[kj302]

I am running 205/55/15 Yoko S drives on my Optra Magnum. I upsized from the stock GT3s (195/60/15) an year back. Improve in grip was drastic and I was very satisfied with s drives, but only till the first side wall bulge, some 45 days down the line. Since then, i have been fed up with a series of bulges, blow outs and fast wear outs (The last was any way expected out of any soft compound tyres, especially s drives)

The tyre cannot take a steep pot hole, if the speed is more than 70-80 kmph. I get a tyre failure on average of once in 45 days. Any tyre which is lucky enough to 'outlive' the average life span, is getting worn out as if some body is scrapping out the rubber. (No uneven wear out here)

Here is what happened till now.
Feb 2010 - Bought 4 S drives. Cost 18k
Mar 2010 - Delhi, Front left side wall bulge. Tyre replaced, Damage 5.1k
Aug 2010 - Managalore, Front right side wall bulge. Tyre replaced after reaching Bangalore, Damage 5.4k
Dec 2010 - Near Kundapura, Front and rear left tyres blew out, Both tyres replaced after sourcing from Mangalore, Damage 11k and 10 hours.
Dec 2010 - Replaced worn out tyre. The only tire which served it full term, just about 20k km. Damage 5.5k
Mar 2011 - Bangalore, Front right side wall bulge. Yet to be replaced.


All these happened, with a speed less than 100 kmph. I regularly do wheel alignment. I always wanted to move away from s drives, but any point of time at least two the tyres will be pretty brand new. I hoped that once the tires die it natural death, I will move to another band, but great s drives have another plan.

Now I have decided to completely swap out the s drives. Can fellow T-BHPians help me out in making a decision? My criteria are better grip, good life span (at least 35k ) and decent side wall protection. I dont want to go for profile higher than 60. Would 205/60/15 A drive be a good option for Optra Magnum, given the above criteria?

[mayankk]

so overall 9 tyres, +1 more in foreseeable future?
you're persistent....
just kidding.
here you go:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-a...ess-tyres.html
and
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-a...ra-magnum.html
and
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-a...ra-magnum.html


put it in search, there's numerous threads.

[reignofchaos]

If you wish to drive at 70-80kph on potholes, nothing will work apart from MRF or similar hard rubber.

I have Advan Neova AD07 of the same size on my car and yes I've had a bulge in one of my tyres which I had to get rid of. But it was totally my fault - I hit a large stone at reasonably high speed. Other than the odd puncture (3-4), I'm almost at 30k on these tyres and nothing has gone wrong and there's still lots of grip and quite a few mm of tread is left.

S-Drives are similar but should theoretically have a longer life since they are rated at 320 treadwear compared to 180 for AD07. So either there's something wrong with the car's suspension or your driving style if they wear out in 20k and end up having repeated blow outs or bulges.

[vinaydas]

Something similar faced by me
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-a...onditions.html

[WasavaTyres]

Agree with reignofchaos. You've either had L/R front tyres and in one case both F/R on left side. So my guess is you've braked too late in the Kundapura incident to have blown out front & rear tyres. Can't expect to have long life+grip+comfort+service life all in one tyre. As it is 205/55 is a low profile choice. I reckon you try apollo acceleres. Might even get them at a bargain. I don't know about B'lore markets but there are a lot of people who take 'em off polo highline's and 90 hp punto's that has appolo's as OE tyre here in my town.

[ph03n!x]

I have S.Drives in 195/55 R15 in my Getz CRDi, and managed to rupture the sidewall of the rear right within weeks of upsizing - changed it. After 23k KM on the clock, noticed a cut in the sidewall of the same tire - I did not change it.

I have clocked close to 39k now, with the cut sidewall - and the same tire recently has a nail it it too. But check my longterm ownership to see the kind of abuse these tires have seen - bad roads, no roads, extensive drivings of 140+ KMPH, you name it - it would have gone through that.

I am planning to change my tires at 40k - and I will probably get a more comfort oriented set like C. Drives. That is not because I am dissatisfied with the S. Drives, but because I want more comfort-oriented tires. In spite of the cuts and bulges, these tires took me through some real tough time, alive - I got to give that to Yoko!

[gaurav_chopra04]

heres my experience with the S-drives.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-a...-drives-4.html

I have had a mixed experience till now. The Yoko S drives have done about 24k kms, they are still as LOUD and NOISY as they were at 7k kms, but I have managed not to wreak any other tyre apart from the one that bulged at 7-8k kms. Please note, I drive most of the times on best roads across delhi, with occasional highway trips to gurgaon and chandigarh. On bumps, I go very slowly, about 10-30 max.

However, I absolutely love the performance of these, they corner well, are very stable and sticks to ground at all times, be it dry or wet conditions and lastly the steering remains as precise as ever. Also thanks to excellent suspension set up of cedia, the alignment does't go wrong even after 20k kms compared to other cars at home which do need alignment at as less as 5-7k kms. So, the tyres have managed very well in terms of life and I must say against my expectations of max 30k. Even after 24k kms, I expect them to last in good condition for another 10k kms.

I am still looking for options for next change (upgrade??), performance again is at the top of wish list followed by tyre noise.

[amitoj]

I have to agree with reginofchaos too.
I've had Yoko S drives for the past 50,000 kms and so far had only one blow out and that was entirely my fault as i failed to notice a cement slab in time. Managed to save the rear tyre though.

