[Mik]

Cross posting from another thread which seems dead.

Currently I have 175/65/R14 tyres on all 4 wheels of my Figo. The fronts are around 15k old and the rear ones around 40k each (Goodyear Assurance and Goodyear GT3)
A friend is offering two tyres of Michelin XM2 185/65/R14 for free which he no longer needs and is very sparingly used.

My questions
1. Would it make sense to swap the front two (Not impressed by Assurance). I am tempted by the XM2s.
2. Will it have any negative effect on car's handling or any other aspect.

I do wish to upsize to 185s eventually for better grip.
He does need two tyres from me in exchange :-)

[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by Mik

My questions
1. Would it make sense to swap the front two (Not impressed by Assurance). I am tempted by the XM2s.
2. Will it have any negative effect on car's handling or any other aspect.

Fact is that you are better off not doing this, it seems very strange & will only lead to more work in the future. What you are referring to is called a staggered tyre setup and even then its the rear tyres that would be wider than the ones up front. These are done mostly in high end cars packing a lot of torque & power to enhance grip in the rear when cornering. Factually there is only a marginal difference between 175 & 185 section so a lot of things may not go wrong but the question still is, why?

For starters you can no longer do tyre rotation, and you would possibly be the only one using an ascending stagger setup in the country. Just swap all 4's to brand new 185 section when their time is done and call it a day. Already you're suffering from the side effects of changing 2 tyres, why make it worse? The rear ones will not hold out longer than 5-10k km.

[KiloAlpha]

Originally Posted by Mik

Cross posting from another thread which seems dead.

Currently I have 175/65/R14 tyres on all 4 wheels of my Figo. The fronts are around 15k old and the rear ones around 40k each (Goodyear Assurance and Goodyear GT3)
A friend is offering two tyres of Michelin XM2 185/65/R14 for free which he no longer needs and is very sparingly used.

My questions
1. Would it make sense to swap the front two (Not impressed by Assurance). I am tempted by the XM2s.
2. Will it have any negative effect on car's handling or any other aspect.

I do wish to upsize to 185s eventually for better grip.
He does need two tyres from me in exchange :-)

Michelin XM2 is a very good tyre. And the size (185/65R14) is perfect for the 1st gen Figo.

However, it is not a good idea to have different sized tyres on the car. So, while I would agree that going for the swap and fitting the XM2 tyres will be a good idea, you will need to buy 2 new XM2 so all 4 tyres are of same spec.
And you will need to change your spare tyre too. It will also need to be 185/65R14 size, but you could go for a budget brand and keep it strictly as a spare only.

I have just got a new set of tyres of this size for my Figo. It has not adversely affect handling (tested last night in empty roads ), car will be more stable in hard braking.

[tharian]

I am thinking of changing the tyres on my Figo which has run close to 40k kms.

There is enough thread and grip left, however the ride has become noisy and rough.
The present ones are Conti Eco Contact3 in 185/65 14 size and I will be going for the same size.

I don't mind going for the same make and type but wanted to try something else like Michelin or Yokohama's, provided they are within my budget.

Conti's were brilliant in the wet , but the number of punctures over time has been more than average.

What would be the right swap for the Conti's present now?

[Ricci]

One of the Goodyear GT3s on my dad's Figo got a bulge in the tread section. This happened, or rather was discovered, on a highway run. Swapped it with the spare and replaced the bulged tyre with a Continental CC5. The rest 4 are the original GT3s, which will be replaced together with new CC5 set later before the rains, as there is plenty of tread life, and tyre rotation done for all 5 tyres every 5000km.

I thought GT3 were hardy tyres. The CC5 is now kept as spare, so no feedback on its performance as of now.

[CruzeLiner]

i haven't used contis in any of my cars till now, so cant comment on them. But i changed my GT3s that came along with my figo to michelin XM2 and its been more than 10K kms and i the ride has been much better compared to the GT3s. Tyre noise is minimal and grip has also improved. however, never tried cornering on wet roads so can't say much about wet grip though.

