[Fountainheader]

Originally Posted by redsfx

How much do the A-drives for 225/17's cost? Was quaoted approx 8k per tyre.Is it that expensive? What are the other tyres I can look at for this size in my civic?

Guess you are talking about A-Drive R1 tyres and not the normal A-Drives.

[redsfx]

Not too sure as when I asked about the A-drives this is the quote I got. Please help asap guys. Need to know the prices.

[redsfx]

Got the A-drive R1's. Awesome stuff.

[kpzen]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaKnight

Does anybody have an approximate on the Yoko A drive 195/60/14 cost in kerala (trichur or kochin).

Should cost u around 3500 per tire.

[rr_zen]

Guys ! I would like to go in for Yokos for my Esteem (175/70-R13). How much should a tyre cost in Chennai ? How costlier is a Michelin of the same size ? I would prefer Michelin but apprehensive of its price. Also, any pointers on how the Yokos have fared after a couple of thousands of kms would really help.

[gunner fan]

what would be the street price for the 185/70 R 14 yokos in delhi / gurgaon? planning them as my rides shoes are wearing of fast.

[Bubby]

Originally Posted by rr_zen

Also, any pointers on how the Yokos have fared after a couple of thousands of kms would really help.

I have A-Drives on my Palio MJD and I have completed about 22000kms with them. Went for my allingment and balancing to a very know Tyre Shoppe, the owner of the shop really knows his tyres really well.

During the balancing I just asked him how much does he think my tyres would have done and he answered somewhere around 8000-9000kms, he was shoked when I told him that they have done 22000kms.

So that says it all when you look at a A-Drive 22000kms it looks like that it has just done 9000kms

[iceman7]

I got the A-Drives for my Palio 1.2 in August. Have done around 1900 kms on them. They are leagues ahead of the stock Good Year's. Cornering ability has improved and I feel comfortable at 100+ speeds.

All in all, I think the A-drives are a good investment.

[Jaggu]

The GoodYear Ventura's served me well for last 38,600 kms, but the age was showing. It had another 5K kms to thread wear indicator, but the tires being old (i didnt check and purchased 05 IIRC in 07) had become hard and grip was dicey. From agara lake signal take RT to ORR, there is a small undulation and lately rear was getting unsettled whenever i do the lift off.

Anyways with the visit to Sai Colorium planned i decided to get the alloys colored and the tires changed before refitting. So started some PM's with Nikhil and he tried his level best to convince me to go with 185's and go for better tire choice. Me on the other hand was hell bent on trying out 195's, for that matter go with the Qualis size of 195/70/14 on the swift.

Went and removed the GY's from alloys and mounted them on steel rims, a quick call to Nikhil and he got his guys to demo me all the available tire options for my need. Checked out GoodYear Assurance, Bridgestone Turanza and Yokohama A drives. Took some pics of the tire thread also for my reference. Got back home and did a refresh of TBHP as well as other online tire review sites.

Assurance are really good tires, i liked the thread as well as the sidewall. They are made to take abuse, which was very evident with a simple finger check. Same with Turanza, but they were lil too heavy compared to GY and Yoko.

Yoko was last in my list before i went to Madhu's but having checked out other options, i suddenly felt confused. Yes the sidewall was not as hard as others, but they were not that bad either. Thread was chunky and lot of meat in it. Design was plain comfort, with 3 grooves for water channelling and the chequered blocks and clean side sipes. Then came the issue of size, Yoko's mean straight fit. Assurance and Turanza meant i need to upsize the profile and there i had an issue.

Stock alloys are 5.5J, though ok for 195 section, 70 profile meant that i would have a slightly bulging sidewall under normal tire pressures, moreover i would loose out on the handling crispness.

Final decision was made next week and went and plonked in a set of 4, did wheel alignment and balancing and rode off.

Review of Yoko A drives

Ride: The difference felt was immediate, though i initially though i was running low pressure compared to my 34F/32R. Ride had suddenly become super smooth, silent and supple but no way wobbly like Michellin's. Apart from the tires, there could be two other reasons why i feel the difference, one age- the earlier GY's were old and hard and two they had only lil bit of thread rubber left in them.

Still i feel that Yoko's are better when it comes to comfort, so went and did a lane marker test. Also just to reconfirm the air pressure, i went to my usual machine and pumped in 36F/34R (slightly high pressure to bed in the new tires), will run this for a week and then revert pressure to 34/32. Earlier the suspension used to sound its protest very clearly with (khad, khad's) now it has gone mute with soft (thud thud). Even the impact of these have been reduced by 60-70% i feel.

Handling slow speeds:Steering suddenly has become real soft, especially at low speed (power steering ON) But they go back to the normal feel as the speeds increase, though i havent driven more than 60 kph in the last 30 kms since A drives. Also its raining so never felt like pushing it much.

Best part was i think sidewalls are as good or harder compared to my previous Venturas (NOT Eagle Venturas), so the handling is still crispy and the turn at the signal in front of siemen's and mphasis @ Koramangala were passed with flying colors. Oh and the sidewalls dont compress much at my inclined parking spot at office, especially compared to old GY's. So i think its good sign.