Also, what is the tyre pressure that you maintain?

[GTO]

Man, you've either got terrible luck or a lousy set of tyres. Though, I'm inclined to believe it's the latter. Can understand the odd damage from driver error, but in your case, it's simply too much. These Yokos seem way too soft for our driving conditions, and a tyre being completely worn out at 20K kms is testament to that.

I'm curious to know what your dealer had to say. And did you try contacting Yokohama India?

[condor]

Not so bad as what kj302 is seeing, but am losing one A-drive due to irrepairable puncture. Guess the angle of puncture was different from the angle at which the plug was put in, resulting in the puncture becoming un-repairable. Total running so far : 21k. The tyre in question has possibly seen just 3k worth of running.

I'm thinking of staying away from Tube-less. The nature of fixing a puncture leaves a good margin for error, and one can end up with such un-repairable tyres. I did check with Nikhil, and he mentioned not to use a tube in the tube-less.

I do not want a fancy spare sitting in the boot, and that now leaves me with options of either getting another tube-less (just to maintain uniformity), or start with 2 tube-types. Apollo's, may be ?

[kj302]

Friends, Got very busy over the last couple of days and could n't look into the thread.

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

If you wish to drive at 70-80kph on potholes, nothing will work apart from MRF or similar hard rubber.
S-Drives are similar but should theoretically have a longer life since they are rated at 320 treadwear compared to 180 for AD07. So either there's something wrong with the car's suspension or your driving style if they wear out in 20k and end up having repeated blow outs or bulges.

brother, Trust me, I would not drive at 70-80 through a pot hole filled road. But in our country, there can be a deep pot hole in any road, which will be other wise smooth. This is was what happened to me in almost all cases. I know, most tyres will not like a pot hole at 80. But I would expect it to pardon me at least 50% of the time

I have driven for around 30k km with the stock tyre and never got a bulge (Same driving style, same roads). I will get the suspension checked.

Originally Posted by WasavaTyres

Agree with reignofchaos. You've either had L/R front tyres and in one case both F/R on left side. So my guess is you've braked too late in the Kundapura incident to have blown out front & rear tyres. Can't expect to have long life+grip+comfort+service life all in one tyre. As it is 205/55 is a low profile choice. I reckon you try apollo acceleres. Might even get them at a bargain. I don't know about B'lore markets but there are a lot of people who take 'em off polo highline's and 90 hp punto's that has appolo's as OE tyre here in my town.

Are S drives, position specific?

Originally Posted by amitoj

Also, what is the tyre pressure that you maintain?

I maintain 30 psi

Originally Posted by GTO

Man, you've either got terrible luck or a lousy set of tyres. Though, I'm inclined to believe it's the latter. Can understand the odd damage from driver error, but in your case, it's simply too much. These Yokos seem way too soft for our driving conditions, and a tyre being completely worn out at 20K kms is testament to that.

I'm curious to know what your dealer had to say. And did you try contacting Yokohama India?

I haven't written to Yokohama yet. The dealers from whom i procured are spread across. One from Delhi, two from Mangalore and two from Bangalore.

[condor]

kj302 : Are S drives, position specific?

Yes

kj302 : I maintain 30 psi

Have you tried with 32 psi ?

[ashutoshb]

205/55 R15 S.Drives - Delhi to Leh and back and not even a single puncture!

That would mean I got lucky with not one, but four tyres!!

[gaurav_chopra04]

Originally Posted by ashutoshb

205/55 R15 S.Drives - Delhi to Leh and back and not even a single puncture!

That would mean I got lucky with not one, but four tyres!!

Well, you certainly are very lucky (dont forget touchwood), it will take a lot of courage for me to go to Leh on S-Drives.

Originally Posted by GTO

These Yokos seem way too soft for our driving conditions.

Only thing I can say from my ownership is that THESE TYRES SIMPLY CANNOT TAKE THE SLIGHTEST OF ABUSE. Its best Yokohama sticks a warning on every tyre "TO BE DRIVEN ONLY ON AUTOBAHNS OR SIMILAR ROADS "

These tyres do provide good performance but can bulge at the slightest of bump.

OT: give a car with s-drives to any normal driver (used to good years, apollo, mrf, bridgestone) and you will see atleast one tyre go kaput every month, if the road conditions are average or below average.

Originally Posted by GTO

I'm curious to know what your dealer had to say. And did you try contacting Yokohama India?

They will have their own set of stories to tell.

[WasavaTyres]

Originally Posted by gaurav_chopra04

They will have their own set of stories to tell.

The dealers don't replace tyres,the manufacturer does. All they do is let you know if it will be replaced under warranty or not.

Originally Posted by kj302

Are S drives, position specific?

Yes they are, and have a marking on the sidewall too. Besides what I meant was that since you mostly have blown out front tyres,I assumed you brake too late resulting in impact damage (pure assesment)

Originally Posted by GTO

These Yokos seem way too soft for our driving conditions, and a tyre being completely worn out at 20K kms is testament to that.

There was only one tyre that cleaned itself out at 20K, now yoko wouldn't make 4 tyres with diff compounds would they ? Surely other factors too at work. Besides, Phoenix has clocked 39K and gaurav expects his set to last about 34K.