[saket77]

I upgraded to Michelin XM1+ about 6000 kms ago...and it was the among the best decisions I ever took for my car. I trashed 17000 kms old JK tyres...they were noisy, had grip on road like a lubricated bearing and ride was rough. Everytime I braked hard, the car wheels would lock dangerously.

I switched to Michelin then and it was like heaven. Yesterday coming from a long drive, I had to brake hard at an instance @ 100 kmph speed. The car did not bulge an inch from its line of travel and the wheels did not lock.(mine is not an ABS) The braking distance was unbelievingly less. Felt that the practise of fitting dangerous OEM tires just for saving a few bucks should now stop for safety of people.

I have not used other hi-end brands like yokos, b'stones, ZLOs etc. but I can vouch for Michelin.

Regards.

[deetjohn]

Got the front right sidewall cut on the stock JK Vectra on our car and I am currently running the spare tyre.

Planning to buy the 155/80 R13 Apollo Acelere as the new spare tyre and buy 3 more of the same when the Odo is at 30K and replace all running wheels. Else, I will be stuck with JKs.

[deetjohn]

^

Went to DBS tyres yesterday and found that the Vectras were in bad shape. There was a slight vibration after about 60 and I had thought it was due to balancing. We balanced the tyres, checked the alignment but the vibrations remained. The tyres were slightly out of shape and hard. The Odo reads 26K and the tyres were 4+ years old.

So, decided to bring forward the planned upgrade at 30K and bought 4 new Apollo Acelere in stock size. Got a good deal from DBS. They bought the old tyres at 3250 and I paid 3K each for the brand new Apollo. The manufacturing date on each tyre was 1813.

The Apollo looks very narrow compared to the broad shouldered JK. Hope its a good choice. By comparison, both XM2 and B250 was 3750 each.

[Mr_Bean]

Originally Posted by Sankar

175/70/13 section tyre will fit well within the wheel arches without any fouling, and so will a 185/70/13 tyre if mounted on an alloy with stock offset.

How do we actually determine if wider tyres like 185/70/ r13 won't foul with the wheel wells? Is there a mathematical calculation using stock offset, please advise.

I am running on stock size 155/80 r13. Tempted to move to 185 for grip.

[deetjohn]

Originally Posted by Mr_Bean

I am running on stock size 155/80 r13. Tempted to move to 185 for grip.

Wouldn't 185 be an overkill for the Astar? I would recommend 175 on 14" wheels.

[RSR]

A-Star comes with stock 155/80R13 tyres on 4.5J*13 wheels.

Overall diameter:

1) 155/80R13 - 578.2 mm (stock tyres & rims, no GC change)

2) 175/70R13 - 575.2 mm (can use stock rims, marginal GC loss of 1.5 mm)

3) 185/70R13 - 589.2 mm (can use stock rims, good GC gain of 5.5 mm)***

4) 175/65R14 - 583.1 mm (need 14" rims of at least 5" width, marginal GC gain of 2.45 mm)***

5) 185/60R14 - 577.6 mm (need 14" rims of at least 5" width, negligible GC loss of 0.3 mm)***

*** - need to check if there is any scraping/fouling with these sizes

Options 4 & 5 are with 14" rims. These would obviously reduce the ride quality to a certain extent.

Option 2 is a good upgrade for the A-Star. Grip would increase, ride quality would remain almost the same and the stock rims can be used for this size (175/70R13). The only downside would be a marginal GC loss (1.5 mm).

Option 3 is good if one wants extra grip and an increase in GC (5.5 mm). The stock rims can be used for this size (185/70R13), but it's necessary to check for any scraping/fouling against the wheel arches before going in for this size.

[slicvic]

Originally Posted by Mr_Bean

How do we actually determine if wider tyres like 185/70/ r13 won't foul with the wheel wells? Is there a mathematical calculation using stock offset, please advise.

I am running on stock size 155/80 r13. Tempted to move to 185 for grip.

Here is my experience with 185

Originally Posted by slicvic

I've been using Yokohama EOS 100's size 185/60-14. The car originally came shod with 155/80-13. I had changed to the mentioned tyre size within the first 100 Kms.

The tire size calculator here Car Bibles : The Wheel and Tyre Bible Page 3 of 4, which i found on http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-a...re-upsize.html, shows that the total circumference is the same.

However the rear tyres were scraping the sidewall whenever there were more than two people were in the car. (Not a major problem for me since i was alone 90 % of the time, and with one passenger another 5 % of the time)

Originally Posted by slicvic

1. The tire scraping is probably because of the increased width, and not because of the change in overall diameter. It has been suggested to me, that the inner sides of the wheel arches can be tinkered with so that the scraping can be minimized, but since i drive alone for 80 percent of the time, i haven't got it done.

[Mr_Bean]

Appreciate all your replies. I found an interesting on tyre upsize for astar:
http://www.changemytyre.com/Upsize/T...XI-VXI-ZXI/112

Originally Posted by deetjohn

Wouldn't 185 be an overkill for the Astar? I would recommend 175 on 14" wheels.

Hmm, but I was thinking wider tyre on 13 inch wheels would help improve the look and feel of the car at the cost of acceleration and fuel efficiency.

