[fundagenie]

Hi All

this happens to be my first post here. I drive a NHC 2004 and need to change the tyes. Have been going through the reviews of various tyre brands and models out here. And had decided on BS Potenza g3. Was planning to go for a 195/60 or 65/R14. But the price quoted by various tyre dealers here in chennai was in the range of 4500-5k. Which was damn over my budget.

And on enquiring in Kerala, where i come from, I came across 2 other options - Maxxis Surpasa MA-V1 and Yoko ES100. Both I understand are performance tyres to a good extent. The prices were in the range of 3400-3800 for 195/60/r14.

Maxxis I think is an Australian brand as per their site. THe dealer says its a prefered brand by most of the performance drivers out there. I am an occassional fast diver hitting 120-150 on the highways. And doing no burnouts and stuff like that. Looking mainly for tyres which give ride comfort, good grip, makes my ride look great and fits my budget.

Also came across the article somewhere that yoko es100 is discontinued. Remember one of the members from delhi posting a contact number of the Yoko regional manager or in some similar position. I couldnt find the post later on. If someone could get me the number, it would be great, as I could confirm on the status of the model and the price.

BTW couldnt find anything on Maxxis in teambhp. Anyone using these tyres, please give me your feedback

[nitrous]

Maxxis MA-Z1 is the model to get.
I think ES100s are still made for certain sizes. 185/60/R14 and 195/60/R15 being one of them.

[predatorwheelz]

Do not buy the ES100s, period. They are still available in India, and in 195/60 R14, but only good for grip. If your car does decent daily mileages, you'll go mad with the road noise and the way these tyres attract stones.

Maxxis MA-Z1s seem to have decent reviews, although I have no personal experience of using them.

[fundagenie]

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

Do not buy the ES100s, period. They are still available in India, and in 195/60 R14, but only good for grip. If your car does decent daily mileages, you'll go mad with the road noise and the way these tyres attract stones.

Maxxis MA-Z1s seem to have decent reviews, although I have no personal experience of using them.

Predator, you sure on the yokos.. cos after reading all the reviews on the various tyres I felt yokos were good. Also Maxxis Ma-Z1 dosent come in 195/60 size .. only 195/55. MA-v1 however comes in 195/60 but saw a few posts in TBHP saying they wudnt trust maxxis tyres, this being not a branded one like yokos, bs or michelins. And double confirmed by a couple of tyre experts out here.

Also during my enquiry with a dealer in chennai, he suggested es100 over bs potenza g3 -- said potenza was noisier. This considering he quoted 5k for potenza 185/65 and 4250 for es100.. and the yokos were out of stock for another month. He cud have pushed me for the potenza to get his business.

Pls give me some inputs. Am planning to get the tyres in the next couple of days.

[satya180]

@fundagenie: I havnt used the MA-Z1, but currently i have 205/60 ES100s on my swift vdi.
The tyres are great during the wet, and have good high speed stability and good on cornering grip. They are a bit noisier that the A Drive on my other car (no idea how it fares with the Maxxis's) but surprisingly found them to be more silent than the BS G3's that a friend has. Ride quality was a tiny bit firmer than the G3, but it is to my liking.
My avg monthly running is almost 4000 kms, and 60% of which is untarred village road/ road under construction. Ive done almost 15k kms with the tyres now, and every time i go corner craving, im never disappointed.
Did i mention, they look great on the car!

[predatorwheelz]

Originally Posted by fundagenie

Predator, you sure on the yokos.. cos after reading all the reviews on the various tyres I felt yokos were good. Also Maxxis Ma-Z1 dosent come in 195/60 size .. only 195/55. MA-v1 however comes in 195/60 but saw a few posts in TBHP saying they wudnt trust maxxis tyres, this being not a branded one like yokos, bs or michelins. And double confirmed by a couple of tyre experts out here.

Also during my enquiry with a dealer in chennai, he suggested es100 over bs potenza g3 -- said potenza was noisier. This considering he quoted 5k for potenza 185/65 and 4250 for es100.. and the yokos were out of stock for another month. He cud have pushed me for the potenza to get his business.

Pls give me some inputs. Am planning to get the tyres in the next couple of days.

About the Yokos, I'm speaking from personal experience. You're welcome to check with Bhpians NOS Power and SGChaudhuri. They're both good friends, and their Accent and OHC (respectively) are fitted with 185/60 R14 ES100s. I've travelled enough in (and driven) both cars to know how noisy the tyres are. Besides, the tread pattern is a stone magnet. Also, its a square shouldered tyre, and never works out as comfy as even basic tyres like A-Drives.

There's no doubt about the grip though, and they do look very good on the car. If you still want to go for ES100s, lemme tell you that 4250 for 185/65 ES100s is a bit overpriced

As for the Maxis, I've already clarified that I have no personal experience of using them.

[itwasntme]

Hi,

My Aveo has now run 24k on 195/60/R14 ES100s. Had 185/60/R14 Goodyear NCT 5 which used to squeal at most corners and had average grip in the wet. Usage is daily in Bangalore city but have also done highway trips amounting to around 10k with aggressive driving (Ooty, Goa, Pondicherry, Coorg, Chikmaglur, Hyderabad etc).

