detailed experience in my ownership thread, but there was an instance when I had to do 750 KM real fast - and I did it in 6 hours. 180 KMPH for a few minutes, constant (~ 30 min to 1 hour) of 140+ KMPH where the norm, and never once did I feel the tires are giving up.

That said, when I was nearing 40k, I fishtailed it once - I was kinda expecting it, so was able to gain control without hitting the median or the curb. It was my fault, I pushed the limits

Couple of things I have experienced - Aquaplaning in stagnant water, pretty dangerous especially at speeds. The steering may turn so violently, that you may end you on the median if you are on the right track and there is stagnant water. The second thing is tramlining - it does that a lot, and is more of a irritant if any. Finally, on newly layered road where the sun's heat has made the road surface gooey, the car would seem to lose control - the steering would go super-light, and the car would give a tramlining effect - though much, much pronounced.

I would definitely recommend S.Drives - just know these symptoms and how to react, and you should be fine. I downsized to 14" for comfort, and had to go with C.Drives only because S.Drives are not there in 14" and am not so sure about the ES100.

[novice]

I do agree that S-Drives perform well on normal roads; I frequently do 120 to 160kmph comfortably on flat roads where the need for breaking is less. In fact S-Drives offer better cornering ability as they are much stiffer compared to Michelin PP2's. Also they are less prone to punctures. However their road grip is pathetic for anyone who experienced PP2's.

The problem started only when I drove aggressively on a winding mountain road. The tires gave up completely and my car started to skid sideways. When a full size D-segment car skid excessively on a two lane road there is nothing much I could do, gaining control again isn't that easy. If fact, thinking back this isn't the first time I felt the loss of traction with S-Drives. I have experienced momentary loss of traction and tire squealing couple of times even on normal roads while taking corners fast after a bit of aggressive driving. But I didn't give much thought into it as the Mondeo is always able to get me out of tight situations.

If you are an aggressive driver and if you drive a fairly capable car like the oldies Mondeo, VRs or the newer 1.8TSI breeds that can attack corners better and faster than the rest, I would strongly advice to stay away from S-Drives. They have the ability to get you killed. That's the hard fact.

[Born 2 Be Wild]

I got a quote for 195/55/15 S drives here in Delhi for 5 grand a tyre is the price ok or am i being overcharged?

[heavy_foot]

I think the price is ok, was quoted around the same here in Mumbai some time back.

[driver52001]

Adding to this old thread, I slapped 185 Yoko Earth-1s yesterday to my Ignis and took it for a spin towards Noida Expressway. I wanted to run-in the tyres as much as possible as there's a hill drive coming up next week to Uttarakhand. On the way back near my house there's a flyover under which I needed to take a U-turn. The new tyres had by then done 70 km. I did legal speed only. But, while taking the U-turn, I distinctly felt the car skidding just so slightly as if on a film of oil. I take this as the effect of the new tyres. Been attacking this U-turn a million times on my way to and from work and groceries run, but this was the first such experience. Would like to know should I defer the hill drive next week till the tyres have run a couple more 100 km?

[BeingHuman]

I have experienced less grip levels on my Verna Crdi with Michelin xm2+ for the first ~500kms on a recent set. We just need to maintain maybe 20kms less speed than usual on long drive during the runin period.

[Mr. Nobody]

Originally Posted by driver52001

Adding to this old thread, I slapped 185 Yoko Earth-1s yesterday to my Ignis and took it for a spin towards Noida Expressway. I wanted to run-in the tyres as much as possible as there's a hill drive coming up next week to Uttarakhand. On the way back near my house there's a flyover under which I needed to take a U-turn. The new tyres had by then done 70 km. I did legal speed only. But, while taking the U-turn, I distinctly felt the car skidding just so slightly as if on a film of oil. I take this as the effect of the new tyres. Been attacking this U-turn a million times on my way to and from work and groceries run, but this was the first such experience. Would like to know should I defer the hill drive next week till the tyres have run a couple more 100 km?

You can try rubbing the tires with a light grade sandpaper.