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Old 28th August 2010, 13:02   #1
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Which Bridgestones?

The O.E. size of tyres of my Car is 195/60/15, 88V. I wan't a comfortable tyre with low noise. So far have seen almost all Bridgestones & am pretty confused on which one to go in for finally! Among the tyres I have seen:

Turanza ER 300 - 195/65/15 - 91H

Turanza ER 30 - 195/65/15 - 91V

Turanza ER 60 - 195/60/15 - 88H

Potenza RE88 - 195/60/15 - 88V

B250 - 195/65/15 - 91H


Now which of these tyres should I go in for, should I stick to 60 profile or opt for 65 for added ride comfort? Do not want to compromise FE too.

What about the Load index & Speed rating, again should I stick to O.E. scale?

Present tyres on my car are Goodyears & are almost gone, have developed bulges. So, need to change fast.
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Old 28th August 2010, 14:17   #2
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You can also look at Potenza G3 and Potenza RE001 (this starts at 17" though)


Tyre size selector, Tyre pattern, Tyre manufacturer in India

I've been using G3s (195/60 R14 86H) for around 5 years and they have performed very well on the road as well as on track. No tyre probs what so ever.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-a...mpression.html

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Last edited by Shan2nu : 28th August 2010 at 14:23.
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Old 28th August 2010, 15:43   #3
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Thanks for the suggestions but my priority is Comfort & low noise. Performance/sporty is low on the list of things.
Also, not upgrading the Alloys/rims beyond 15" i.e. the O.E. size.

Bridgestone website is not clear about the charesteristics of the tyres I mentioned, there's a lot of over-lapping of features, etc. So the confusion.

My choice is either between 195/60/15 or 195/65/15. Not upgrading beyond this. I've kept profile "65" into the picture because maybe it aids in ride comfort & not compromise FE much.
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Old 28th August 2010, 16:01   #4
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Why Bridgestone

I changed brand new OE Bridgestones on my Cedia to Yokohama AVS dB in the same size i.e. 195/60/R15. It is a very comfortable tire and silent over 85% of road surfaces including concrete roads. But these tires are unidirectional so a tire on the left can not be put on the right without taking it off the wheel and flipping and remounting. Meaning you will have to maintain a bidirectional (read normal) tire as a spare.

The best solution therefore is to go for Michelin Primacy LC. Another Tbhp member changed his OE Bridgestones to the same and this is quiet over 100% road surfaces.

Another option is Michelin XM1+. I have these on my Aveo and again super quiet tyres, though I am doubtful whether they are available in the size you want.

Whatever you do, don't change to the 65 profile. Apart from messing up your steering feedback you will end up with Speedo and Odometer reading errors. BTW for which of your rides are the new tyres for?


Quote:
Originally Posted by AWD View Post
Thanks for the suggestions but my priority is Comfort & low noise. Performance/sporty is low on the list of things.
Also, not upgrading the Alloys/rims beyond 15" i.e. the O.E. size.

Bridgestone website is not clear about the charesteristics of the tyres I mentioned, there's a lot of over-lapping of features, etc. So the confusion.

My choice is either between 195/60/15 or 195/65/15. Not upgrading beyond this. I've kept profile "65" into the picture because maybe it aids in ride comfort & not compromise FE much.
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Old 28th August 2010, 16:16   #5
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That brings Yokohamas into the picture! I was myself very keen on Yokos but the absence of a dedicated Indian website is a bummer for me. I mean that simply shows the company is not serious enough, why should I be then! In todays times, having a good dedicated website is a must, helps a lot during research.

Im also going to avoid Rotational/directional tyres. Had these earlier on my car but after a while was made to repent. Btw how much do Yoko Db in 195/60/15 cost?

Michelin Primacy LC is also in the scheme of things but not sure about Michelins support after sales. Also, these tyres are perhaps the most expensive ones. Local dealer was demanding 5.5k/tyre.

Searched Michelin site, XM1+ were not having 195/60/15 size. Maybe they have this size in the market.

So, 65 profile would have many negative effects. Steering feedback is already nil/below par in my car & Im not much worried about speedo/Odo error. Im more concerned about comfort & low noise & can trade a few negatives for these but won't like to compromise on FE.
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Old 28th August 2010, 16:41   #6
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Quote:
Btw how much do Yoko Db in 195/60/15 cost?
Good question, the dealer recommended by the local Yoko sales manager asked me to pay a difference of rs.800/- per tyre for the exchange so I did not bother much about the MRP etc as at 3200 for four tires with balancing and Nitrogen it was a pretty decent deal. However if you let me know the city you are located in I could talk to the Yoko guy and provide you with the contact details of the local Yoko manager.

Michelin's are expensive but the products are good. As for after sales support well they are the only ones who actually give you a warranty card and run a tyre care reminder service online. Again you can call up the India office in Delhi the number is on the web site and get to know your local manager or go straight to their dealer's list on line and seek out the best deal.
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Old 28th August 2010, 19:51   #7
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That was a sweet deal you got there! On which car did you swap the tyres & exchanged tyres must be like new, that is how you could manage such a low exchange price. Lets see the MRP, Im not willing to go beyond 4.5k i.e. 18k for 4.

I do not trust the local Yoko dealer much, he's been quoting prices insanely! Even Michelin doesn't have a decent local dealer, his prices are also fluctuating.

