[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Behemoth

They are quite strong and before mounting I had checked the sidewalls, they are much thicker than the Yoko's. They are also made in India and ISI marked, so I would think they are better conditioned for the Indian driving situations. Tyre noise is also low (similar to the Yoko's), and much lower than the OEM Goodyears. I would recommend them definitely given the condition of Bangalore roads- In fact I was there just this week (wed-Fri) and I was really surprised to see how bad the roads have become with construction going on just about everywhere. I have been visiting Bangalore since 1998, and what a different city it was then.. it used to be a city of Gardens and now its just a city of traffic! Sorry for the OT!

Good feedback. Thanks! I will keep this in mind when deciding.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by Sheel

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Originally Posted by Steeroid

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Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

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Hey guys, qouting you to get your attention. My Yeti has hit 21k kms now, I think a tyre change is due soon. The usage pattern has changed in the past 2-3 months, and now instead of just being used inside town, every weekend the car is taken out for about 300kms, most of which are on decent highway roads with some rough patches. But sometimes it does go on village roads, with broken roads, or under construction roads with stones all over.

Now it seems the logical upgrade would be the Latitude Tour HPs in 215/65 since I wouldn't mind the extra GC too. The stock Goodyears seem to handle this usage just fine, aside from the terrible ride and noise.

So my question is do you guys think the Latitude Tour HP will serve my purporse? My main worry is those village roads, which is most places are broken rough tarmac, but at times just stones. If the Goodyears can handle them, the Michelins should too right?

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Hey guys, qouting you to get your attention. My Yeti has hit 21k kms now, I think a tyre change is due soon. The usage pattern has changed in the past 2-3 months, and now instead of just being used inside town, every weekend the car is taken out for about 300kms, most of which are on decent highway roads with some rough patches. But sometimes it does go on village roads, with broken roads, or under construction roads with stones all over. Now it seems the logical upgrade would be the Latitude Tour HPs in 215/65 since I wouldn't mind the extra GC too. The stock Goodyears seem to handle this usage just fine, aside from the terrible ride and noise. So my question is do you guys think the Latitude Tour HP will serve my purporse? My main worry is those village roads, which is most places are broken rough tarmac, but at times just stones. If the Goodyears can handle them, the Michelins should too right?

I would look at Behemoth's feedback on the Bridgestones and then make a decision.

[Sheel]

Akshay,

We are satisfied with the Latitude Tour HP. That cut in the tire was a one off. I would recommend this, but I really do not know as to how the others perform.

See, if you can sample someone else's Yeti with different tire. Would help you judge better.

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

So my question is do you guys think the Latitude Tour HP will serve my purporse? My main worry is those village roads, which is most places are broken rough tarmac, but at times just stones. If the Goodyears can handle them, the Michelins should too right?

The Latitudes are soft tyres, and while they do handle the rough well they will wear out faster. If longevity is what you're looking for, they won't suit your requirement. Else they do everything very well unless your village road involves sharp-edged rocks - in which case you're better off with a harder tyre like Yokohamas. Yokos however turn noisy after a few '000 kms.

[Simple_car]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

My Yeti has hit 21k kms now, I think a tyre change is due soon.

Now it seems the logical upgrade would be the Latitude Tour HPs in 215/65 since I wouldn't mind the extra GC too. The stock Goodyears seem to handle this usage just fine, aside from the terrible ride and noise.

So my question is do you guys think the Latitude Tour HP will serve my purporse? My main worry is those village roads, which is most places are broken rough tarmac, but at times just stones.

Dear Akshay,

I know you have not quoted me, but I still write hoping that my small experience will add some sort of data to your mind while deciding the tyres. I have the latitute HP's currently on one of my cars, and you need to be aware of a few things before deciding for these.

Here's my take on these:

