[thumpingbull]

Thanks for the valuable inputs all.
Went in for the Yokos v550 Db.Looks are great. Will have to check the performance.
The dealer did not have nitrogen so had to make do with air, no problems on that I guess.
Having balanced the wheels, I saw the guy who was fitting the tyres/wheels do the alignment and I was shocked to see that he went on to check the alignment with a STRING with weights on both ends. I thaught that he's checking if the car is properly standing on the machine, but that was it. He did a little camber adjustment and said that alignment was done. On enquiry, i was told that the machine was not working and the owner was determined to convince me that there was no requirement to do the alignment on the machine and the guy was better than the machine.
On insisting for a proper alignment, the dealer agreed to get it done later,once the machine was repaired.Beware guys.

[Sommos]

Would you please update the cost involved and also your initial impression vis-a-vis the stock GT3.

The V550 DB are softer tyres and you need to take care while driving specially on rough patches. Enjoy the ride and do provide us a detail feedback later.

[thumpingbull]

Got the proper allignment done today. The tyres are doing great. They are indeed noiseless and the ride quality is also great. any other special inputs on the yokos are welcome.

[neelchak]

I had updated on the forum about Alnac 4G (http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-a...-anyone-2.html), that I replaced my old stock GT3 with Alnac 4G. Nearly 500 kms later, I am not very impressed. Following are some of my observations as of now.
Dry Grip: The car seems to hold very well with braking, but somehow I feel that I am losing the feedback and as such do not feel confident enough. However, that does not rule out the possibility that the tyres might be very good in dry grip.


Wet grip: Not tested yet

Gravel : Driven on gravel roads but not really tested hard braking on them.

Reverse braking - I mention it in particular because I feel when on reverse gear, the loss of feedback is even more.

Curve Handling - Fine so far, yet to push it to the limits which I have taken GT3 Linea, Potenza Giii and JK Tornado (Swift) to.

Noise - My god, the tyre makes a lot of noise. I feel as if I am on a racing car with the kind of noise the tyres are producing as of now. Would it reduce after some kms? I dont know.

Ride and Mileage- Probably one of the testimonial of the tyre's good grip is that the car now requires little more gas peddle pushing to achieve the same kind of RPM which it used to with GT3. I guess, mileage would take a negligible beating.

Durability - I had no punctures till 28k kms driven on GT3. I had total 8 punctures within the first week of Alnac. All 8 along the same line, so probably the tyres were plain unlucky, but would GT3 have given up on same situation. I doubt it.

Overall, if i had to decide today, maybe I would have gone for GT3 again over ZLO, XM2, AVS DB, Mich P3ST, MY02 and Alnac 4G

I would hopefully be back with more after doing 5000 or so kms before coming up with the final verdict. As of now, I am still hoping the tyres would perform brilliantly and my bet would pay off

[Ricci]

The tyre size applicable for the Linea TJet = 205/55-R16

Which of these do you recommend ? My first preference based on reviews was the Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3 ( http://www.goodyear.co.in/tyre_detai...tyre_code=gsd3 ) but this seems to be unavailable, or at least not easily available in 16".

Nikhilb's suggestion :
Yokohama A-Drive AR01 : http://www.yokohama-india.com/adrive_r1.html
where again, seems availability could be an issue

OR
Yokohama S-drive : http://www.yokohama-india.com/s_drive.html
OR
Falken Azenis PT722 : http://falkentyre.in/azenis-pt722/
OR
Bridgestone MY02
OR
Bridgestone Potenza G3
OR
Bridgestone Turanza GR90


Excluding Michelins due to soft sidewalls, and they are costlier as well. My current shoes are not bald yet, but around the 1.5mm-2mm treat depth limit in front, stock NCT5.
My requirement is good grip in dry and wet (monsoons around the corner), good braking and sturdiness - able to withstand bad roads typical of India.

EDIT: Main reason for switch is forthcoming monsoons. I am not sure the old tyres have enough tread depth for wet roads ; the car is not my daily ride and the rear still have a bit more tread life left in them.

[Sommos]

Originally Posted by Ricci

tyre size applicable for the Linea TJet = 205/55-R16

Excluding Michelins due to soft sidewalls, and they are costlier as well. My current shoes are not bald yet, but around the 1.5mm-2mm treat depth limit in front, stock NCT5.
My requirement is good grip in dry and wet (monsoons around the corner), good braking and sturdiness - able to withstand bad roads typical of India.

EDIT: Main reason for switch is forthcoming monsoons. I am not sure the old tyres have enough tread depth for wet roads ; the car is not my daily ride and the rear still have a bit more tread life left in them.

You have left the Michelins for soft sidewalls, but if I'm correct the Yokos also have soft sidewalls. You have said that your tyres are not bald yet and has 1.5-2.0 mm thread left; well it is time to change your tyres when they have 1.6 mm or lesser thread depth left.

I don't know if you'll agree but the best tyres available for the Linea in 205/55 R16 size are Michelin P3ST and the Continental CPC2. You can have all the details of both these tyres in moderator Mobike's thread and you may PM him for more details.

[Nikhilb2008]

The Michelin P3ST doesnt have soft sidewalls. Do consider it if you want comfort along with a decent grip.

[Ricci]

Placed an order with Snapdeal since they have Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3 in stock , apparently this is a very good tyre, better and cheaper than the premium brands. Let's see if they fulfill the order , should know in a few days.

