Which Tires Can I Still Use?

[jut703]

I have 3 out of 5 tires for our Altis which seemingly have defects, but I need to know which two I can still use until I get my tires replaced.

Here's the first tire, a Dunlop Sport 01 (205/55 R16), currently my spare tire. It was punctured twice on its sidewall, and it seems to have developed a bump:





Here's the second tire, also a Dunlop Sport 01, which by the way are the stock tires the car came with. There's seemingly a tear on the sidewall:



The third tire is new, less than a month old, a Dunlop LM703. Less than a week with the tire, it developed a large bump on the sidewall. More recently, the bump started developing tiny cracks:





I'm going to try and get the LM703 replaced under warranty, as it's practically new. I doubt that the Sport 01's will get replaced as well though, what do you guys think? My guess is that Toyota will just say it's wear and tear. The car's 2 years old by the way, and has around 35000 km on the clock.

Lastly, if I really do have to get all 3 tires replaced, what other brands do you suggest? I'm thinking of getting the tires not from the dealer anymore, as the pair of LM703's I recently got totaled over 12k, with wheel balancing included.

I've heard that the Kumho Ecsta is rather decent, how much would those tires cost in 205/55 R16 form?

Thanks guys.

[crazy_boy]

hindi kaya parati ka na-gutter?

[jut703]

I'm not the only user of the car. My mother has had quite a few incidents of hitting the gutter, hence the vulcanized patch on the first tire. Personally I've never hit the tires on anything, except probably a few potholes I was unable to avoid.

[mda]

Consider the Yokohama A.Drives

I've got a set as stock on our 09 FD, in your size (205/55/R16)

Relatively quiet and the price shouldn't be so bad. (~3k ea)

As to your original question, I wouldn't consider using those tires anymore. Punit and bump on the sidewall - no no.

Padala mo nalang kaya yung rim mismo sa shop?

If not, just drive sloooooooowly :O

[crazy_boy]

Consider the Yokohama A.Drives

I've got a set as stock on our 09 FD, in your size (205/55/R16)

Relatively quiet and the price shouldn't be so bad. (~3k ea)

As to your original question, I wouldn't consider using those tires anymore. Punit and bump on the sidewall - no no.

Padala mo nalang kaya yung rim mismo sa shop?

If not, just drive sloooooooowly :O

where do you get you A.drives? thats cheaper than the 185/65/14 i canvassed.

[jut703]

Consider the Yokohama A.Drives

I've got a set as stock on our 09 FD, in your size (205/55/R16)

Relatively quiet and the price shouldn't be so bad. (~3k ea)

I was looking a the A.Drives as well. How does it perform in terms of its grip levels? I'm having this (unsubstantiated) notion that the A.Drives are generally budget tires, having only 3 grooves. This has got me to consider the C.Drive, just because its marketed by Yokohama as better than the A.Drive. I haven't looked at its price though, but if its at the 3.5-4k range but provides better grip and is more reliable, I'd give it a go.

I'm concerned about the tires' performance because aside from city-cruising duties, I sometimes bring the car for a spirited drive at Tanay so I'd like the tires to be grippy and predictable, and during highway runs I want a tire that won't blow on me when running at around 150-200.

[vinj]

I checked with DKC a few months back and 205/55R16 A-drives was around P4.9K already.

[mda]

I was looking a the A.Drives as well. How does it perform in terms of its grip levels? I'm having this (unsubstantiated) notion that the A.Drives are generally budget tires, having only 3 grooves. This has got me to consider the C.Drive, just because its marketed by Yokohama as better than the A.Drive. I haven't looked at its price though, but if its at the 3.5-4k range but provides better grip and is more reliable, I'd give it a go.

I'm concerned about the tires' performance because aside from city-cruising duties, I sometimes bring the car for a spirited drive at Tanay so I'd like the tires to be grippy and predictable, and during highway runs I want a tire that won't blow on me when running at around 150-200.

Well, I really haven't taken the car above 100 for sustained periods of time, nor have I gone at 100kph in the wet, so I can't comment on the grip.

With regards to the tire blowing on you, I'm pretty sure this will be down to the load/speed rating of the specific tire. I think the stock 91Vs will be good all the way to 200kph.

[jut703]

My Dunlop LM703s are also rated at 91V, so that means they're safe up until 240 KPH. However, tire blowouts happen way before that on poor quality tires, so I don't wanna blindly trust the tires' speed rating. Between the two though (Dunlop LM703 vs Yokohama A.Drive), which is the better tire?

Also, what are the other alternatives I should be looking at within the 4-5k price range? From what I've read, here are some notable models which I think I should be considering. Hopefully you guys could shed some light on how much these tires cost and how they perform:

Kumho Ecsta SPT
Goodyear Assurance
Yokohama C.Drive

And if there are other models that I should take a look at, please let me know.