[sunsetorange]

Originally Posted by tharian

I am thinking of changing the tyres on my Figo which has run close to 40k kms.

There is enough thread and grip left, however the ride has become noisy and rough.
The present ones are Conti Eco Contact3 in 185/65 14 size and I will be going for the same size.

I don't mind going for the same make and type but wanted to try something else like Michelin or Yokohama's, provided they are within my budget.

I changed the original Apollo Accelere tyres in my Figo at 60,000 km. They were almost slicks.

I fit a set of Michelin XM2 185/65/14 tyres 5 months ago and had a pretty long solo trip last week.

The grip levels were amazing and it was cornering like on rails! I was about to exchange the Figo in a couple of months to get my wife a Polo GT TSI but after that trip, and I have decided to hang on to it for some more years and have my fill of fun ; -).
I

[CruzeLiner]

The grip levels were amazing and it was cornering like on rails! I was about to exchange the Figo in a couple of months to get my wife a Polo GT TSI but after that trip, and I have decided to hang on to it for some more years and have my fill of fun ; -).
I

Yes, I, can also vouch for that. I guess, its partly due to the tyres but more to do because of the brilliant handling of the figo. I have a Cruze too but though the two are couple of segments apart, i would stick pick the Figo for the handling. Its such a wonderful car to push around the corners at speeds.

[praveear]

My Figo has run 61.7K till date, its time for tire replacement as the road noise after 70Kph has become unbearable. I have shortlisted the following two based on the quote from a local dealer:-
Yoko Earth 1 185/65 R14 86H - 4K Per tyre
Continental Contact 5 185/65 R 14 86H - 4.5K per tyre

From whatever research I have done so far I believe Continental has a slighter edge. Is it true?

[CruzeLiner]

Any reason why you have left out michelin in your choice list?

[praveear]

Originally Posted by CruzeLiner

Any reason why you have left out michelin in your choice list?

Only reason being budget. The total cost was coming 20K without Wheel balancing and alignment hence I switched to Yokohama earth 1, three days back. The ride has improved by leaps and bound but tyre noise is excessive at speeds beyond 100kph

[CruzeLiner]

Only reason being budget. The total cost was coming 20K without Wheel balancing and alignment hence I switched to Yokohama earth 1, three days back. The ride has improved by leaps and bound but tyre noise is excessive at speeds beyond 100kph

oh ok. yes its slightly costlier. i can say that the tyre noise is much better compared to the previous GT3s that i had. Also, i feel, the old Figo is bad in terms of noise insulation in general and also the diesel engine gets really noisy beyond 3k rpm, so more than the tyre noise itself, i feel its the overall noise from the engine and outside that makes me feeling annoying.

[RGK]

Enquired the pricing for Figo and Honda at Lal tyres, Whites Road, Chennai 6 months back. Can anyone confirm whether the prices are increased/decreased now. I have shortlisted CC and Yokos Earth1 (185/65/14) for my Figo. Presently running on GT3 with full of noise.

[tharian]

Originally Posted by RGK

Enquired the pricing for Figo and Honda at Lal tyres, Whites Road, Chennai 6 months back. Can anyone confirm whether the prices are increased/decreased now. I have shortlisted CC and Yokos Earth1 (185/65/14) for my Figo. Presently running on GT3 with full of noise.

For 185/65 14 in Bangalore;

Michellin XM2- 5K
Conti CC5- 4.7
MRF Zlo- 3.9 (185/70)
GY Assurance Triplemax- 4.3k
Apollo Alnac 4Gs- 4.3k
Yokohama Earth 1 - 4.3k (not sure)

[sunsetorange]

Originally Posted by RGK

Enquired the pricing for Figo and Honda at Lal tyres, Whites Road, Chennai 6 months back. Can anyone confirm whether the prices are increased/decreased now. I have shortlisted CC and Yokos Earth1 (185/65/14) for my Figo. Presently running on GT3 with full of noise.

The Yokohama's turn pretty noisy quite soon. Michelin is worth it.