From Yoko's To Bridgestone

[swift&furious]

I was a big time fan of Yokohoma for almost 5 years till now, but a recent incident of a side wall crack followed by a patch leak on the C drives in our innova changed my views, though it looks tougher its isn't and when i expected it to be tougher not to the greatest level as i am aware its Comfort oriented (C-drives tires) it had let me down and mind you it was just a stone which was half the size of my palm and the speed was not more than 20kmh when the tires sidewall hit the stone, the stone was thrown to the right with a sound "Phat" but never expected it to be worser like this

I had even checked with a fellow TAI'n vjroadie about performance of Yoko 195 on his Dzire as i was about to change the tyres for my swift but I changed my mind after this experience with C drives

Would have gone for Michelin but never felt confident after the Yoko's with a good compound taking a hit, thought of Pirelli too but had better options just after my visit to the Bridgestone Select store, the reason i left to Bridgestone select was due to one of my friend to whom i sold my vtech(had been running on Yoko's) 2 years back, he had Bridgestone Potenza’s on his car which he had changed post buying and it was 13K on the ODO already and a drive on my old car left me amazed with the Grip and planted feel it gave Boy o Boy i now think i could have kept my old car it looked a hottie with those Potenza

I had 3 options in Bridgestone for size 185/70/14 Potenza G3 with only 2 in stock (which i was sure is a old stock) and MY-02 and Turanza AR10 with immediate availability

Switched to Bridgestone Turanza AR10 in the swift and was delighted with the amazing low tire noise which i never expected, as i assumed that bridgestone being a Hard compound to be noisy, The car fetl more planted with a very good grip which was instantaneously felt, moreover till I have see now this has to be the most wide looking 185 size'd tyre and Michelin/Yoko's looked a bit lesser in terms of width in the same size (might be my assumption)

My shared experience are with immediate views would try to give a detailed feedback post 1000Kms to know the real characteristics, but till now I am impressed and my car feel more planted than the old acceleres


Would be interested to know if someone here is using the same tire and would like to know their feedback too

 

[Mr.Ash]

Congrats for the new pair of shoes to your SWIFT.

You could've tried Continental Premier 2 or Michelin primacy LC. These are again soft components with zero tire noise. I recently ugraded my SWIFT tyres from stock to 195/60/R15 Continental premier 2. The ride is amazing. Each tire costed me around Rs.5500/- The stock ones ran around 60kms and was taken for a exchange of 11k (set of 4 including rims) I paid 31k for both alloys and tyres. This was changed at BM lal in chennai (whites road). The person never suggested me Bridgestone at all. But i'd always seen the bridgestone potenza looked more rugged and broader always. Would you mind sharing your price details pls..

Cheers,
- Ash...

 

[swift&furious]

Congrats for the new pair of shoes to your SWIFT.

You could've tried Continental Premier 2 or Michelin primacy LC. These are again soft components with zero tire noise. I recently ugraded my SWIFT tyres from stock to 195/60/R15 Continental premier 2. The ride is amazing. Each tire costed me around Rs.5500/- The stock ones ran around 60kms and was taken for a exchange of 11k (set of 4 including rims) I paid 31k for both alloys and tyres. This was changed at BM lal in chennai (whites road). The person never suggested me Bridgestone at all. But i'd always seen the bridgestone potenza looked more rugged and broader always. Would you mind sharing your price details pls..

Cheers,
- Ash...

I would have gone for continental and Primary LC provided i have 2 of these parameters met, a good sidewall and with medium compound over the smooth compund they have currently, i travel a lot on rugged roads which are under construction for a long time , i personally felt eventhough i dont go for a hard compound should go for a medium compound to take on this roads with ease which it does so brilliantly

Yes you are correct Bridgestone looks rugged and as i mentioned earlier after my drive in my old vtech was very much impressed with Bridgestone, by the way i had purchased my 14' alloys from BM Lal chennai the one opposite satyam cinemas parking, but tires were from bangalore with 4700INR per tire which i negotiated to 4550INR per tire and other options were Yoko A Drives with 4200INR Michellin XM1 with 4350 and XM2 with 4650

One more myth every dealer would suggest you for something in which they find more profit nothing like they have trust on the brand pesonally and this happens to 99% customers, might be the guy makes more money selling Michellin than selling bridgestone, but when you know the guy personally he might suggest a better one leaving his profit aside.