I prefer going in for tyres of which there are numerous dealers & not single! This way one can compare, get the best price & later on there's wide after sales support.

Bridgestone are the most readily available in my City, so I shortlisted all the Bridgestone tyres I came across. Turanza ER 60 is a bit difficult to get because they say they are in short production. Dealer was emphasizing on Potenza RE88 but Im reluctant on those because they do not carry a good word on t-bhp.

Continental CPC2 are also available for ~4.3k/tyre but not sure whether they are biased towards handling or comfort. Also, do not know much about how they fare in the long run.
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Old 29th August 2010, 01:21   #8
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I changed these on my Cedia, the one that you see in my avatar and in my garage with approximately 70 kms on the odo. The OE tires were Bridgestone Potenza RE88s. They are good and noiseless for the first 8~10K kms or so and then the songs start. If the bridgestone dealer has any tires that are made in Japan pick them up. One of the first set of tubeless I ever used about 8 years ago (13" on my Zen) were RE66 made in Japan and I am yet to come across tyres of equal quality. Though I am hoping the Yoko AVS dBs will turn out to be similar as these too are made in Japan. You can talk to Gaurav Mahajan on +919560012666. He is the Regional Manager North for Yoko & a helpful guy. He should be able to put you in touch with the RM responsible for your part of the country and give you the MRPs too. If required you can give him the reference of my Blue Cedia in Chittaranjan Park, N.Delhi and he will know who it is. You can see these tires in the exact same size here http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/1907274-post80.html

Continental should be good too especially if you can get a set that is made in the EU. Conti Premium Contact are comfort oriented but if these are Conti PRO Contact then they would be performance oriented.
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Old 29th August 2010, 09:14   #9
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Actually my car also came shod with Potenza RE88 but they were tube-type & the ride quality was miserable. I too changed the tyres when they were new(~6k kms).
Got Goodyears as a replacement because no other tyres were available at that point of time in size 205/60/15. The Goodyears turned out to be worse than Bridgestones with lot of noise & lasted only ~50k kms thereafter.

I categorically asked the local Bridgestone dealer about the manufacturing place because I had in my mind that they were probably made in Japan, etc but the reply was surprising. He said most Bridgestone tyres were made in India now & quality is better than that of made in Japan, then gave some lame reasoning for that, to which as a matter of fact, I did not pay much heed.

Thanks for the contact details of Yoko boss, I shall try & get in touch with him.

Will also check whether Conti CPC2 are made in EU. Though the pattern of Conti CPC2 is very different from rest of the tyres. I suspect this patter is for wet handling, which I do not require much.
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Old 29th August 2010, 09:44   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AWD View Post

I categorically asked the local Bridgestone dealer about the manufacturing place because I had in my mind that they were probably made in Japan, etc but the reply was surprising. He said most Bridgestone tyres were made in India now & quality is better than that of made in Japan, then gave some lame reasoning for that, to which as a matter of fact, I did not pay much heed.

Thanks for the contact details of Yoko boss, I shall try & get in touch with him.
The manufacturing location is available on the side of the tyres. I had got a set of the Made in Japan BS Potenza G3's in 2006 which have done around 45 K kms & have some life left in them. Good overall performance according to me ! When i recently visited the dealer, i checked & found most of the tires are now made in India. I didn't find any difference between the ones made in India versus the ones made in japan.

I was considering Yoko too but since the company doesnt even have a website where we can get some information, Bridgestone/Michelin to me seems a safer option where the company is transparent & has a proper network of dealers.
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Old 29th August 2010, 12:03   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nirmaljusdoit View Post
When i recently visited the dealer, i checked & found most of the tires are now made in India. I didn't find any difference between the ones made in India versus the ones made in japan.

I was considering Yoko too but since the company doesnt even have a website where we can get some information, Bridgestone/Michelin to me seems a safer option where the company is transparent & has a proper network of dealers.
Ditto here, most Bridgestones featured on their Indian website are now manufactured in India according to the local dealer also. The dealer said that Indian manufacturing conditions & materials used are better tuned to Indian driving conditions, so one should prefer made in India tyres. Well, I know this is all false talk by the dealer to influence the consumers.

I too left Yokos out of the list because of the absence of their dedicated website for India. The company has been here for long & had they been serious enough, would have launched a website at first instance.
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Old 29th August 2010, 12:28   #12
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Do consider other tyres other than Bridgestone.

You have Yokohaman and Michelin, better products and priced competitively than Bridgestone.
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Old 29th August 2010, 13:56   #13
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Im open to tyres other than Bridgestone.

Regarding Michelin being priced competitively, I would beg to differ, checked Primacy LC(195/60/15) & they are priced much higher than Bridgestones.

For Yokos, its difficult to pin point which tyre to get for comfortable ride because local dealer has only a few models & there's no website from where one could research.
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Old 29th August 2010, 22:44   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AWD View Post
For Yokos, its difficult to pin point which tyre to get for comfortable ride because local dealer has only a few models & there's no website from where one could research.
Options in Yokohama

195/60-15
A drive
ES100
V550

195/65-15
A drive
V550
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Old 29th August 2010, 23:00   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kpzen View Post
Options in Yokohama
195/60-15
A drive
ES100
V550
Thanks, Im sticking to 195/60/15 for now to make the choice simpler.
Which one of these is comfort oriented & how much are these priced?
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