[kumargandharva]

Hi,

Help me as am in a dilemma.

I plan to go for new tires for civic.
Enquired prices today in Delhi:
Michelin Primacy 205 65 R 15: 6.5k
Michelin Primacy 205 65 R 16: 8.95K!!!

Wanted to go for 16 inchers after upgrading the stock alloys, but price is holding me back. My priorities are increased ground clearance and smooth and comfortable ride. Please advice the right size of the tires. Also let me know if the price quoted is good.

[vasoo]

Yes. 16" wheels are much more expensive than 15" ones. I paid 5.4K for 205/65 15 Michelin PLC one year back. Avoid 205/65 R16 though as it is too big (2cm increase in radius) for the car and will foul with the wheel well areas. You may need look at lower profile tyres if you are looking at upsizing to 16". 205/55 R16 may be better. Tyre experts here should give better ideas.

For better GC, best option is to go for 205/65 R15. 205/55 R16 is slight lower.

[sumeethaldankar]

After days of waiting i finally managed to get the BS ER 60's 205 65 R 15 which i wanted for the civic.I kind of payed a premium for the same and don't want to really debate on the same but the bottom line i got the tyres i wanted.

The ER 60 were not available in several tyre shops i had called up to inquire.Finally i emailed customer-care@bridgestone.co.in and inquired about the tyre.They promptly replied back saying that they do not have the tyre but would get the same in 2 days time. A week of waiting later i followed up with them as i had not heard from them since, they again said they will need 8 mored days for the tyres to come from the plant.

Meanwhile i kept reading a lot of the Yoko's C drive and pestered several BHPians ie PM ed them for their feedback on the C drives.I was trying to convice myslef to buy the C drive and was quoted 5400 for the 205 65 R 15.
I had alomost made my mind on the Yoko when i decided to check my mail and lo.. BS sales team had written back saying that the tyres are available and asked me where i wanted them delivered.I asked them to send the same to Bombay tyres at Milan Subway.

I inquired the price at Bombay tyres and was a litlle bit shocked that i would be shelling so much for a BS.But i relented,asked them if i would get free balancing and wheel alignment but they replied negatively saying since i ordered the set from the co itslef so i won't be getting same.What the heck.
Anyways i got the tyres fitted and they even gave me some cool blue valves.These things look good but i wished there were in maroon color to match the color of the car.Below are a couple of pics i took.

It's kind of too early to give feedback of the tyres as i was not able to drive the car much due to rain and traffic.The steering does feel a bit heavy and
not slippery like before.



Notice the cool valves





Will post better pics once proper light conditions permit.

[sumeethaldankar]

Originally Posted by Buffetfan

Soft sidewalls dont mean you have to "Baby" these tires. My michelins lasted 44k kms (with about 10 k more life left when I changed) and did all kinds of trips - Hyderabad - Mumbai, Hyderabad-Kolkata, Hyderabad-Bangalore, Hyderabad-Coorg, Hyderabad-Hampi, Hyderabad-Gadag-Ankola-Gokarna-Goa-Mumbai etc etc.

The C.Drive in the Innova over 29k kms has done duty on Hyderabad-Bangalore, Hyderabad-Kanyakumari-Trivendrum-Thekkady, Hyderabad-Wayanad-Kozhikode, Hyderabad-Hampi etc.

As you can see, all the tires have done a mix of Highways, State Highways and normal single lane roads.

I dont "Baby" them but just am bit careful in getting back to the road from the shoulder and dont put them on sideways. But then again, I have done that unconciously many times when getting two wheels down the shoulder to give space to buses and scorpios

Some more posts that might help you make a decision

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-a...ml#post2225047

Dear buffetfan,
by babying i meant i did not want to worry about the tyres while driving over bad roads etc :-).I had decided to go for the Yokos as i found the treads very good looking and had almost finalised the C drives by convincing myself that there were not many complaints about the same.

But in the end BS sales mailed and i decided to go by my first choice.

[Habanero City]

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

After days of waiting i finally managed to get the BS ER 60's 205 65 R 15 which i wanted for the civic.I kind of payed a premium for the same and don't want to really debate on the same but the bottom line i got the tyres i wanted.

What were the reasons for choosing BS ER 60 and what other options were considered.

HC

[sumeethaldankar]

Originally Posted by Habanero City

What were the reasons for choosing BS ER 60 and what other options were considered.

HC

Well i am no guru on tyres but i read good reviews about ER 60 on T-BHP,they have the size that i wanted 205 65 R15, have a better sidewall and can withstand abuse a little better.Anyways the other options were BS, Er300,Yoko C drive and Good years assurance (which came in 205 size) but was again not available.

The whole dilemma was due to the fact that the Yoko's were priced at 5400 each and the BS ER 300 which was readliy available was priced at 5250 , only the Yoko was size 205 while the ER 300 were of size 195.

No Mich from me as they too have the soft side wall issue, i would prefer Yoko's to Mich if there were only 2 choices between as i found the tread design of the c drive better to look at

[Habanero City]

Thanks summet,
The blue valve looks out of place on the wheel.
Didn't you have any choice of the valve?
You could have opted for sticker type balance weights than the clip on especially for the alloy wheels.