 

[Gurrala74]

@S&F

This is some interesting story about Yokos, but a real experience is a real experience always. Can you post some pics of your alloys with BS. Some of my friends say that MRF ZLO are good, do you have any info on them.

Anyway my Ritz is fitted with JK tornados which are only good for long time service, but they are stock 165's and really not fit for a tall boy like Ritz, but I will have to wait till they warn out and the drive on the highways is really scary with them and with lot of tyre noise

 

[swift&furious]

Yeah i never would have let down Yoko's but after going through through the incident which i mentioned above, do not want to take a chance again and hence moved to bridgestone, one of my friend in cbe who is much into perfomance tuning in OHC's and vtech had told me a couple of times to try bridgestone on my vtech before when i had it but never took his words but was blown of by the planted feel, hard steering and rugged look of my sold car which i got a chance to drive recently, that made me go into the showroom and switch to a different brand which i have never tried

Will get the pics over the weekend, MRF ZLO's are good but are unidirectional i assume but when i had negotiated with that guy just for fun sometime back he became serious and was able to offer me a set of 4 for 3750INR which i hope is the cheapest of tyres in the size and also by perfomance, ZLO's are good, i have seen it in my office parking in an I20 195/60/14 and the thread pattern made it sure for me that its unidirectional

I would suggest you to change the tyres to 185/70/14 even if on rims, i kept the stock (165/80/14) for 35K (it had a life of 15 K left) but changed it just because it was getting harder/noiser and most importantly not safe on speed more than 100, accleres 185/70/14 were descent enough on my cousin's swift, but now after 250 kms of drive i am a fan of Bridgestone and find it a better compromise on all parameters

 

[Iron Rock]

I have Yoko C drives on my civic, amazing grip even in wet conditions and on cornering hard.
The only negative is Yokos are known for a rather fragile side wall.

 

[swift&furious]

I have Yoko C drives on my civic, amazing grip even in wet conditions and on cornering hard.
The only negative is Yokos are known for a rather fragile side wall.

Nothing bad to complain or even more the C-Drives should be complimented more for the comfort it offers, but the sidewall as you mentioned has left a lot to be desired for

When many say MRF are for Indian roads I accept it hands down as the stock tires given by MRF takes an aggressive beating but still never lets you down, but leaves you with less grip and more road noise which must have been kept at bay, but it’s really hard to get the best of both world's together in equal proportion, am I correct?

 

[Iron Rock]

well that is very true the best of both worlds at an acceptable/decent price does not exist.
Since the civic is only meant for decent roads i am happy to take the chance with Yoko's, i largely use it for intercity express/highway drives and given civic's performance/handling, the yoko's are an apt choice. The comfort and grip levels are phenomenal. Especially wet conditions left me bewildered!

Btw i also went for the MRF for our ageing work house sumo - its probably done well over 70K on those tyres in the worst possible roads and near balding now - but for the purpose and cost it served me well ( i wouldnt talk of tyre noise/tyre grip for a sumo ).

So yes make your choice for your usage.

 

[Music_Swift]

Congrats for changing to BS Turanza AR10 S&F.We changed to Michelin XM2 6 months ago and done more than 9000 Km.This is 185/70R14.Swift VDI.And,I m in a dilemma whether I should go for Alloys or not.

 

[swift&furious]

Congrats for changing to BS Turanza AR10 S&F.We changed to Michelin XM2 6 months ago and done more than 9000 Km.This is 185/70R14.Swift VDI.And,I m in a dilemma whether I should go for Alloys or not.

Alloys there is a small advantage of weights, normally the alloys are lighter than steel Rims and if though you go for alloys go for the light weight one's

I would tell you to stick on to 14" Alloys which is much debatable as most of the swift Mods have 195/60/15 as their default mod setting which gives great looks/handling but there would be a definite compromise on ride quality for sure

I have driven a swift with 195/60/15 and mine with 185/70/14 (back 2 back) and the biggest difference spotted is ride quality which is quiet evident might be the more rubber gave more comfort/cushion feel (my assumption), and there is one more thing added to it i don't want to void the 4 year warranty for which i paid upfront