[The Saint]

To All my Fellow Bhpian,

Looking for a tyre for honda civic, i have OEM rims of international civic- size 16/6.5 J, checked on micheling site i can go up to 225/50/16.

I need advice what tyre is available in this size and what brand i should go for, please note i want high speed performance tyre only.

Appreciate if you guru's can advice at the earliest.

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Struck by Michelin Tyre woes!
My 6 month old Laura had been happily running on Michelin Primacy LCs (205/55/16) and had covered about 12,000 kms before I noticed that one of the tyres has developed a bulge in its sidewall. The car had recently done a 500 km trip from Blr to Belgaum on smooth NH roads and a 500 km round trip from Belgaum to Honnavar on decent state highways. Some portion of road had some potholes, the usual kinds you would expect on state highways. I certainly drove carefully over these potholes. I can't imagine any possible reason as to how this could happen, more so due to the fact that the car was carrying only two passengers with hardly any luggage.

I will try to enforce warranty, but am not sure how successful I will be in getting one, given the trend with warranty enforcements with tyre mfrs. How should I approach the issue? Any pointers?

If I am denied warranty, I guess my best option would be to buy one new tyre of the same make. I don't want to risk keeping this tyre as spare. But then what if it happens again? I can't afford to keep buying new PLCs everytime as they are pretty expensive.

I was very happy with the ride, grip, silence etc.. of the PLCs. But this bulge has proved to be a huge spoilsport.

Update on the above issue. The tyre with the bulge was inspected by an inspector from Michelin at Sai Iyengar's. The appointment was fixed for a date one week after the incident was reported, as the inspector was out of town. THe inspector kept up his appointment and arrived promplty at the designated time at Sai Iyengar's. He gave the typical 'you have hit a pothole pretty hard' theory. The tyre had no visible evidence of the same. I told him how happy I was with these tyres and how I changed my OE Goodyears for Michelins on Day 1 after purchasing the Laura due to good experience of the very same tyre on my Corolla. The inspector still held on to his theory the tyres had no manufacturing defect but offered to give me a 25% discount on purchase of a new piece as a goodwill gesture. The discount was upped to 50% after some haggling. Bought the new tyre after 50% discount claim and got it fitted. Overall I am pretty happy with the way things were handled.

The bulge was about 1 1/2" in diameter on the sidewall of the front left tyre. The analysis by the inspector was that it was due to hitting a pothole or a stone pretty hard. He said that the alloy would also bear some evidence of the hit. He searched hard for this evidence on the alloy but couldn't find any. I told him I cannot obviously remember each and every pothole that I drove over, but surely I would remember if I had hit something so drastically as to cause damage to the tyre.

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by The Saint

To All my Fellow Bhpian,

Looking for a tyre for honda civic, i have OEM rims of international civic- size 16/6.5 J, checked on micheling site i can go up to 225/50/16.

I need advice what tyre is available in this size and what brand i should go for, please note i want high speed performance tyre only.

Appreciate if you guru's can advice at the earliest.

Not many options. Ideal size is 205/55-16. You get Primacy LC which is the best in my opinion but it is also the most expensive. Otherwise, you get the Yoko A Drive R1. Bridgestone may also have a tyre in this size.

[deetjohn]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

The bulge was about 1 1/2" in diameter on the sidewall of the front left tyre.

50% off was a nice one by Michelin since you had a mileage of 12K on the tyres. Did the Michelin guys take the damaged tyre from you for analysis?

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

Otherwise, you get the Yoko A Drive R1.

Wow! Is it available here now? How much is it for the 195/60 R15

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

Wow! Is it available here now? How much is it for the 195/60 R15

Yes. It is. It's quite cheap too compared to the PLc. the PLC is 9000/- but the A Drive R1 is around 6400 or so.

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

50% off was a nice one by Michelin since you had a mileage of 12K on the tyres. Did the Michelin guys take the damaged tyre from you for analysis?