HC

[sumeethaldankar]

Nopes did not have a choice of color.I was busy ogling at the alloy wheels they had at the shop while they did the fitting etc.

OT some the wheels were real cool and cost around 18-21k not bad consdering you could get something off the OE alloys.Hmmm maybe later as i am in serious deficiency of vitamin M for now.

[Buffetfan]

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

Dear buffetfan,
by babying i meant i did not want to worry about the tyres while driving over bad roads etc :-).I had decided to go for the Yokos as i found the treads very good looking and had almost finalised the C drives by convincing myself that there were not many complaints about the same.

But in the end BS sales mailed and i decided to go by my first choice.

Thanks. Do post a review of the tires, especially after initial run of 500 kms or so.

[kumargandharva]

Gone through all the posts. Just one question. Which is the best tyre upgrade for a 15 incher? Need Michelin Primacy LC.

[sumeethaldankar]

Some feedback on the 205 upsized.I found the acceleration to be marginally slowed compared to before.The steering now decidedly feels much heavier and the tyres have a very chunky look to them.Though i am not very pleased with slight slow acceleration (maybe my imagination) but the offsets better braking,high speed stability and slight increase in GC would very much make for the cons.

[sandeep108]

Originally Posted by khoj

I am going to disagree with you on both of the above points as far as the Yokohama AVS dB 550 tires are concerned.

I have had no issues with the dB's side walls and this despite of the broken and patchy terrain that I traverse in the course of my work as also my driving style where I have no issues in dropping the left on to the muddy cracked shoulder which invariably is well not the ideal surface for any tire. In fact on my recent BOM to DEL run with a fully loaded car and a highway replete with stripped surfaces complete with ruts and potholes, I never faced an issue with any of the tires flexing to a degree that would result in the wheel impacting the surface. Anyone who has soft side wall tires on their rides and have hit a pot hole dead center would know that sickening sound as this happens. Guess what with the AVS dBs I have completely forgotten what that thud feels like. The tires have been on MDR roads, village roads, village embankments with no roads but plenty of stones (aggregate) laid out and then left as is, over the past year and a half without any problems. I have driven on similar roads in the past with Bridgestones and Michelins and have first hand experience of what these surfaces can do to the rubber.

Coming to the grip. Once again the dBs have always performed admirably under all sort of weather conditions on all types of surfaces. I have not had a single issue in the past 15 odd months that I have had with these tires driving 16000 kms and this does includes two monsoons in Bombay and it's surrounding highway network apart from the city roads. The dB's have always come through for me in critical braking situations and infact are so grippy that I have on several occassions confidently changed my vehicle's trajectory in the middle of sharp curves to overtake / avoid traffic at triple digit speeds on wet surfaces going wetter.

I have driven extensively using Michelin's too and have found some of their products to be exemplary, even today my other two vehicles run on Michelin products. However, as far as I am concerned for my personal ride I find the AVS dB 550 to be the best tire available in the current times.

Though a little late to this thread, I must say I agree with khoj. I have had absolutely no problems with the dbsv550 braking in the wet at all. I have just gone though Mumbai's very wet monsoon and in fact my braking confidence (on AT) has gone up very much with these tires. Not only has grip improved but I feel my car has now a new suspension - no thuds, no rattles, great comfort and very silent and smooth.

[kumargandharva]

From where I can get Yokohama Advan Neova 205 60 R 15 in Delhi - NCR (Am based in Gurgaon) and at what price?

[gaurav_chopra04]

Originally Posted by kumargandharva

From where I can get Yokohama Advan Neova 205 60 R 15 in Delhi - NCR (Am based in Gurgaon) and at what price?

There is a Yokohama Dealer on Sohna Road I guess, remember to have seen it. When you go from rajiv Chowk, just before you hit the next round about, the showroom is on left. No dealer will have the tire in stock, they will have to check it with the company.

In Feb 2009, the advan Neova 08 in 205/60/R15 costed around 7.5k and this was when S-drive in 205/55 R15 costed 4800. Today S-Drive is over 6k, so I guess the Advan Neova in 205/60/R15 size should be over 9k.

You can check for more dealers on Yoko website or get details from just dial.

In stead of advans, you may want to upgrade the alloys of your civic to 16" and get S-Drives in 205/55/R16, which is a perfect size for civic..

[kumargandharva]

Originally Posted by gaurav_chopra04

There is a Yokohama Dealer on Sohna Road I guess, remember to have seen it. When you go from rajiv Chowk, just before you hit the next round about, the showroom is on left. No dealer will have the tire in stock, they will have to check it with the company.

In Feb 2009, the advan Neova 08 in 205/60/R15 costed around 7.5k and this was when S-drive in 205/55 R15 costed 4800. Today S-Drive is over 6k, so I guess the Advan Neova in 205/60/R15 size should be over 9k.

You can check for more dealers on Yoko website or get details from just dial.

In stead of advans, you may want to upgrade the alloys of your civic to 16" and get S-Drives in 205/55/R16, which is a perfect size for civic..

Will upgrading to 16" impact the ride quality in any way?
What is the cost of S drives (205/55/R16)