- comfort oriented (my car's suspension thanks me every-time I go over bad roads)
- gain in grip (wet and dry) will be marginal compared to the Goodyear's.
- reasonably long lasting IF taken care of (i.e. regular alignment and balancing). Currently, I have completed 15k on my set, and they should last me for another 20-25k easily.
- as with most michelins, the tyres when mounted on the car just look too tiny! Infact, when I compared my car with an identical one (but with bridgestone H/T tyres), there was a difference in ride height b/w the cars by ~1 cm for the same tyre size! So, if you do get them, go for the upsize.
- E X P E N S I V E. The next best tyres for my car were cheaper by 2k per tyre (when I bought them 2 years back i.e.)
- Age much more gracefully than the other tyre brands I have come across.
- w.r.t. your query on handling rough roads.. I do not know what sort of roads you travel to, but I do travel to remote places every few months. The roads which I traverse during such journey's are laden with sharp stones for ~20-30kms (the type which are seen when laying down a new road, and in quarries). The car is mostly loaded on such journey's and till now, I have only faced a small superficial cut on one of the tyre's. Otherwise, the car see's bombay roads only.
- they seem to hold their air very well. Although I check my air-pressure every time I tank up, I have seen that the tyres seem to need topping up every 1-1.5 months only.
- this is something I am not sure of so just check before buying. Small stones tend to get stuck in b/w grooves. It is very irritating for me to have to remove these small stones everytime I need to go out on highways. I have a suspicion that this might have more to do with the relatively less width of my alloys, since there is a CRV in my neighbourhood which has the latitude tours, and doesn't seem to face such issues.
- the ride is now relatively more silent than my OE bridgestone's, on most surfaces.
- if you do buy these, then experiment with the air pressures since these are soft compound tyres at the end of the day. I fill upto 34psi (recommended is 30) in all my tyres, since this gives me the perfect balance for my needs.

Hope this helps.

Thanks,
Simple_car

[ramases6]

The sidewall on my Goodyear tyre was cut recently and I had to change it for another of the same brand recently. I did consider going in for another brand but ruled it out as there was a lot of life left on my stock tyres. Changing all four would have been an expensive proposition. The buy back option offered at Rs 1500 for the three Good Years was not attractive at all. In my opinion, any other tyre side sidewall would have been cut too under similar conditions.The ride on the good years is a bit noisy sometimes on good roads but it's okay on rough surfaces. But if anyone out there upgrading wish to change their under 3000 k Good Year Excellence tyres, do PM me.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by ramases6

The sidewall on my Goodyear tyre was cut recently and I had to change it for another of the same brand recently. I did consider going in for another brand but ruled it out as there was a lot of life left on my stock tyres. Changing all four would have been an expensive proposition. The buy back option offered at Rs 1500 for the three Good Years was not attractive at all. In my opinion, any other tyre side sidewall would have been cut too under similar conditions.The ride on the good years is a bit noisy sometimes on good roads but it's okay on rough surfaces. But if anyone out there upgrading wish to change their under 3000 k Good Year Excellence tyres, do PM me.

With the kind of rough broken road surfaces that we Bangalore people are forced to drive on, I am amazed that my OEM GoodYear tyres have lasted two years! Two of my alloys are pitted and scarred on account of bad potholes and/ or loose rocks on the main roads! This vehicle has only been to Coorg twice and to Ooty thrice in its life. All on main roads.
Frankly off road adventures on grassy and muddy tracks would be better than driving on what pass for roads in this country!

[Behemoth]

Some very peculiar things that I have noticed about the Goodyear tyres which were on my Yeti, which are an indication of low quality / control on tyre manufacturing by Goodyear:
1) Balancing weghts on original Goodyear tyres were in the range of 70-80 Gm per tyre, whereas for Yoko C-Drives (made in Japan) it was in the range of 15-20 Gms (manufacturing accuracy and process control being better in Yokos)
2) After 2 1/2 year on the Goodyear tyres and 22k Km usage, they had started to become hard and the rubber was starting to chip off in ragged chunks, which should not have happened so early. Tyres should not harden/ lose chunks like this till at least 5 years! Probably the grade of rubber used is not so good and loses its elasticity and strength under Indian environmemt
3) The Tyre shop where I had gone to get the tyres changed also showed me other 3 year old Goodyear tyres which were damaged (steel cords were broken and visible) and it was clearly visible that they were rusted and hence had broken, which means that the steel cords were not properly treated / were low quality and hence they were rusted (even at the time when they were put inside the tyre at time of manufacturing!)

These are purely my observations on my usage of the Goodyear tyres and I am sure others may have differing views. But as an engineer, I demand good quality in the products that I buy and such quality defects are just not passable for me.

Regards,
Behemoth

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by Sheel

Akshay,

We are satisfied with the Latitude Tour HP. That cut in the tire was a one off. I would recommend this, but I really do not know as to how the others perform.

See, if you can sample someone else's Yeti with different tire. Would help you judge better.

Thanks sheel, good to know that cut was a one off. Otherwise these seem like rugged enough tyres.

Originally Posted by Steeroid

The Latitudes are soft tyres, and while they do handle the rough well they will wear out faster. If longevity is what you're looking for, they won't suit your requirement. Else they do everything very well unless your village road involves sharp-edged rocks - in which case you're better off with a harder tyre like Yokohamas. Yokos however turn noisy after a few '000 kms.