[neelchak]

Need to validate something
--------------------------

I recently had multiple punctures on the lower sidewall of my tubeless tyre. The puncture guys had put the puncture repair strips and sorted it. However, after about two weeks, one of the the two tyres which had the patch job done, kind of look punctured again. After another puncture guy checked it, he said that the side wall should have a rubber patch stuck from inside in addition to the strip and he showed me (through bubbles) that the same spot where on of the strip was put was leaking air.
But what baffled me was, that these guys put an adhesive on the inside of the tyre and put a fire on the tyre from inside to stick the rubber patch. (The rubber patches looked pretty neat and hi-tech.) Now is that a known practice? I kind of lost my head seeing them playing with fire with my tyre? I was almost into altercation with the ganged up tyre wallas. Plz let me know if this is an acceptable and harmless way of putting side inside patches.

[khoj]

Well, I do have a patch n one of the tires on my rides but cannot recall my driver (who had gotten it mended) mentioning anything to do with fire et all. If I recall correctly the immediate area was first plugged and then sanded/filed a bit as was the patch and then these were glued together and then clamped for 30-40 minutes.

This practice is prevalent for commercial vehicle tires but do not think it would be suitable for a passenger vehicle. The tires on our rides have a much thinner carcass and the only reason one needs to set fire to a patch of rubber is 'cause it is thick. Given that a car's suspension set up is far more sensitive than a commercial vehicle the patch may be bothersome every time that section of the tire rolls over.

BTW, why don't you take it back to the guy who had done the repairs initially. Since it is bad workmanship, he will redo it for you with or without a patch.

Originally Posted by neelchak

Need to validate something
--------------------------
...........

But what baffled me was, that these guys put an adhesive on the inside of the tyre and put a fire on the tyre from inside to stick the rubber patch. (The rubber patches looked pretty neat and hi-tech.) Now is that a known practice? I kind of lost my head seeing them playing with fire with my tyre? I was almost into altercation with the ganged up tyre wallas. Plz let me know if this is an acceptable and harmless way of putting side inside patches.

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by neelchak

Need to validate something
--------------------------

I recently had multiple punctures on the lower sidewall of my tubeless tyre. The puncture guys had put the puncture repair strips and sorted it. However, after about two weeks, one of the the two tyres which had the patch job done, kind of look punctured again. After another puncture guy checked it, he said that the side wall should have a rubber patch stuck from inside in addition to the strip and he showed me (through bubbles) that the same spot where on of the strip was put was leaking air.
But what baffled me was, that these guys put an adhesive on the inside of the tyre and put a fire on the tyre from inside to stick the rubber patch. (The rubber patches looked pretty neat and hi-tech.) Now is that a known practice? I kind of lost my head seeing them playing with fire with my tyre? I was almost into altercation with the ganged up tyre wallas. Plz let me know if this is an acceptable and harmless way of putting side inside patches.

A sidewall puncture should never be repaired. The reason is that unlike the main tread of the tyre, the sidewall continuously flexes. This ensures that any patch will not really be permanent.

Also, using a heat patch on the sidewall is also not recommended as it could give way at high speeds and high temperatures (common in India).

If you value your life, throw away that tyre and get a new one. Your life is not worth rising over a few thousand bucks. Numerous lives have been lost thanks to these practices. Dont end up as another statistic.

[neelchak]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

A sidewall puncture should never be repaired. The reason is that unlike the main tread of the tyre, the sidewall continuously flexes. This ensures that any patch will not really be permanent.

Also, using a heat patch on the sidewall is also not recommended as it could give way at high speeds and high temperatures (common in India).

If you value your life, throw away that tyre and get a new one. Your life is not worth rising over a few thousand bucks. Numerous lives have been lost thanks to these practices. Dont end up as another statistic.

Whoa, I had lost tyres earlier because of bad damanges to the side wall but I was not aware that even a tiny winy puncture on even lower side-wall can make tyres dangerous. Just researched some and found more threatening content. Well, it seems I have to purchase then. I am really really low on Vitamin M currently. Just few weeks back, bought these new Alnac 4g tyres. So two of them are fine right now. If I have to buy, then I would surely buy GT3 only now. So plz tell me,
1. If I should out Alnac at the front and GT3 in the back or vice-versa?
2. Or do I need to get all four new tyres?

I do high speed E-way commute every month. now, I wont use my car till at least the two tyres are changed. Plz advise on above queries.

[Sommos]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

The Michelin P3ST doesnt have soft sidewalls. Do consider it if you want comfort along with a decent grip.

Nikhil may I ask you the cost of the P3ST (205/55 R16) for a set of four.

The stock GY in my Linea have done 27K and they make a lot of noise. I went to check for a replacement and the local tyre shop quoted something more than 40K for a set of four P3ST tyres.

[neelchak]

{Being hopeful} Anyone in Mumbai selling OEM Goodyear GT3 of a newly purchased car? Do message, call @ 7738002804.

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by neelchak

Whoa, I had lost tyres earlier because of bad damanges to the side wall but I was not aware that even a tiny winy puncture on even lower side-wall can make tyres dangerous. Just researched some and found more threatening content. Well, it seems I have to purchase then. I am really really low on Vitamin M currently. Just few weeks back, bought these new Alnac 4g tyres. So two of them are fine right now. If I have to buy, then I would surely buy GT3 only now. So plz tell me,
1. If I should out Alnac at the front and GT3 in the back or vice-versa?
2. Or do I need to get all four new tyres?

I do high speed E-way commute every month. now, I wont use my car till at least the two tyres are changed. Plz advise on above queries.

If you do a high speed drive regularly, I will not recommend mixing and matching. Get 2 more Alnacs and be happy. A Sidewall puncture can happen to any tyre. Dont blame only the Alnacs for that.

Originally Posted by Sommos

Nikhil may I ask you the cost of the P3ST (205/55 R16) for a set of four.

The stock GY in my Linea have done 27K and they make a lot of noise. I went to check for a replacement and the local tyre shop quoted something more than 40K for a set of four P3ST tyres.

P3ST in 205/55-16 is around 10,250/- per tyre.