[samarjitdhar]

Originally Posted by bala80

You bet! I have Bridgestone turanza ER 60 in 195/60/15 profile and can vouch for the improvement in grip levels. The Yoko C drives were pretty grippy and super silent, but the steering feel was a let down. Bridestone offers the best of both worlds, but the tyres are a wee bit noisy than the C-drives and ride quality not as soft as the C drives. This was a compromise I was willing to make. The steering feels pretty OK now (not much improvement from stock).Please note the BS ER-60 are expensive than the C-drives in the same profile.



Not really. S drives are performance oriented tyres which means harder sidewall which doesnt flex much during cornering. Problem is, these arent available officially anymore. These offer superior grip levels at the cost of tyre noise and ride quality. Take your pick

I had Michelin XM1+ on my swift earlier and those tyres never let me down in 4 years of driving through all sort of road surfaces and Michelin's were supposed to have pretty soft sidewall. The apollo acelere which came stock on the vento burst when I drove through a pothole at medium speed which were supposed to have strong sidewalls. Point is, any tyre is susceptable for damage depending on the road conditions and the soft sidewalled one's are more vulnerable. So you need to take some additional care while driving, that's all.



Oh yes, CPC2's are available in 205/55/15 spec. I didnt go for them because

- Mixed feedback from the forum (http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-a...tal-tyres.html)

- Felt they were expensive at 6400 Rs per tyre for this spec.



Dont go by just the width of the tyre alone. A good tyre in the same 185 profile will give you better grip than the stock apollo acelere's. The acelere's lose traction very early and are noisy as hell.

Following are the pro's and con's of 195/60/15 profile compared to the 205/55/15 spec

Pro's -

- Many choices available. You get michelin's, yoko's, bridgestone's and even MRF ZLO's in this size. Comparitively cheaper too.
- Better ride quality due to the increase in height of sidewall compared to 205/55/15 profile.
- Wee bit increase in GC owing to higher sidewall in this profile. Given our road conditions, every mm increase in GC is more than welcome, isnt it?

Con's

- Increased body roll (more flex of the sidewall), a little bit of compromise on handling.
- Doesn't really look very meaty or wide compared to the 185 profile. (Nikhil commented on another thread that the contact patch between 185 and 195 tyres will almost be the same!)

Having said all these, if I get good options in 205/55/15, I will definitely go for them over 195/60/15.

Thanks Bala for your inputs. Continentals seem to be unavailable in my city and given the mixed feedback would stay away from them. Let me check on the Yokos. If the C drives indeed have better sidewalls, and if they are available, I would go for them in the future. Do you know why they have become officially unavailable? I will check with the local Yoko dealer here.

Originally Posted by noopster

The more I drive this car the more comfortable I get with the stock Aceleres. Nikhil is right- it is not worth upgrading to 195/60 right at the outset. I was pretty set to change after year/15,000km but surprisingly after about 10,000 km these tyres wore in really well and my biggest problem: high tyre noise- is no longer that obvious. I like the braking and the grip is more than adequate.

I would tend to agree on the performance of the stock Apollos as good though noisy, I am about to get to 10K kms now. I was pretty happy with the grip, braking and handling over smooth surfaces, just that I had to be careful while driving on average and loose surfaces, otherwise even while going over potholes at average speeds didn't cause any visible damage.

Originally Posted by souravc

Samarjit , I have been using Yokos C drives for more than 8000 kms on my Vento and I am pretty satisfied - I use very bad pot hole riddled roads for my daily commute to office so can vouch for the fact that the worry about soft sidewall cracking my in bad Indian roads is overdone. The tyre failure that happened in my car was a pretty catastrophic one , the car was fully loaded and was travelling at around 80-90 kmph and I think it went over a piece of metal jutting out at the edge of a crater or the road since it showed 2 areas of rupture where seemingly a sharp knife like object has sliced through and through ( pictures are there on my thread ) . I do not think any tyre would have survived that kind of an "assault" , it was surely not caused due to plain pot hole bump. The C drive gives great grip , good ride quality and improves braking for sure in addition to marked reduction in noise . My tyres have not deteoriated in any way the steering feel though I must say that I am used to light steerings and prefer them too as long as they are "point and shoot' kind of accurate which the vento's is .
I must mention one aspect though - when my C drive got spoiled i replaced it with a michelin primacy so I have 1 mich and 3 yokos . After similar number of kilometres ( mich has done a 1000 km less) the michelin treads seem to wear out faster than C drives , nothing alarming but all the same .

The size I use is 195/60 / R 15

Thanks Sourav for clarifying. Given all this data, I might as well stick with the Apollos for a while and wear them out before I upgrade. Though a lot would depend on what kind of road trips I take through what kind of roads. Would keep my options open for now.

