Quote:
Originally Posted by sdp1975 @pkumar , if I'm not mistaken , I read in another thread that you have the ER60s fitted.
How would you rate these tyres now after the long drive? Handling, ride , grip , wet weather performance and so on. Would appreciate a detailed review.
Apologies for going off topic.
EDIT : Noticed the tyre review on the 9th page, would still like a detailed feedback from pkumar |
The stock tyres were Bridgestone GPS2s tube-type and the current tyres are Bridgestone ER-60s tubeless. I got the tyres changed a month before the trip.
The reasons for going for change were
(1) tyres had already done 36k kms
(2) being tube-type there was a risk of blowout on puncture at high speeds. Didnt want that worry inside my head.
(3) i didnt want to waste time changing tyre when punctured, and then looking for puncture shop to repair.
After some research i narrowed down on Michelins and ER60s. My ride is often on bad roads, and i am not the kind who slows down a lot while driving on bad patches. I have a SUV mentality
Thus, i wanted a tyre which had all the good things like ride confort, handling, etc. but not at the cost of toughness. That is why i chose ER60 over michelin.
I upgraded the size to 185-70-13 from the stock 175-70-13. It cost me around 30xx/- per tyre, including balancing alignment. another 250/- for 5 valves.
Rolling resistance : The feel was amazing. It seemed like the tyres were just rolling with minimum throttle need. With this i got a chance to slightly change my driving style and use less accelerator peddle. Without compromising on the speed, i could see a gain of 5-10% mileage in city driving conditions, measured 2 consecutive times in 1 month.
I am not saying that the tyres caused the mileage increase, but it was the dirving style change that caused it. But i changed the style only because the tyres rolled on effotlessly enough to prompt me to use less throttle.
Handling : Handling was never a probelm with Ikon, but the new tyres it felt even more planted on the corners. Even more pace possible on the corners now.
Wet conditions : I drove several hundreds of kms in mild to very very heavy rain. Earlier the slippery surface would force me to drop the pace, in anticipation of reduced braking and aquaplaning. But now i realized that i did not have to drop the pace AT ALL. (except to compensate for reduced visibility).
Even braking on the wet road was very good and the increase in braking distance was minimum.
Braking : Everytime i braked, i appreciated the tyres. i was used to the crappy GPS2 tyres. When i had to apply sudden brakes on several occassions, i found myself smiling and happy. The car stopped like no Ikon should. I have forgot all stories about Ikon being bad on brakes, etc. It is a different matter that i almost always use engine braking earlier too, so did not have much trouble with bad Ikon brakes earlier also.
But now the wider tyres had amazing braking.
Once it happened that i was going on a deserted 4-lane stretch at 130 kind of speed. and suddenly noticed there is a intersection ahead and a bus is going to cross my 2 lanes. My reflexes were still on the older tyre setup, so i started pumping the brake hard and was in 2nd gear engine braking in no time. I thought it is either hitting the bus or will end very close.
But to my surprise the car stopped atleast 20-30 meters before. That was one moment when my belief was re-affiemed that the tyres are very important in determining how fast one can/should drive.
Bad roads : On karnataka bad roads, there were lot of big potholes. Orrisa roads very equally bad. Jharkhand interior roads were patchy. And Mumbai to Surat road was bumpy. I drove on all of them at speeds in excess of what was required. I felt the tyres were really absoring the the shocks more nicely than before.
It is too early to comment how long lasting the tyres would be with this kind of driving. I will have to wait another 10-20k kms to see that.
Please note that my comparison on all these parameters are in comparison to the GPS2 tyres, which is not a worthy competitor of ER60. I would not be able to compare it realistically, with reference to a Michelin or yokohama, for example.