[sumobom4]

Originally Posted by abirnale

We got new shoes!

We run long distances - we need shoes and variety of them! #TheRedSparkle was due for its tire change especially because the set of continentals had almost gone bald and it isn't safe to drive with them anymore. I have been busy with things at work and home again and there was no ned to rush through the change anyway.

So I kept researching and here is what I concluded:[list][*]An AWD may well use A/T tyres but unfortunately there is no stock size A/T available in market. The BFG can be procured in grey market with double the cost than normal tyres. It is not worth for a primarily highway mile muncher.[*]In H/T tires, the V rated options with good cost are: BS Ecopia, Continental CrossConti, Goodyear, CEAT, Apollo Apterra HT2, Yokohama RV02 and Michelins. The cost ranges from 13K to 20K INR per tyre. Most of these tires are soft compounds (with some variety of groves and comparable to each other) and in general have similar life expectancy - though BS Ecopia is at the higher side of life![*]After having used Michelins, MRFs, Continentals, I was considering Apollo Aptera HT2 due to their groves and because they have comparatively more AWD friendly nature. Unfortunately, nowhere I could source these fresh tyres - including online, talking to customer care etc. So gave up.[*]The options that were left in front of me, primarily due to the cost and nature of groves and some feedback I got from peers: BS Ecopia and Yokohama were the top contenders. I was told that Ecopia is prone to sidewall cuts - I was also told that its the same tires which has done numerous Ladakh circuits on a car that I know well.[*] The old Yoko Geolander G055 are no more available - there is a newer variant in market now. It’s called as BlueEarth RV02. When I visited the Madhu’s Tyre Center, I saw it in person and decided to go ahead - it has unconditional warranty including sidewall damage! And they costed around 15500Rs per tyre.
…

Hey, I got the same tyres when I got my Neelambari new. Changed the stock Bridgestones to Yoko RV02s. I agree the tyres are fantastic and I haven’t faced any issues. Ride is silent and comfy as well.
I had one question about the air pressure. I see that you maintain pressure at 35 psi cold. Isn’t that too bumpy? The manufacturer recommendation is 32 psi, so with stock size tyre replacement, wouldn’t the ideal pressure be the same? Wanted to get your perspective.

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by buzzy_boy

Eagerly awaiting your inputs on the sidewall durability of your Yokohamas.

I am not worried about them as they have unconditional warranty including sidewall damage. By the way I just climbed on the curb this morning with a sharp cemented edge. No damage yet!

Originally Posted by sumobom4

I had one question about the air pressure. I see that you maintain pressure at 35 psi cold. Isn’t that too bumpy? The manufacturer recommendation is 32 psi, so with stock size tyre replacement, wouldn’t the ideal pressure be the same? Wanted to get your perspective.

I observed that at pressures lower than 34, I used to hear some vibration in cabin of the stuff I carry. After a lot of trial and errors, I settled for 35 as ideal PSI for my driving style and roads that I frequent. A lot of bad roads, potholes are on route. For highways, I didn’t see issue with this pressure and hence continue to stick to it. It may have some impact on life of the tyre as well as suspension, but I think that’s very minor and I wouldn’t mind if I have to spend a little more to continue to get the comfort I have now.

[sumobom4]

Originally Posted by abirnale

I observed that at pressures lower than 34, I used to hear some vibration in cabin of the stuff I carry. After a lot of trial and errors, I settled for 35 as ideal PSI for my driving style and roads that I frequent. A lot of bad roads, potholes are on route. For highways, I didn’t see issue with this pressure and hence continue to stick to it. It may have some impact on life of the tyre as well as suspension, but I think that’s very minor and I wouldn’t mind if I have to spend a little more to continue to get the comfort I have now.

Ah, I get it now. Haven’t tried much having the pressure higher. Once the petrol pump guy’s gauge wasn’t calibrated properly and that meant his 32 reading became 35 on the car’s TPMS. Ride felt very bumpy especially on speed breakers and regular potholes that time. I now ask them to keep it at 33 when cold and 35 when tyre temp is 40 or above.

[Mathan1130]

Hello there,

1 question I am unable to find the same specification tyre in the Yokohama website maximum size available is R17.. Attaching the size chart for reference. I am looking for the same specification for my 4th Gen Hyundai Tucson 235/60/R18.

Thank you.

