[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Given the horrid roads of Bangalore a tougher tyre may be required. Hence if I change I shall probably go the Bridgestone route. Provided of course, these are available. What say?

Certainly recommend the Bridgestones, and in maybe 3-4 months I will also change my front tyres too to the Bridgestones as I find them quite decent and strong for the Indian road conditions. Also, when I was talking to the local tyre shop where I frequent, he said that in the past 3 year, he has not seen a single case of bubbling in Bridgestones wheres he has seen multiple in Yokos and Michelins, which actually shows that they are built stronger.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Behemoth

Certainly recommend the Bridgestones, and in maybe 3-4 months I will also change my front tyres too to the Bridgestones as I find them quite decent and strong for the Indian road conditions. Also, when I was talking to the local tyre shop where I frequent, he said that in the past 3 year, he has not seen a single case of bubbling in Bridgestones wheres he has seen multiple in Yokos and Michelins, which actually shows that they are built stronger.

Frankly I am (perhaps psychologically), far more comfortable with the Bridgestones, having experienced their general toughness and durability on my Bolero and Scorpio.

The Michelins and Yokohamas worry me a lot because, while they are softer and grippier etc on account of their softer compound, they would be far more prone to damage, given our driving conditions here.

Therefore, there would be a greater likelihood for more frequent replacement,which in turn will add to the costs.

Not a consummation that I would wish, really...

[abbey4u]

Hey guys, My yeti did 52k and i have started search of new set of tyres. This time i am looking at 216/65 . Since i do a lot of highway and mountain trips i am looking for something suitable. Please give your feedback, I have kind of shortlisted below
Apollo hawkz
http://www.snapdeal.com/product/apol...010849?pos=0;8
Pirelli SCORPION STR Tubeless
http://www.changemytyre.com/Car/Tyre...ORPION-STR/917
and
Falkon
http://www.changemytyre.com/Car/Tyre...PEAK-HT01/3789

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

The Latitude Tour HPs will perform well. The Goodyears are not bad but the Michelins are a league above. In terms of price as well!

You can say that again, an eye-watering 11.1k is the best quote I got now, which is nearly 45k for TYRES that lasted 30k kms.

Still the nearly bald Michelins did a splendid job off road during my last stint home, taking the Yeti down a ditch with traction on just the two diagonally opposite wheels (Front Right and Rear Left - the other two were up in the air), and then helping it pull out of the rut with very little effort.

As my friend (prabhuav) who did the spotting said, its not just the pattern - its the rubber that makes the difference.

[abbey4u]

I got my tyre changed to mrf wanderer 215, 65, 16. Reason being i wanted a slight boost in ride height as i do a lot of partial off road. now after the tyre change i started facing problems
1. After the tyre change the balancing and alignment went haywire, so it scary driving at a speed over 100. I think i did a mistake by getting it done outside. Problem with yeti is not a lot of tyre shops has alignment data for yeti
2. Since i got my tyre changed in the morning and in the night i had to drive to lucknow, i had no option but to continue as i realised misalignment while i started my drive to lucknow. Got the balancing and alignment done at local shop in Lucknow, this helped a little but didn't completely fix it. now driving over 120 was not confident inspiring
3. Today got the alignment and balancing done at skoda, couldn't really get a chance to drive over 120, but at the single instance of less than 5 sec when i was over 120, the car seemed to wobble, so it seems the balancing issue is still there. however it is lot more stable.

While at skoda, told by worker that 3 wheels have bent alloy rim specially from inside and i confirmed the same by looking at those.. i remember my trip to chattisgarh where i went over a really bad pothole which even resulted in one of my headlight broken. It seems that resulted in bent rim. but i really don't know whether that should result in wobble at high speed or it's the tyre which is s problem or still the wheel balancing is not done properly. because after that incident in Chattisgarh, i had driven more than 2000 kms on old set of tyres and was easily able to take car at speed excess to 140. It's only after the new tyres, i am facing all these trouble. and since i always had my wheel balanced and aligned from skoda i did the same finally. So if someone can help me understand my options that will be great.

1. Should i go back to 215, 60 ,16? or is it mrf tyres rather than the profile which is a problem.
2. Any good wheel balancing center in ncr, where i can get the balancing done again, which may solve the problem?
3. Can i get the alloy wheel fixed for bent rim? or do i have to change the alloys?