Initial impression i really dont regret the purchase, some might say still too early to say and bad choice yada yada. Ill try to update more as i gather more kms and speeds on the new shoes. Hope it helps others.

[iraghava]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Also just to reconfirm the air pressure, i went to my usual machine and pumped in 36F/34R (slightly high pressure to bed in the new tires), will run this for a week and then revert pressure to 34/32.

Why would you run those pressures? And what do you mean by bedding in the tyres? No need to do that on higher pressures. Usual pressure works just as well.

[Jaggu]

I run those pressure 34/32 in city and 35/33 for highways anyways, i have got great life from previous tires coz of this and absolutely even wear. I like the suspension/handling feeling to be really tight

Its to get the new tire set in proper with the rim lips, have been following this since i got introduced to tubeless. Might not be helping but just for peace of mind sake.

[s3va]

@Jaggu..I am stealing your review for mine

I upgraded the tyres of my AVEO 1.4 from GY NCTs to Yoko A drives. If you ask me WHY, Plainly went ahead and followed Nikhil's advice. And I am absolutely satisfied with the choice. The reason I stole Jaggu's review is purely for the reason that I second him in every aspect that he has talked about, ride quality, grip and steering comfort, though noise levels are something I am still on the observant mode as somewhere I felt the levels were a bit more than the GYs( dont crucify for this statement, but probably its due to my over sensitive ears).

The pressures I run them on are 28, as per the manual.

[Jaggu]

I have now set the tire pressure back to 34/32 and ride is just perfect for the bouncy swift Have done 250+ kms and have no complaints so far, apart from stones getting stuck all over the thick thread blocks and once in a while getting thrown out into the wheel well with a ktack sound.

[swat]

i have been using A-drives in my CRV type 1 and must stress that they are really comortable and had made my ride silent at the same time. I have done around 170+ speed on these tyres and never felt out of zone or loosing control. I would also add that the braking ability has improved. the was using bridgestone earlier and clearly it was quite noisy and never had comfort which these tyres gave me. The size i am using is 205/65/15. last but not least I have felt the steering much lighter at low speeds and very precise at high speeds. I may not be an expert but overall would give 9 out of 10 to these tyres. i guess 1 point loosing for wong size for my car. had it been 215 i am sure it would have had better grip but still no regrets at all.

my 2 cents.

cheers,

swatantra

[meremortal]

Hello,

It's been quite a while since I posted anywhere on TBHP. Well here goes my review on the A-Drives I recently put on replacing the GY GPS2's.

Change period: 22,500 (2.3 years)
Car: Fiat Palio Stile 1.6
Size: 175 / 65 R14
Purchased at: Millivisions (near lalbagh)
Price paid: Rs.3100/- apiece

The statement: Yoko A is leagues ahead of the GY GPS2.

I don't even know whether I can compare these two products. The GPS2 in many ways loosees out to the A Drive. For example (the ones I noted);

1. Ride comfort: Aspect one is the road feedback being transfered into the cabin. Has reduced so much that I am now getting to hear the squeaks and rattles of the dash and other internal components. One way its good because I can work on them to make the ride even more silent. Definitely beats the GPS2 eyes closed. Also in general the ride quality has improved over different surfaces.

Aspect two is the tyre noise at 80 KMPH and above with the windows rolled down. The test parameter was the ICE volume level kept at 25 (Pioneer and Polks). GPS2 used to fail this test with the volume at 32 and above. The A Drive manages to pass just at level 27-28. The objective is to be able to listen to some good music and also be able to hear the rear passenger converse with you, without having to raise their voice.

2. Wet weather performance: Phenomenal. Although the GPS2 had very good grip on wet surfaces, the A Drive goes a level up. One point to be noted here is the efficiency in dispersing the water from the point of contact. The quicker this is done, the reduced the chances for hydroplaning. Probably the GY's don't disperse as quickly as the Yokos. Currently my record is a 100 KMPH corner in absolutely wet conditions near Mangalore. On the GY's it stood at 80 KMPH. I could say the wet performance is confidence inspiring. Also, I feel a lot depends on other parameters that make a car perform well in the wet than just the tyres.

3. Braking: An immediate improvement in stopping performance. Although I can't quantify the performance, at high speeds ie., >120 Kmph, I did notice the car was well in its limits of braking and the tyres providing that needed grip under hard braking. On the other hand the GPS2 also performed well under hard braking. So can't conclude anything here.

4. High Speed: (On highways only) Corner speeds have definitely increased by 5-10 Kmph. One particular corner I like is the winding one near Mysore, just before you enter it. Well this time I take it with much better grip and without loosing any speed. Goes to say I am getting confident about the tyre's performance.

Summary:
Pros
Given the price, it offers great ride quality,
reduced rolling noise,
amazing wet weather performance (especially if you live in places like M'lore),
good high speed performance.

Cons
The tight tread's pick up stones and keep them there! So have to sit down and pull 'em off one by one.

Hope this post has been informative.

Cheers !