[mda]

I always thought that the C Drives were lower end.

Apparently yung A Drive pala yung mas mababa(?) based on their product catalog/matrix
http://www.yokohama.com.au/img/matrix_passenger.gif

The 702s were known to slip in the wet. Not sure about the 703s.

Can't honestly comment on the other tires, never owned them eh.

[jut703]

The C.Drive also has a more sophisticated tire groove pattern, which is rather similar to the Dunlop Sport 01 which our Altis came with:

C.Drive


Sport 01


The A.Drive on the other hand has a simpler 3-groove design:


Which is more like the LM703 (which I really wouldn't wanna try again if I had the choice, given its poor showing in terms of quality):

[jut703]

Oh yeah, back to my original question, which of these tires are still safe to be used?

I have 3 out of 5 tires for our Altis which seemingly have defects, but I need to know which two I can still use until I get my tires replaced.

Here's the first tire, a Dunlop Sport 01 (205/55 R16), currently my spare tire. It was punctured twice on its sidewall, and it seems to have developed a bump:





Here's the second tire, also a Dunlop Sport 01, which by the way are the stock tires the car came with. There's seemingly a tear on the sidewall:



The third tire is new, less than a month old, a Dunlop LM703. Less than a week with the tire, it developed a large bump on the sidewall. More recently, the bump started developing tiny cracks:





I'm going to try and get the LM703 replaced under warranty, as it's practically new. I doubt that the Sport 01's will get replaced as well though, what do you guys think? My guess is that Toyota will just say it's wear and tear. The car's 2 years old by the way, and has around 35000 km on the clock.

Lastly, if I really do have to get all 3 tires replaced, what other brands do you suggest? I'm thinking of getting the tires not from the dealer anymore, as the pair of LM703's I recently got totaled over 12k, with wheel balancing included.

I've heard that the Kumho Ecsta is rather decent, how much would those tires cost in 205/55 R16 form?

Thanks guys.

[vinj]

To answer your question: None

On what to get, the A-Drives come as standard on the Civic with 16" tires and feedback is generally good.

[mda_]

To answer your question: None

On what to get, the A-Drives come as standard on the Civic with 16" tires and feedback is generally good.

the A drives are pretty good. much better than any dunlop LM series. these came stock with the civic FD (1.8S) and ours are still pretty decent even after 4 years and over 40,000 KMs.

the kumhos are okay as well, i think these are stock on the newer hyundais. haven't used them for a long time though (over a year old pa lang on our hyundai).

Only good experience i had with dunlops are with the LeMans RV (RV501) way back in our old CRV. the LM (701, 702 and 703) all gave me headaches (experienced a sliding tail, pothole blowout, and numerous bubbles on the side walls)

[lowslowbenz]

Where have you been driving?

[jut703]

The A.Drives seem to have generally positive feedback. Any comments on the fact that it's locally-made? I've got a friend who has a Civic 1.8S, he opted for a set of Ecstas over A.Drives because he says that the locally-made A.Drives are more prone to blowouts. These are at about 5k a piece, yes?

Also, how does the A.Drive compare to the Dunlop SP Sport 01?
And, what about the A.Drive versus the Ecsta SPT?

[jut703]

Where have you been driving?

Personally, I just use it when strutting about the metro, as well as the occasional highway/provincial back-road run. The punctures were all incurred with my mother behind the wheel, mostly through hitting the gutter, such as in parking lots.

[jut703]

I've just contacted DKC for pricing of the following tires, all 205/55 R16:

Kumho Ecsta SPT - 4.1k
Dunlop SP Sport LM703 - 4.3k
Yokohama A.Drive - 4.9k
Bridgestone Turanza ER300 - ~6k (no stock, pending price increase)
Dunlop SP Sport 01 - 6.8k
Yokohama C.Drive - no price, no stock, per order basis

I guess I'll be going with the Kumhos then.

[mda]

Been reading reviews and forum feedback of the LM703, grip isn't great either.

The Ecstas seems like a good choice at this point.

[jut703]

Just to update, I've finally gotten a pair of Kumho Ecsta SPTs. Got them at DKC for 4.1k a pop.

Right now, I'm running a weird combination of tires - Dunlop LM703 on the front/left side with about 1000 km on it (still pretty fresh, about a month old), Dunlop SP Sport 01 on the front/right side (came with the car, about 50-70% tread life), and the Ecstas at the rear.

I'm just waiting for the replacement of my other LM703 which had a bump on the sidewall, and this would replace the front/right SP Sport 01 which will be relegated to spare-tire duties as it's almost a 3-year old tire.