Longevity will be good, but its not a priority. I mean 25k kms + is good for me. The roads do involve rocks, some of them sharp. But they are better described in the post below in bold, what do you think?

Originally Posted by Simple_car

- w.r.t. your query on handling rough roads.. I do not know what sort of roads you travel to, but I do travel to remote places every few months. The roads which I traverse during such journey's are laden with sharp stones for ~20-30kms (the type which are seen when laying down a new road, and in quarries). The car is mostly loaded on such journey's and till now, I have only faced a small superficial cut on one of the tyre's. Otherwise, the car see's bombay roads only.

Thanks buddy, I assume this is on your X trail going by the cars in your profile. Those are exactly the kind of roads im talking about in some places, though this car probably won't do 20-30kms on them. Great so seems the tyres will be able to take it.

[Sheel]

Akshay - I am back from a 1800+ kms trip and the car was driven over 800 kms in a single day. The tires performed brilliantly throughout. No pressure drop, nothing. Grip was good and it held through concrete, bitumen, no road. My vote goes for it and yes, it was comfortable as well.

[Nikhilb2008]

The Latitude Tour HPs will perform well. The Goodyears are not bad but the Michelins are a league above. In terms of price as well!

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Behemoth

Some very peculiar things that I have noticed about the Goodyear tyres which were on my Yeti, which are an indication of low quality / control on tyre manufacturing by Goodyear: 1) Balancing weghts on original Goodyear tyres were in the range of 70-80 Gm per tyre, whereas for Yoko C-Drives (made in Japan) it was in the range of 15-20 Gms (manufacturing accuracy and process control being better in Yokos) 2) After 2 1/2 year on the Goodyear tyres and 22k Km usage, they had started to become hard and the rubber was starting to chip off in ragged chunks, which should not have happened so early. Tyres should not harden/ lose chunks like this till at least 5 years! Probably the grade of rubber used is not so good and loses its elasticity and strength under Indian environmemt 3) The Tyre shop where I had gone to get the tyres changed also showed me other 3 year old Goodyear tyres which were damaged (steel cords were broken and visible) and it was clearly visible that they were rusted and hence had broken, which means that the steel cords were not properly treated / were low quality and hence they were rusted (even at the time when they were put inside the tyre at time of manufacturing!) These are purely my observations on my usage of the Goodyear tyres and I am sure others may have differing views. But as an engineer, I demand good quality in the products that I buy and such quality defects are just not passable for me. Regards, Behemoth

Great insights pal as always. My Yeti has just hit 21000 kms of mostly city driving and relatively slow paced buzzing around. My urges to hit the highways are very few and far between as I simply do not enjoy driving as much as I used to - on account of the unutterable chaos of our Indian roads and behaviour of people.
My goodyears are behaving quite ok as of now. No jagged tears or chunks falling off so far.
However the ride is quite harsh on the bumpy, pitted, scarred and speed breaker laden roads of Bangalore so I guess by the time next year rolls around and the vehicle gets to three years/ 30k kms, it will be time to change. I'm seriously thinking of those Bridgestone ER 70's or maybe those Falken Azenis tyres...

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Great insights pal as always. My Yeti has just hit 21000 kms of mostly city driving and relatively slow paced buzzing around. My urges to hit the highways are very few and far between as I simply do not enjoy driving as much as I used to - on account of the unutterable chaos of our Indian roads and behaviour of people.
My goodyears are behaving quite ok as of now. No jagged tears or chunks falling off so far.

Good to hear from you Shankar! Glad to hear your Yeti is doing well. My Yeti has completed 50k kms in 3 years. Some minor bumps and scrapes, most of them from Kids bicycles hitting the parked car and some of other new drivers scraping the bumpers. Still doing well otherwise.
In fact I feel that if budgets permit, you should go for a tyre change now, the difference is so remarkable that you will feel elated that the Yeti can be so quiet and surefooted.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Behemoth

Good to hear from you Shankar! Glad to hear your Yeti is doing well. My Yeti has completed 50k kms in 3 years. Some minor bumps and scrapes, most of them from Kids bicycles hitting the parked car and some of other new drivers scraping the bumpers. Still doing well otherwise. In fact I feel that if budgets permit, you should go for a tyre change now, the difference is so remarkable that you will feel elated that the Yeti can be so quiet and surefooted.

Given the horrid roads of Bangalore a tougher tyre may be required. Hence if I change I shall probably go the Bridgestone route. Provided of course, these are available. What say?