[el lobo 6061]

Originally Posted by suhaildurrani

Guys can I have my old Lenso Samurai SC-01 17" fixed to the Vento. It's removed from the swift I had previously (seen in my display pic). Back during the 'swift' days I was running on 225/45 R17. I am aware of the error percentage but its good to know if I actually can.

This is the same one I have with me. Please advice.

Don't know about 225/45 R17 specs, but Polo/Vento does easily with Wheel size: 7J x 17, ET46 with 215 40 R17 rubber. Have a check at the below link. Have seen two Polos with same specs but in pictures only, no problems whatsoever reported by both the owners.

Link.

Another thing, the rims you have wont work since Polo/Vento have 5 screw/nut holes whereas Swift does with 4 only.

[himanshu_j]

Originally Posted by suhaildurrani

Guys can I have my old Lenso Samurai SC-01 17" fixed to the Vento. It's removed from the swift I had previously (seen in my display pic). Back during the 'swift' days I was running on 225/45 R17. I am aware of the error percentage but its good to know if I actually can.

This is the same one I have with me. Please advice.

I wouldn't suggest you tread beyond 215/45 R17. Irrespective of the error percentage and the extra load on the suspension and stock springs, I feel 225s will be overkill. Just my two cents.

[polopm]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

How much did it hit on the wallet? And the spare is still the 175/70/R14?

Observations after a drive of 400KMs over the weekend with the ZLOs:
1. Super silent till about 100kmph
2. After 120 mild noise heard with the tyre picking up the road vibration

Overall much better than Acelleres. The braking is also getting better. So not very bad for the price !

[samarjitdhar]

Unfortunately my tire upsize and change time seems to have been preponed thanks to 5-8 tiny punctures in the front left and the rear right ones . I have no idea how they got so bad. Sure my Vento did some rural and broken roads but that was only once in a while and I was any way baby sitting the car through these non-roads. I recently did a short weekend trip and I have been noticing loss of tire pressure since the past 2/3 weeks on these two tires. A quick visit to the tire shop confirmed it. The other two seemed to be holding up very well. I expected the Apollos to last longer and was hoping to upsize when I hit 30K at least (I have run 21K till now). So both tires need to be replaced given each of them have around 5-8 small leaks and I don't want to do a bad patch job at the expense of safety. Hence upsize and change for all 4 it will be at the cost of Vitamin M.

Given all the research and prior experience of Vento owners here I have dropped Yokos and Michelins from the list because of the perceived lower sidewall strength. I tend to take road trips in between which take me through not so good roads hence I would prefer stronger sidewalls at the expense of higher noise and lower comfort. I had zeroed in on the Bridgestones and the Contis but it seems in our city there is no dealer who sell Contis. Bummer. I visited a couple of tire shops (will visit a few more) and it seems most of them push the Bridgestone Potenza RE88s. They say the G3s are not being supplied any more. Is that true? Also it would be great if some guru can shed some light on the differences between the Turanzas and the Potenzas, any advantages? Also any differences between the Potenza G3 and the RE88?

The curious thing about the Vento is the spare wheel. Now VW to save costs have given a 14 inch steel wheel shod with a 175/70 tire. So the difference between the main wheel and this one in terms of diameter is about 2.4 mm which is fine but if I upsize it goes up to a whopping 14.2 mm. Won't this become an issue when forced to use the spare over longer distances? Should the spare be also upsized accordingly to match the difference after upsizing the main ones? I didn't read about this being done by any other Vento owner. Sorry if this is a stupid question, just wanted to make sure. Since my spare has never been used, I have a good mind of actually exchanging it with a 15 inch alloy to match with the main tires. The other option is to also upsize the spare accordingly to somewhat match the profile of the main tires.

[noopster]

^^ I used the stock spare with my 195/60 R15 upgraded Yoko db during a recent puncture and, while there was definitely a grip difference because of the smaller patch, I didn't really feel anything off. Of course I was babying it and did not exceed 80 k's.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

Won't this become an issue when forced to use the spare over longer distances? Should the spare be also upsized accordingly to match the difference after upsizing the main ones? I didn't read about this being done by any other Vento owner.

Ideally it should be upgraded, but then you need to get a R14 tire or replace the 14inch wheel too. My suggestion - have it checked (in case you haven't used it) and keep it.