[sumobom4]

Originally Posted by Mathan1130

Hello there,

1 question I am unable to find the same specification tyre in the Yokohama website maximum size available is R17.. Attaching the size chart for reference. I am looking for the same specification for my 4th Gen Hyundai Tucson 235/60/R18.

Thank you.

Maybe try checking with one of your trusted tyre vendors in your city? Mine had to order the tyres. It’s possible their website is not updated.

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by sumobom4

It’s possible their website is not updated.

Yes - just talk to the tyre shop guys, they will get it. Apparently the geolander g055 is now discontinued it seems.

Some clicks from today’s lake hopping:

Been some time we had a chance to go out and enjoy some time lake hopping around Bengaluru like we used to do. Today i could take out a couple of hours with my son and enjoyed our time! Sharing some pictures with you:













The migratory birds are now showing up in and around of these lakes - we should be frequenting these destinations for the next few months hopefully.

[SamarthaLS]

Hi @airnale, I see you coming from Bengaluru. Is there any WhatsApp group for owners of the XUV700 or a group for Benagluru owners? I would love to be a part of it, if any. I own an XUV700 AX7L Diesel Manual.

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by SamarthaLS

Hi @airnale, I see you coming from Bengaluru. Is there any WhatsApp group for owners of the XUV700 or a group for Benagluru owners? I would love to be a part of it, if any. I own an XUV700 AX7L Diesel Manual.

Yes, Samartha. There are many but unfortunately I am not on them 🫣 Wish I could help… :(

[abirnale]

It's been a long time since we did something fun. For an impromptu outing for an overnighter, all of us in the family went to Mangalore. Eating ice cream at Pabbas and some fish delicacies from coastal Karnataka was on our cards. We just wanted to drive, spend some time relaxing, and be back home before metro city folks clog the highways with all kinds of mannerless driving.

We left our Bangalore home on Friday morning around 6 am and drove through a thick layer of fog around Kunigal to reach the newly opened MTR for breakfast - spacious parking, seating, and relatively polite staff made the start of our trip memorable.



Our next stop was at Ibbani Cafe for some local coffee and neer dose. Driving through the Charmady Ghat, Ujire, and then Mangalore, we made it in time for lunch at Maharaja Restaurant. The drive around Ujire was painful with a lot of local traffic, narrow roads, and road work. The rest of the drive was peaceful and fun! After savoring some delicacies at Maharaja, we enjoyed Gudbud and other items on the menu at Pabbas Ideal Cafe in Bharat Mall.









We had chosen Emmanual Beach House for our overnight stay at Surathkal - it was a kind of costly stay without any food or special amenities. It was perfect for the location - next to the beach though!









After a late start for our Saturday, we decided to go to Maravanthe Beach - this is something I had not done in the past. I wanted to capture some nice drone shots... fully excited, silly me, went there with zero battery charge on the drone! Somehow managed to charge the drone to 15%, flew it some height, and brought it back home safely. I think I should be going there again to capture the stunning stretch of about 2 KMs at once!




We then decided to return to Bangalore via Agumbe, Aldur, Belur, and Hassan. Nothing specific about this stretch other than beautiful winding roads with coffee plantations, the best tree canopy shadows, and lesser traffic.







And then finally, home to cross the 55K Kms on the odometer - just to enjoy the unclogged city roads!



Hope to drive more and have some more stories to tell you! Leaving you with some half-baked drone footage compilation video:

https://youtu.be/DWtfSYadprw

Ciao!

[abirnale]

A quick note: today I observed the DEF levels to be below 60%. Since the day at work was going slow, I managed to connect with Chrome Service Center personnel, got TheRedSparkle an appointment and was attended to Car promptly!

The car gulped about 8.75 litres oF DEF! My observation is that, approximately every 10K kms, I would need a tankful of DEF (20 Litres that is!). I generally don't allow the DEF levels to drop below 50% - because it is not easily available outside and M&M specified DEF, i did not find anywhere in the market except their own ASC.