[himanshu_j]

Reigniting the 16" issue once again, I have a Polo 1.6 and am planning to trade the stock wheels and tires. However I am not willing to lose out much on ride quality and comfort.
After doing some research, I have narrowed down to 3 sizes:

215/45 R16- Offered on the Polo internationally
205/50 R16- This is the size recommended by our esteemed members here
195/55 R16- This is a newer size in the market I believe however the SX versions of the Verna Fluidic come shod with Bridgestone BE250 in this spec.

I have compared these three on 1010tires.com and found that difference in sidewall height won't be significant if I upsize from 185/60 R15 to 195/55 R16.



What do you all think?

[speed kills]

I too am in the same state of mind. Am planning on up-sizing the rims to 16's.

Regarding the tyres I'm planning on having 195/55 R16 up front & 205/50 R16 at the back. Think it's a good idea?

The brands I've shortlisted are Yokohama, Continental & Bridgestone.

[SR-71]

I upgraded to Bridgestone Turanza ER 60 (195/60/R15) and I am willing to vouch for it reliability and grip levels. The change was done in 1st week of Feb at 4500Kms on the ODO. Its 3rd week of may and the ODO reads 9500Kms (almost all of them are highway miles) and each drive has made me only more confident about the upgrade.

BTW people when you upgrade, what do you do with the spare wheel ? The upgrades upset the delicate 14" spare wheel setup and it might become difficult to use the spare when the need arises. In my case, I changed the alloys along with the Turanzas - 5 Turanzas with 5 HRS Hi Join alloys.

[bala80]

You too brutus???

BTW, where art thou? Long time since I saw you on the forum, Where are the pictures of alloys that you promised ages back?

Originally Posted by SR-71

I upgraded to Bridgestone Turanza ER 60 (195/60/R15) and I am willing to vouch for it reliability and grip levels. The change was done in 1st week of Feb at 4500Kms on the ODO. Its 3rd week of may and the ODO reads 9500Kms (almost all of them are highway miles) and each drive has made me only more confident about the upgrade.

[SR-71]

Originally Posted by bala80

You too brutus???

BTW, where art thou? Long time since I saw you on the forum, Where are the pictures of alloys that you promised ages back?

A couple of points about the Turanza's. I had to go through an emergency braking cycle on 2 occasions.

(1) On a drive from Coimbatore to Bangalore couple of week back - I was doing a sedate 100 when a dog decided that its time to cross the road. After quickly checking the rear view mirror, I just pumped hard at the break. The car came to a good stop in a matter of seconds but the grip and the arrow straight stop procedure exhibited renewed by confidence on both the car's breaking ability and the tyres.

(2) On a drive from Bangalore to Chennai 2 days ago - I was on the right lane doing about 100 to 110 when a lorry decides to do a sudden change of lanes to the right without any sort of warning. Again the power stop came into play. I checked the tires yesterday morning thoroughly for any sort of abrasion, burn-outs but nothing to be found.

I can definitely tell you that the Truranzas are much better any day compared to the stock Apollos

A bit OT: Bala, Please accept my apologies for being inactive in the forum over the past couple of months. My schedule had been a bit harsh with my brother's wedding + my shift to Bangalore + some last minute official trip on short notice (courtesy - key customer accounts) kept me away from both sleep and beloved Team-BHP. I promise to fix it all.

[bala80]

You couldnt have said it any better. I myself have been using turanza ER-60 in 195/60/15 profile for sometime now and very happy with their performance so far. I havent had a single puncture in the last 7k kms which was one of my major grouse with the aceleres.

I only wish these came in 205/55 profile, that would just be the perfect upsize for the vento.

Originally Posted by SR-71

I can definitely tell you that the Truranzas are much better any day compared to the stock Apollos

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by speed kills

I too am in the same state of mind. Am planning on up-sizing the rims to 16's.

Regarding the tyres I'm planning on having 195/55 R16 up front & 205/50 R16 at the back. Think it's a good idea?

The brands I've shortlisted are Yokohama, Continental & Bridgestone.

Why would you keep different sizes for the front and rear? Makes no sense AT ALL!

Just stick to one size and both of those sizes are very wierd. 195/55-16 is just a theoretical size. Nothing available in that size. 205/50-16 is a real size but very hard to get tyres in that size in India. Better stick to 205/55-15.

[speed kills]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

Why would you keep different sizes for the front and rear? Makes no sense AT ALL!

It's just something I've had in my mind for some time now.
Now that you've nudged me in the right direction, I guess it's gonna be 15's after-all

Appreciate the info.

[souravc]

Originally Posted by speed kills

It's just something I've had in my mind for some time now.
Now that you've nudged me in the right direction, I guess it's gonna be 15's after-all

Appreciate the info.

I doubt that you would get 205-55 R15 in Yokos and Bridgestone , its only available in Contis . I use Yokos C drive and had to settle for 195-60 R15 , its been pretty good going .