Btw 175/70/R14 and 195/60/R15 have a 2.4% difference; with 205/55/R15 it's only 1% difference; both scenarios it shouldn't matter. If you go by the book, one shouldn't use the spare wheel for long distances. However I used mine for close to 1.5 months; including two Bombay-Pune trips. Didn't face any problems. Tire experts can give a better opinion on that.

Originally Posted by noopster

^^ I used the stock spare with my 195/60 R15 upgraded Yoko db during a recent puncture and, while there was definitely a grip difference because of the smaller patch, I didn't really feel anything off. Of course I was babying it and did not exceed 80 k's.

@Anoop,
Correct me if I'm wrong; but did you put a R14 tire on a R15 alloy? Or you meant using the spare instead of one of the four tires.

[samarjitdhar]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Ideally it should be upgraded, but then you need to get a R14 tire or replace the 14inch wheel too. My suggestion - have it checked (in case you haven't used it) and keep it.

Btw 175/70/R14 and 195/60/R15 have a 2.4% difference; with 205/55/R15 it's only 1% difference; both scenarios it shouldn't matter. If you go by the book, one shouldn't use the spare wheel for long distances. However I used mine for close to 1.5 months; including two Bombay-Pune trips. Didn't face any problems. Tire experts can give a better opinion on that.

Since the proverbial fiscal cliff is breached because of this tire situation , I might get a 15 inch replacement for the spare and keep the spare for some future grand road trip which will involve driving in non-road situations. Let's see all would depend on what kind of deal I can get. The folks here are ready to pay me something for the existing tires though it would be measly. Will update the ownership thread when the tire upgrade gets done.

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

@Anoop,
Correct me if I'm wrong; but did you put a R14 tire on a R15 alloy? Or you meant using the spare instead of one of the four tires.

I am sure its the later .

[shuvc]

Get a 15" steel wheel that fits the car.
Mount one of the 21K run ok condition tyres on it.
Sell/exchange the new spare, the remaining 21K run tyre and the 14" wheel.

That way you end up with a 15" spare at the cost of just a steel wheel - minus exchange amounts.

Oh and for the speeds you claim you do, I'd suggest MRF ZV2K .. I have them on the Figo .. nice hard sidewalls and long lasting for sure !

[samarjitdhar]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Ideally it should be upgraded, but then you need to get a R14 tire or replace the 14inch wheel too. My suggestion - have it checked (in case you haven't used it) and keep it.

Ninja are the Turanzas still available? I am being told that the BS Turanzas ER60 have stopped coming in the 195/60/15 profile . I checked with all the Bridgestone dealers here and all of them said that there aren't any more supplies of the Turanzas in that profile. They can give the Potenzas either the G3 or the RE88. Would you have any prior knowledge about the difference between these two? I checked a Potenza G3 and its sidewalls definitely seemed stronger than the Yokos or the Michelins.

Originally Posted by shuvc

Get a 15" steel wheel that fits the car.
Mount one of the 21K run ok condition tyres on it.
Sell/exchange the new spare, the remaining 21K run tyre and the 14" wheel.

That way you end up with a 15" spare at the cost of just a steel wheel - minus exchange amounts.

Oh and for the speeds you claim you do, I'd suggest MRF ZV2K .. I have them on the Figo .. nice hard sidewalls and long lasting for sure !

Yeah I guess retaining one of the good ones is an option but since I am upsizing the rest won't it become an issue when I have to use the spare? There would be a difference of 12 mm at least between the spare and the upsized ones in that case. Wouldn't that cause problems if I have to run on a spare for a longish distance?

By the way I dropped by at the Indo Radial guys off EM Bypass and that guy was feverishly pushing the Yokos. I checked the Yokos and the sidewalls are definitely much softer than the BS Potenza G3. The Potenzas cost a whopping Rs 5650 each . Will definitely check out the MRFs. I am assuming the tire noise will be much higher than the Bridgestones.

EDIT: The dealer called back and the price of the Potenza G3s have come down to Rs 5400 after some consideration.

[Alisiddiqui]

Originally Posted by noopster

^^ I used the stock spare with my 195/60 R15 upgraded Yoko db during a recent puncture and, while there was definitely a grip difference because of the smaller patch, I didn't really feel anything off. Of course I was babying it and did not exceed 80 k's.