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by abbey4u

1. Should i go back to 215, 60 ,16? or is it mrf tyres rather than the profile which is a problem.
2. Any good wheel balancing center in ncr, where i can get the balancing done again, which may solve the problem?
3. Can i get the alloy wheel fixed for bent rim? or do i have to change the alloys?

Hi Abbey
I don't think that your new tyres are causing the problem. It is most likely the bent alloys which are the root of the issue. Alloy wheels are really difficult to repair as they are magnesium aluminium alloy which cannot be easily repaired unlike steel wheels which can be repaired when bent. What I suggest is that you change at least one alloy wheel and put the two good alloys on the front. This way youl will be able to get much less steering wobble. Put the bent alloys in the rear as they will affect your ride quality less in the back.
There is a good tyre alignment shop on Sohna road Gurgaon near Islampur which has a Yokohama board (dont recall the name of the shop). I get my Yeti alignment and wheel balancing done there. Get all your wheels balanced there. It will help solve the problem partially, but as your rear rims are bent you will find the ride bumpy at slow speeds.
Regards
Behemoth

[nitinbose]

How good are the Indian tyres such as MRF, Ceat, Apollo etc., as compared to bridgestone, michellin etc? More often than not, we always talk about foreign brands.

[abbey4u]

Originally Posted by Behemoth

Hi Abbey
I don't think that your new tyres are causing the problem. It is most likely the bent alloys which are the root of the issue. Alloy wheels are really difficult to repair as they are magnesium aluminium alloy which cannot be easily repaired unlike steel wheels which can be repaired when bent. What I suggest is that you change at least one alloy wheel and put the two good alloys on the front. This way youl will be able to get much less steering wobble. Put the bent alloys in the rear as they will affect your ride quality less in the back.
There is a good tyre alignment shop on Sohna road Gurgaon near Islampur which has a Yokohama board (dont recall the name of the shop). I get my Yeti alignment and wheel balancing done there. Get all your wheels balanced there. It will help solve the problem partially, but as your rear rims are bent you will find the ride bumpy at slow speeds.
Regards
Behemoth

Thanks, i moved the bent alloys to rear. since i commute to gurgaon daily for office, i can try and check them out. I just need balancing as i think the alignment is good now.
however i am still wondering why everything was perfect before i changed my tyre. I ran 57 k kms on old set and just last week i did lucknow trip without any problem. they were still good for 4-5 k of city driving, but i changed them as i didn't wanted to be a victim of tyre burst on Yamuna Expressway

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by nitinbose

How good are the Indian tyres such as MRF, Ceat, Apollo etc., as compared to bridgestone, michellin etc? More often than not, we always talk about foreign brands.

Ceat and Apollo are not too great, and actually not suitable for a car like Yeti. But these Indian manufacturers are evolving and with Apollo's Vredstein acquisition in Europe, they have acquired much better technology. But at this stage they are not using those technologies for India tyres. What I know is that the new range of 4G tyres from them will not start using those technologies.
MRF is slightly better, but quality control and consistency is a challenge with them. The new generation of tyres from them like Wanderer and ZLO are much better and have better Grip than the predecessors. Before these tyres, most of their range was Hard, long wearing tyres built for tough use.
Out of Yokohama, Michelin and Bridgestone, Michelins are soft and grippy and less rugged. Yokohama's are medium with a mix of Grip and ruggedness but their achilles heel is their soft sidewall. With the New Yoko's being made in India, they are now making stronger tyres. Bridgestone is also Japanese and has extensive manufacturing in India and they have already gone through several years of making ruggedized tyres for India. Bridgestones offer the best balance of ride quality and toughness, in my experience.

Regards,
Behemoth

[Behemoth]

Just came across this series from Bridgestone - B390, which is available in 205/65 R16 Size. In comparison to the 215/60 R16 OE size on the Yeti, the 205/65 R16 size is 1.28% large on circumference, which is within the safe limit.
The B390 tyre is recommended by Bridgestone for Tavera's and Innova's and I have seen this tyre on several Innova's and it is quite long lasting and hardy. Price wise too, I think this tyre is available around 6200 , due to the sheer volumes in that category.
My question to all the experts is whether changing from a 215 to a 205 footprint will have a major impact on the Yeti? I believe it will make the steering lighter and should also reduce road noise. Any other positive's / negatives of using this combination?
Increase in aspect ratio should improve the ride quality, which will be a welcome addition.