My take on the ES100:

Pros:
Cheap compared to competition; I spent only 3.3k each as compared to Michelin PP which were 4.2k (in 2007)
Excellent grip especially when braking hard
Excellent cornering ability due to stiff sidewalls
Superb for high speed highway trips
Looks :-)
Punctures: 3 in 3 years albeit with huge nails

Cons:
Noisy but on par with my NCT 5s.
Tyre life - Done 24k but will last max 5k more
Tramlines on undulating roads due to stiffer compound/sidewalls (less flex)

Would buy another set if the proce difference stays and they are still available 9 months down the line!

[fundagenie]

Reading the replies have left me a little confused... .. So a technical doubt... suppose i went for Maxxis Z1 which is 195/55 .. what would be the pros and cons in terms of the aspect ratio ...

my current tyre is 175/65 .. my plans were for 195/65 or 60 and now there is the 55 option.. would having lower aspect ratio affect the car in anyway.. Also wrt maxxis, i will be getting the tyres from kerala.. and am living in chennai.. so any chennaites know where maxxis tyres are available here so that i can cross check the price and also be sure that I can get a replacement in case of a tyre malfunction.. had checkd with a few main dealers in chennai, but they dont deal maxxis.

Btw maxxis ma-v1 dosent come anywhr in looks .. es100 and ma-z1 surely scores in this area.....

Fundag...

[Hatari]

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

Do not buy the ES100s, period. They are still available in India, and in 195/60 R14, but only good for grip. If your car does decent daily mileages, you'll go mad with the road noise and the way these tyres attract stones.

Maxxis MA-Z1s seem to have decent reviews, although I have no personal experience of using them.

I've done 5k on my ES 100s.
Road noise is less than prev Michelin PP2s with more grip and road feel

They do attract stones though. IMO stones do not lead to an inc in road noise, more to do with tire construction.

If they last their fair life, I would buy them again.

[predatorwheelz]

Originally Posted by Hatari

IMO stones do not lead to an inc in road noise

Where did I say that the road noise was due to stones?

Read my previous post. It says the tread pattern is a stone magnet.

and err, I forget who started this thread?

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

[fundagenie]

Originally Posted by Hatari

They do attract stones though. IMO stones do not lead to an inc in road noise, more to do with tire construction.

Read somewhere stone issue is present with all brands of new tyres and would lessen with use. And the same with yokos...

predator : this dosent mean am with the yokos.. .. still undecided between yoko and maxxis with a slight lean for the yokos considering it is a reputed brand.

So any expert advise on switching from 65 to 60 to 55 aspect ratio tyres. And details on any maxxis dealers in chennai.

Fundag..

[predatorwheelz]

Originally Posted by fundagenie

predator : this dosent mean am with the yokos.. .. still undecided between yoko and maxxis with a slight lean for the yokos considering it is a reputed brand.

Dude, please don't get me wrong . I'm not biased against Yoko at all, in fact I'm a huge fan. Both my own cars run Yoko A Drives. There are atleast 6 people in my friends circle who've picked up Yokos at my recommendation - everything ranging from 185/70 R14 A Drives for a Swift ZXI to 205/55 R16 S Drives for an Octavia RS.

The ES100 is the only product in their Indian portfolio I don't recommend, and the reasons have already been stated.

Originally Posted by fundagenie

So any expert advise on switching from 65 to 60 to 55 aspect ratio tyres. And details on any maxxis dealers in chennai.

I feel 195/60R14 will be the more correct upsize from 175/65 R14. Also, I think you'll get more choices in that size.

[satya180]

The ES100's also come with a rim protector (the tyre is constructed in such a way that the sidewall overlaps the rim lip in a way) and hence chances of damaging your rims/alloys are reduced. on a short drive of a friends vdi with BS G3's, the car swayed a bit more, felt less composed during braking. But the ride was softer and it FELT like the car was running lighter (lesser friction than ES100).

[fundagenie]

Originally Posted by satya180

The ES100's also come with a rim protector (the tyre is constructed in such a way that the sidewall overlaps the rim lip in a way) and hence chances of damaging your rims/alloys are reduced. on a short drive of a friends vdi with BS G3's, the car swayed a bit more, felt less composed during braking. But the ride was softer and it FELT like the car was running lighter (lesser friction than ES100).

So are you for ES100 or against it... ..

btw it seems there are more ES100 supporters in this thread vs maxxis or against es100. believe i have to take the risk and go for es100 cosidering the following...
- my budget
- no details of a maxxis dealer in chennai
- and all the comments and reviews i had read in this thread so far, in tbhp and internet

... will however keep checking this thread till the very last moment before i place the order.

[Hatari]

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

and err, I forget who started this thread?

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

Read my thread. It says I was disappointed only because I did not want a set of performance tires.

Disappointment was down to dealer advice not the tire.