[Skyline GT-R]

My friend has upgraded to Pirelli P7 (Made in Italy) 205/55R15 's recently but the dealer says the tyre is discontinued now.

Paid around 6.4K per tyre.

10K completed on these. Better handling compared to stock tyres & very less tyre noise.

[souravc]

Today in the morning I noticed a small bulge on the side wall of my front right C drive - which means the inner fibre has been weakened or broken . It maybe a manufacturing defect or can happen if the car goes through a pot hole impact. Now if one is driving in Mumbai , I guess its one chance in a billion that the car would not go through a pot hole !
Frankly the C drives disappoint me on the build quality due to this latest episode - they give super grip , handling and braking but it becomes trying if they cannot withstand pot holed roads .
Will try for a replacement , else its time to blow 5 grand again on a new tyre

[el lobo 6061]

Originally Posted by souravc

Frankly the C drives disappoint me on the build quality due to this latest episode - they give super grip , handling and braking but it becomes trying if they cannot withstand pot holed roads .
Will try for a replacement , else its time to blow 5 grand again on a new tyre

Woah, that quite expensive tyre affair. Earlier too, a deep cut damaged a C-Drive and you replaced it with Primary-LC. Yokohama & Michelin make soft tyre which reduce noise but get damaged easily due to severe road conditions and with rains just starting it would get even worse.

My suggestion go for either Yokohama S-Drive or Bridgestone Turanzas. These two are hard tyre and shouldn't get damaged around the side wall.

Else JK Vectra is the last & the best option. I have these on my Vento & they don't disappoint. Can easily take any amount of beating, hard braking, riding through rough patch, whatever you can throw at it. Even VW Polo Cup R cars use JK Tyres and they are made in colaboration with Continental, Germany.

[souravc]

Originally Posted by mikon

Hey !! excellent report.
I'm planning to do a pre-monsoon check-up (though monsoon already arrived here). I would be changing the brake pads and also enquire about the engine mounts.
Also, the need for my conti-tyre change would come up soon. I think i'll replace them all at 40000 Kms (Now @ 33000 kms)

Mate, please remember to call up the workshop and give them advance intimation of the need/desire to change the engine mounts - at least a couple of weeks to be on the safe side.
Given my experience with the tyre change , please give utmost importance to how much abuse the tyre can take of pot holed roads . My C drives have proven to be a very expensive choice for me given their suspect tyre wall, there is no doubt that they are not suited to pot holed roads .

Originally Posted by el lobo 6061

Woah, that quite expensive tyre affair. Earlier too, a deep cut damaged a C-Drive and you replaced it with Primary-LC. Yokohama & Michelin make soft tyre which reduce noise but get damaged easily due to severe road conditions and with rains just starting it would get even worse.

My suggestion go for either Yokohama S-Drive or Bridgestone Turanzas. These two are hard tyre and shouldn't get damaged around the side wall.

Else JK Vectra is the last & the best option. I have these on my Vento & they don't disappoint. Can easily take any amount of beating, hard braking, riding through rough patch, whatever you can throw at it. Even VW Polo Cup R cars use JK Tyres and they are made in colaboration with Continental, Germany.

Today met up with the Yokos engineer and he started with the usual BS about pot holes and how the bulge happens due to impact , etc , etc continuing to the fact that its not manufacturing defect and thus cannot be covered under warranty. I got a bit furious when that guy started on his own trip about how Yokos didn't burst and a Michelin / Bridgestone would have ! I told him in no uncertain terms that he can save those gyan sessions for someone else given that I had a tyre failure with Yokos and he should carry the feedback that the C drives are unsuitable for Indian roads.

I don't have any high speed highway travel planned so I will research a bit more before choosing . I am not going to touch JKs - have suffered enough with them on my Swift , I consider them to be substandard unsafe tyre manufacturers.
Yokos is out given my latest experience - can't take potholed abuse . I am wondering if my earlier tyre failure occured due to sidewall rupture rather than any sharp object . I had not been able to find anything lodged in the tyre nor on the road at the time of the incident.
I will try out Turanza or maybe buy another XM1 .. the one on my car is running fine , lets see.

[bala80]

Sad to hear this again.

Try BS Turanza ER 60, I have only good things to say about it. You know how I complained about the stock aceleres and c-drives before I moved to BS. Turanza's kept me happy without a single puncture for about 7k kms I drove with them before selling my car, You cannot go wrong with them. If XM1 comes in vento spec, I probably would have asked you to go for it. Since it doesnt, I suggest you to try the Turanza's over primacy LC.

Edit - You have primacy LC right? XM1 doesnt come in 195/60/15, isnt it?

Originally Posted by souravc

I will try out Turanza or maybe buy another XM1 .. the one on my car is running fine , lets see.