Oops. So u already had a puncture on the new tires. Guess my belief in staying away from yokos and michelins gets strengthened. You also owe us an account of larger tires.

[Alisiddiqui]

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

Also it would be great if some guru can shed some light on the differences between the Turanzas and the Potenzas, any advantages? Also any differences between the Potenza G3 and the RE88?

.

No guru here, but prefer the turanzas. They appear to be more practical. Potenzas are probably harder, more performance oriented, louder, tires. Had the er60s on my Honda city and they were great. Even i am in this fix of deciding on the brand. Done 10k only, still have time to decide.

[samarjitdhar]

Originally Posted by Alisiddiqui

No guru here, but prefer the turanzas. They appear to be more practical. Potenzas are probably harder, more performance oriented, louder, tires. Had the er60s on my Honda city and they were great. Even i am in this fix of deciding on the brand. Done 10k only, still have time to decide.

I would have had a look at the Turanzas but it seems that Bridgestone has stopped making the Turanzas in the 195/60/15 profile which is the one I am looking for. My options seem to be limited and I am almost decided on the G3s. Based on what I have read in this forum till now they seem to take abuse pretty well providing adequate grip. Ride quality might be a little more harsh and noisy which I guess I will compromise with (I already put with the Vento clatter ).

Are the G3s made in India? I am being told these are directly imported from Japan.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

Ninja are the Turanzas still available? I am being told that the BS Turanzas ER60 have stopped coming in the 195/60/15 profile .

@samarjitdhar,
I distinctly remember at the shop being told that the Turanzas were available at his place and at the quoted price. But these could be old stock, and the info you (& Rohaan) are getting is probably the latest info.

[noopster]

Originally Posted by Alisiddiqui

Oops. So u already had a puncture on the new tires. Guess my belief in staying away from yokos and michelins gets strengthened. You also owe us an account of larger tires.

195/60 R15 is perfect for Vento- just 10 mm upsize in patch and acceptable error (<3%) in overall diameter. Also the puncture that happened was a rim puncture- I don't know what exactly to call it, but air was escaping from the space between the rim and the tyre at one point. The roadside puncturewala used some sort of adhesive sealant to close it. I have been tracking the pressure and it seems fine now.
Need to do some research but I suspect it was poor installation of the tyre that led to this. Also, the valve was broken and had to be replaced. I had it in my mind to go argue it out with Bhandari (Car Ax) but don't have the time or the inclination to.

Originally Posted by shuvc

Get a 15" steel wheel that fits the car.
Mount one of the 21K run ok condition tyres on it.
Sell/exchange the new spare, the remaining 21K run tyre and the 14" wheel.

That's a good suggestion but FYI the 15" OE alloy (with 195/60 tyre mounted) does NOT fit snugly into the space provided. It is loose and the cover doesn't fit into place.

[samarjitdhar]

Hello, I am back again, continuing with the tire confusion .

I have almost decided on the Bridgestone Potenza G3s and got a final quote from the dealer. On a visit to his other outlet he showed me the Pirellis P7s. The P7s are 195/65/15 while the P6s are 190/60/15. They share the same tread pattern though and the sidewall seemed to be as good as the Potenza G3s. These are priced about Rs 400 higher. Also they are available in 91V meaning higher load and speed ratings. The Potenza G3s seem to be only coming in the 88H range. There is no Potenza G3 in the 88V range or higher being sold in India as per him. He even showed me the price list which doesn't list the 88V. Also because of the V tread pattern the Potenza G3s tend to be noisier and I think the Pirellis might be quieter given the tread pattern. The dealer also told me that earlier the Potenza G3s were direct imports from Japan but now it seems imports have been banned and from now on only tires with ISI certifications can be sold in India. Hence Bridgestone has only recently started making the Potenza G3s locally in India. Probably thats the reason most dealers were out of stock on the Potenza G3s. All this is obviously from the dealer so needs to be confirmed independently.

I guess I have to make a choice now between the Potenza G3s and the Pirelli P6s now. Any Pirelli P6/P7 users out there who can shed some real life experience? How do they hold up over hard use? I will probably have to get this done by Saturday as I need to do a short highway run on Sunday. Appreciate any feedback on them.