Comments/ suggestions / feedback welcome!
Regards,
Behemoth

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by Behemoth

Just came across this series from Bridgestone - B390, which is available in 205/65 R16 Size. In comparison to the 215/60 R16 OE size on the Yeti, the 205/65 R16 size is 1.28% large on circumference, which is within the safe limit.
The B390 tyre is recommended by Bridgestone for Tavera's and Innova's and I have seen this tyre on several Innova's and it is quite long lasting and hardy. Price wise too, I think this tyre is available around 6200 , due to the sheer volumes in that category.
My question to all the experts is whether changing from a 215 to a 205 footprint will have a major impact on the Yeti? I believe it will make the steering lighter and should also reduce road noise. Any other positive's / negatives of using this combination?
Increase in aspect ratio should improve the ride quality, which will be a welcome addition.
Attachment 1225354

Comments/ suggestions / feedback welcome!
Regards,
Behemoth

As much as I hate to say this, the stock Goodyears are probably better than the B390s. Those are budget tyres meant for lasting long. I for one, wouldn't downsize mainly because of the braking distance becoming worse. There would be less traction too when you need it. I think safety is far more important than a lighter steering.

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

As much as I hate to say this, the stock Goodyears are probably better than the B390s. Those are budget tyres meant for lasting long. I for one, wouldn't downsize mainly because of the braking distance becoming worse. There would be less traction too when you need it. I think safety is far more important than a lighter steering.

I agree. Innovas and Taveras don't have the top end of the Yeti, and I doubt if these primarily taxi tyres will actually stand up to those speeds.

Downsizing not such a bright idea, either.

[Behemoth]

Got my Yeti Front tyres also changed to Bridgestone ER370 in stock 215/60 R16 size a few days back. ( I had already changed the rear Yoko C-Drives to ER370 almost 4 months back and had covered 6K Kms on them). Now all four tyres on my Yeti at ER370 and I have driven approx 600 kms on them since changing the fronts. The tyres are quite good and much less in noise than even the Yoko C-Drives.
I got them at 8500 Including weights and installation at a local tyre shop in Gurgaon (next to Giriraj workshop in Sec-14).
I am quite happy with the Bridgestones and would definitely recommend them to anyone looking to change their Yeti tyres.

[Nisarg80]

Hello All,

After a lot of thought, research and physically checking out all relevant tyres, I finally fell for Yokohama ASPEC in stock size. Yes, the tyres are soft but are better than the stock ones that I had that lasted 35000 KMS. Once they were fitted, I immediately drove about 1000 Kms where at least 100 KMs was extremely bad, as in there was no road. Luckily in peak summer I also experienced some wet roads at high speed.

I must say I am quite impressed with the tyre as of now, only time will tell how it behaves in the future, no noise, exceptional behavior on wet and dry roads, 5 year warranty, silica compound are some features. The same tyre is an OEM for Toyota Camry which is quite a heavy sedan with good power, also the tyre used to be an OEM for erstwhile Honda H-RV, a small SUV from Honda.

All these and the distributor's confidence and assurance helped me go for it.

Lets hope for the best.

Cheers!

[abbey4u]

Originally Posted by abbey4u

Thanks, i moved the bent alloys to rear. since i commute to gurgaon daily for office, i can try and check them out. I just need balancing as i think the alignment is good now.
however i am still wondering why everything was perfect before i changed my tyre. I ran 57 k kms on old set and just last week i did lucknow trip without any problem. they were still good for 4-5 k of city driving, but i changed them as i didn't wanted to be a victim of tyre burst on Yamuna Expressway

I got my alloys repaired at a local tyre shop in Mohan Nagar (chabra tyres). They send it to some other alloy repair shop nearby. It costed me 300 bucks per alloys and took them around 2-3 hours to get the job done. I am satisfied with the work.
After this the tyres feels much better at high speed. A quick short review on wanderer sports again:
1. Steering is lighter
2. Ride is soft (mainly due to higher side profile)
3. Road noise is acceptable (i feel it's much lower than Yoko HT, but it can also be attributed to newer tyres)
4. And ofcourse better ride height