Toyota Innova Crysta MPV: Owners complaining of tyre bursts

The Toyota Innova Crysta, when launched a couple of years ago, became the first MPV in India to feature 17 inch alloy wheels on the higher-variants. Within months of launch, Toyota reverted back to 16 inch wheels even on the higher variants of the MPV due to ‘tyre bursts’ reported by multiple Innova Crysta owners.

A few such accounts have surfaced on Team-BHP. Here are three owner accounts,

Pratiksinhal had the following to say:

I was driving my Crysta 2.8 Z last evening and suddenly after going through a pot hole, the left rear wheel burst. I spoke to Toyota service and they have told me that they have been advised by Toyota to change the 17″ wheels on the Z trim with 16″ ones and this will be done by the company, since a lot of customers were facing the same issue.

Samabhi:

Was returning back from Hyd on 14th night and encountered a deep pothole on Bangalore ORR. It was just at the exit of Kalyan Nagar underpass with no lighting at all. Even though I was doing low speeds, I couldn’t avoid it as I noticed it at the last minute and both the passenger side front and rear tyres went over it. Immediately noticed the vehicle was pulling to the left and stopped by the side. Both the tyres have gone flat as there is a small cut on the side walls.

vkochar:

Did close to 650 kms today and arrived at my destination but not without drama The rear left tyre messed up and had a massive cut and crack on it. I was driving and my driver was sitting next to me and I could feel something was wrong and I stopped in few seconds. No damage to the alloy.

Following these complaints, Toyota advised dealers to replace the 17 inch alloy wheels with 16 inch units. A few months later though, Toyota replaced the 16 inch alloy wheels with 17 inch units. No explanation was given for the change.

Now, there are more reports owners of the Innova Crysta unhappy about the 17 inch wheels, which is said to be the prime reason why the tyre bursts. On Consumer Complaints, a website where customers can complain about faulty products, there are more than 25 complaint about tyres bursts on the Innova Crysta.

If tyre bursts are actually happening, how do they happen?

To use 17 inch alloy rims on the Innova Crysta, Toyota opts for 215/55 section tyres. In comparison to the tyres that the 16 inch steel wheels run (205/65 section), the 17 inch tyres have a 10 mm shorter sidewall. Shorter sidewalls means a slightly stiffer ride quality and also the danger of alloy wheels taking an impact when the vehicle is driven through potholes at high speeds.

On Indian roads, vehicles with the combination of large wheels and short sidewalls, driven at high speeds over/through potholes, may suffer alloy wheel damage, and on rare occasions, a tyre burst may result. This is applicable to all cars that run alloy wheels, but cars that have tyres with shorter side walls suffer the most. Now that Innova Crysta customers have started complaining about tyre bursts which they suspect stem from the short-sidewall and large wheel combination, Toyota – a highly customer-centric company proud of its reliability record – may decide to shift back to 16 inch alloy wheels on their best-selling MPV.

Image courtesy Team-BHP