While we were at it, I asked for a general checkup - then it dawned upon me that its been. More than 11K kms since the front brake pads were changed. I explicitly asked for checking the brakes, rotate the tires (every 5K to be done for better life, I was told by MTC folks). The front brake pads have lasted on an average of 12-13K kms max. I didn’t want to make yet another visit to ASC for just brake pads. Upon checking I figured out the current pads have about 700-800 kms life left and it may be a good idea to have the pads changed now and keep the older pads with me to be used for emergencies if at all when the newer ones are at the end of life and I am on the road. And so, here goes another brake pad set for front

The summary of charges:



The better part of the day is - to be able to have quick check, complete the work and totally in about 75 mins out of the ASC. The chrome guys continue to take vare of the car and me very well. I also observed that some folks there have been promoted - my car’s senior technician Santosh is not promoted as Service Advisor! He knows the car well, knows the mechanics of this car well - I insisted that he takes the car and he exceeded the expectations - can no longer be termed as newbie! I think I like the way Chrome treats its employees, promotes them, allows them to connect with customers and build the relationships. It goes in long way for a customer to trust these guys to carry out complex and costlier work on the car.

By the way, while we were checking the Job card - there were no service actions, no tek Alerts, no alerts at all. No new software update, nothing pending on the car - for once, I think the first batch of XUV7OO AWDs were built right and no mechanical issues I read on forum for other variants including - jay mahindra baba for that

And we will wait again for another trip - another exploration and another fun update!

[swiftnfurious]

Good pics and thank you for the continued updates.

Originally Posted by abirnale

....
While we were at it, I asked for a general checkup - then it dawned upon me that its been. More than 11K km.... The front brake pads have lasted on an average of 12-13K kms max...

That seems very low for the pads to last just 13K kms. Do you drive hard ? For comparison, how much does an XUV500 brake pads last (if you know) ?

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

That seems very low for the pads to last just 13K kms. Do you drive hard ? For comparison, how much does an XUV500 brake pads last (if you know) ?

It is indeed very low. My MT XUV5OO front brake pads lasted 23-25K Kms and rears ones on the same car were always about 38-40K Kms. In case of XUV7OO, the service SOP to ASC clearly guides to “inspect and replace” brake pads every 10K Kms. A few other owners I know of, have at the max seen front pads surviving 15-17K Kms. I generally use more brakes - by driving habit as well as use of AEBS/ Auto Hold but these shouldn't really be contributing to such a low mileage on pads.

All-in-all, the 7 Oh Oh is not so oh on the pad consumption. It is rather very very Oh oh oh

[abirnale]

It’s been our ritual to not head out of town for long weekends or long holidays breaks when a lot of school and office goers throng the roads with impatient driving behaviour. Unless we find some off-beat locations, stays or destinations that are not crowded, it’s highly unlikely to have those trips on the holidays. This year too we ended staying in the home - so all we are doing is squeezing the time out for impromptu lake hopping in and around bangalore. To our disbelief, our usual lakes are getting spoiled with lot of unwanted junk and wrong kind of kingfisher left overs.

Unfortunately even in this winter when we expect some migratory birds to visit around our lakes are missing too. We keep waiting for long and all we could click is few usual resident birds in the vicinity and nothing much. I guess, it’s time to switch to different and farther destinations where unruly crowd isn’t reaching…

For now, some recent clicks from our lake hopping this week:













Hope to have new places explore and without too much of publicity, bring you some pictures to drool at… thanks for reading the thread keenly. See you soon with more car an journey related updates. Have a great new year and look forward to more fun and (s)miles with #TheRedSparkle.

[niranjan.mulye]

Originally Posted by abirnale

It is indeed very low. My MT XUV5OO front brake pads lasted 23-25K Kms and rears ones on the same car were always about 38-40K Kms. In case of XUV7OO, the service SOP to ASC clearly guides to “inspect and replace” brake pads every 10K Kms. A few other owners I know of, have at the max seen front pads surviving 15-17K Kms. I generally use more brakes - by driving habit as well as use of AEBS/ Auto Hold but these shouldn't really be contributing to such a low mileage on pads.

On the contrary rear brake pads on my AX7L manual lasted 30000kms(changed during service with still some life left)
Still running stock pads at the front

[Vasuki]

Originally Posted by niranjan.mulye

On the contrary rear brake pads on my AX7L manual lasted 30000kms(changed during service with still some life left)
Still running stock pads at the front

The root cause may be keeping AEBS ON or driving style.

I'm using AWD similar to abirnale, as of now 12K+ clocked, after hearing this keeping fingers closed, needs to check the brake pad left.

I hardly use the AEBS feature, but use all other features given by ADAS suite.

@abirnale What's the service center's take on this brake pad wear? Thanks once again for keeping this thread UpToDate. Really a treasure for fellow enthusiasts.