Originally Posted by RSR

2) 175/70R13 - 575.2 mm (can use stock rims, marginal GC loss of 1.5 mm)
3) 185/70R13 - 589.2 mm (can use stock rims, good GC gain of 5.5 mm)***

Option 2 is a good upgrade for the A-Star. Grip would increase, ride quality would remain almost the same and the stock rims can be used for this size (175/70R13). The only downside would be a marginal GC loss (1.5 mm).

Option 3 is good if one wants extra grip and an increase in GC (5.5 mm). The stock rims can be used for this size (185/70R13), but it's necessary to check for any scraping/fouling against the wheel arches before going in for this size.

So it will be 175 or 185 on 13 inch wheels. I should have upgraded to 175 when the car was new but Michelin XM2's were really expensive at around 4600/- INR per tyre. But instead I stuck to the same profile and brought XM2, I got a good deal, dealer agreed to buy the company fitted tyres (2000/- per piece)

Originally Posted by RSR

4) 175/65R14 - 583.1 mm (need 14" rims of at least 5" width, marginal GC gain of 2.45 mm)***

5) 185/60R14 - 577.6 mm (need 14" rims of at least 5" width, negligible GC loss of 0.3 mm)***

Options 4 & 5 are with 14" rims. These would obviously reduce the ride quality to a certain extent.

14 inch wheels would worsen the bad ride quality , so that is ruled out.

Originally Posted by slicvic

Here is my experience with 185

Hmm I think even bhpian Sankar reported about this in one of his post. What is your wheel offset?

Here is one of this post:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post2013875

[pat2kin]

Mr Bean, did you finally change the tyres? I am thinking of changing my car tyres too. Its mainly used in the city by wifey (regular home-office run and weekend errands). After reading these posts, looks like 175/70R13 is the better option or maybe just stick to 155/80 R13.

I inquired at Tyre Empire in HSR layout (Bangalore) and he has quoted 17,800 for a set of 4 Michelin XM2 (175/70 R13). He was ready to take the old tyres for 2300 making the deal 15,500. The old tyres have only done 18k. Do you think the deal is good?

[condor]

Rule #1: When you have a question, first search on TBHP.
Example:
I could just change the poster's name to mine, and repost the question ..

Originally Posted by deetjohn

Our ZXi is running the stock 155/80 13. Can I mount 175/70 13 on the stock rims?

The outer diameter is the same. I worried about the width of the steel rims. Car Bibles say 175 can be mounted on 5J to 6.5J. Is the A-star stock rim 5J?

Not looking for alloys at the moment.

Jokes apart, I have the same question. I googled & found that if the rim-width is narrower than recommended, then it can create problems during high-speed cornering. (If too wide, then the problems are different)

Usage:
City driving, about 800 km a month

So,
1) Can I safely use 175/70 R13's on the 4.5J rims ? (No plans for high-speed driving, let alone cornering :-) )
2) Are there any 5J rims in R13 available ? ( I dont seem to find any car in India with this spec. If yes, then I can safely go for 175/70 R13)
3) Considering that the car will be used in city (or max the rare day-trip), should I just stick to the stock size.

I am planning for Yoko Earth 1's. It is available in both stock & 175/70 size. No plans for more expensive tyres like Michelin's.

Alternatively:
165/80 R13. Can be used on stock rims. Down side: Tubeless is Only available in Apollo Accelere's.

[condor]

Looks like Esteem used 5J R13 rims, but the PCD looks different - possibly 114.3. (A-star uses 100 PCD).

Originally Posted by RSR

1) 155/80R13 - 578.2 mm (stock tyres & rims, no GC change)

2) 175/70R13 - 575.2 mm (can use stock rims, marginal GC loss of 1.5 mm)

Option 2 is a good upgrade for the A-Star. Grip would increase, ride quality would remain almost the same and the stock rims can be used for this size (175/70R13). The only downside would be a marginal GC loss (1.5 mm).

A reduction of 1.5mm in GC is actually minimal. With running, rubber will wear out and GC of even stock wheels will reduce.

[Manoj2268]

Hi,

A friend has planned to upgrade his AStar VXI from rims to alloys. I have the Type 2 WagonR and am thinking of placing dibs on the rims. They are prepainted and I will also get the MGA wheel covers thrown in for free . They kinda looked good(whereas mine's in a sorry shape after 1.25L of driving on Del-GGN roads).

Are the Astar Rims the same as the ones on the WagonR?

[condor]

@Manoj, I am not familiar with the tyre size of the type-2 Wagon-R. But based on the specs,

The A-Star runs on 155/80 R13 tyres on 4.5J rims.

I am not able to find a matching tyre size

Wagon-R specifications:

[jinojohnt]

Any idea from where to source "OEM wheel-cup type" alloys for my A-star? Recently saw a Ritz with alloys that look (almost) like the OEM wheel cups, hence the question.

[condor]

Some time after posting my question back in June 2015, I did upgrade. I found a set of 14" rims from a Celerio. Moved from the stock 155/80 R13 to Yoko Earth-1 in 175/65 R14. And did it make a difference !!

The car drives much better now. Steering is not heavy. And, hardly any drop in FE. My last check was 11.8 kmpl - the best that I have got. While it could also be due to lighter traffic, I can definitely say that FE is not / is hardly affected.

So if you can, go for the 175's.