I don't know if the tyre was taken by the Michelin guys. I basically left it there and bought a new piece after claiming the discount. He filled out a form with the details of the complaint, tyre position, mileage etc... which I signed. He handled the issue quite professionally.

The tyre dealer told me that normally when there is a bulge you will also find a cut inside. There was no cut in my case. There was only a small depression (as if a sharp object had been pressed hard). Probably a sharp stone. I actually did not harp on the fact that the tyre was defective. But impressed upon him that I loved the tyres and the fact this is my second car running on these tyres.

[drpullockaran]

Originally Posted by The Saint

To All my Fellow Bhpian,

Looking for a tyre for honda civic, i have OEM rims of international civic- size 16/6.5 J, checked on micheling site i can go up to 225/50/16.
please note i want high speed performance tyre only.

1)Hankook Ventus V2H437
http://www.1010tires.com/Tires/Revie...Ventus+V2+H437
2)Falken FK452.
http://www.1010tires.com/tire.asp?ti...remodel=fk-452
3)Yokohama AVID Envigor.
http://www.1010tires.com/Tires/Revie...a/AVID+ENVigor
4) Michelin Primacy LC.

I do not have personal experience with either of these tires but came to a conclusion after scouring the net for days on users/readers opinions. These may not be the highest performance tires but they should fit the bill for Indian conditions.

[teknophobia]

Stay away from the Primacy LC if you want a high speed performance tyre, they're strictly comfort oriented. If you want Michelin, you should be looking at something from the Pilot sport series.

[The Saint]

Originally Posted by drpullockaran

1)Hankook Ventus V2H437
Hankook Ventus V2 H437 Tire Reviews (5 Reviews)
2)Falken FK452.
falken fk-452 Tires - Tire Size & Price Details - 1010tires.com
3)Yokohama AVID Envigor.
Yokohama AVID ENVigor Tire Reviews (62 Reviews)
4) Michelin Primacy LC.

I do not have personal experience with either of these tires but came to a conclusion after scouring the net for days on users/readers opinions. These may not be the highest performance tires but they should fit the bill for Indian conditions.

thanks mate, i have made my decision, i am going for:
Michelin Pilot Preceda 3- 225/50/16.

cheers

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by The Saint

thanks mate, i have made my decision, i am going for:
Michelin Pilot Preceda 3- 225/50/16.

cheers

Hey where are you getting these tyres from and for how much? Am on the look out for the same size.

[Nikhilb2008]

Most of the tyres being talked about here are vaporware! Michelin Pilot Preceda 3 is a non-existent tyre in the first place! The others mentioned here are clearly taken from random internet searches.

If only internet links were horses....

the Primacy LC grips really well. Much better than most other tyres out there which claim to be sporty. Obviously you cant compare it to the Pilot Preceda or Pilot Sports series, but they are damn good in their own right.

[The Saint]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Hey where are you getting these tyres from and for how much? Am on the look out for the same size.

i thought i will get them, but the govt has banned imports to all tyre dealers plus they have some new rules which has made life difficult for the ditributors.

last night installed pilot sport 3 225/50/16, on paper people might say it is not good as PP3, but i did sealink last night and knowing our mumbai roads other than the sealink very happy with the grip, i recommend you put that, they are also not easily available, but if you need help let me know.

Cheers

[seby_v]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

Yes. It is. It's quite cheap too compared to the PLc. the PLC is 9000/- but the A Drive R1 is around 6400 or so.

Nikhil,
When I checked last week in HSR layout for the same profile tyre, it was quoted as 5700 + tax.

[Nikhilb2008]

VAT is 14%. Do the calculation! :P

[kuttapan]

Have done about 4k kms on Michelin Primacy LC's on my Grande Punto. I am satisfied so far. I found the grip levels satisfactory for my driving style. Couldnt find a great difference in ride between the OE Goodyears and this,though. I really dont care about tyre noise, so I have no benchmark to compare this against.

Thanks Nikhil, for suggesting this tyre !