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I currently have 235/85 R16 BFG AT's on my 300TDI 90 which are now in their 9th year and although they still have around 7mm of tread left they are showing signs of cracking around the side wall and. Nowadays I only cover about 4000 miles per year on the road with the occasional  muddy tracks and fields to get to fishing lakes, certainly not what could be termed off roading.  These are the second set of BFG's that I have had and both sets replaced due to age rather than low tread (both have done over 60k miles), so my question is do I go for BFG KO2's or is there a better/cheaper alternative for my low mileage use and which maybe have better grip on wet roads.    

  

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I quite like the BFG's, my brother has a set. But there is no denying they are pricey, even more so the last year or so. I personally can't see the justification in the cost of them.

I'm running Maxxis Wormdrives on a couple of vehicles and get on really well with them. Maybe the BFG's would out last them, bit unknown. But the Wormdrives match (maybe exceed) the BFGs at everything we've thrown at it.

https://tyresdirectuk.co.uk/products/235-85r16-120-116q-maxxis-wormdrive-at-980e?taxon_id=96

They are circa £100/corner cheaper than going BFG.

I've been running the Wormdrives on my Jimny for 3 1/2 years and 20,000 miles now. Brilliant wet or dry and work well in the mud too. Better than I'd normally rate an AT. I was so impressed I bought a set to go on the Ninety which has done laning in Wales on them, plus general running about.

BHsYS4Yh.jpg

 

Other things you could consider. For such low mileage you could probably run a nice MT for no more hassle than an AT. The MT would be better on muddy tracks and fields and arguably they always look better than an AT does on a Land Rover. By the same measure, you could probably go to the other extreme for a much more road biased AT tyre, maybe something like a Toyo Open Country AT.

I'd also suggest some of the modern hybrid RT tyres are worth considering, e.g.

https://tyresdirectuk.co.uk/products/235-85r16-120-116q-radar-renegade-rt?taxon_id=8

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I have narrowed it down to either Continental crosscontact AT, General grabber AT3 or Michelin latitude cross with the Michelin winning at the moment as the reviews give it a very good rating in the wet which to me is a serious consideration. Has anyone got any opinions on my choices. As I said previously apart from occasional fishing trips 99% of my driving is on the tarmac.

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I had Michelin Lattitude on my 90 for a while, they were pretty good off road as long as it wasn’t too muddy.

I ended up with BFG KO2s and am now on the third set of them, I will get another set when these are done despite the cost. 

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2 hours ago, Hawklord said:

I have narrowed it down to either Continental crosscontact AT, General grabber AT3 or Michelin latitude cross with the Michelin winning at the moment as the reviews give it a very good rating in the wet which to me is a serious consideration. Has anyone got any opinions on my choices. As I said previously apart from occasional fishing trips 99% of my driving is on the tarmac.

tbh you probably won't go wrong with any of them. The only real time a variance in tyres matters is competition use. For normal running about and driving, so long as it is the right type of tyre. Pretty much any brand will normally be more than good enough. That way you can choose based on appearance, price or availability. :) All IMHO.

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Thanks for your replies.

The Michelin Latitudes in most adverts are stated as "Summer Tyres" (although some state "All Season") but in the real world would these tyres be suitable for all year round use in the UK weather conditions.

I also like the Grabbers but they seem to be out of stock in most places.

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Stick with the Continental Cross-contact. 

AT wise the best on the market at the moment is the Falken WIldpeak AT, but that's over the top for what you require. Also, go on am off road driving course

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35 minutes ago, Hawklord said:

Thanks all, and after spending most of the day going round in circles have gone for the Continental Cross-contact.

They are a surprisingly good tyre. Just remember to back off the throttle if you start to spin

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  • 3 months later...
3 hours ago, mad_pete said:

Looking at the same thing for the same reason, what's a good size to go for on R16 with a slight lift ?  I think I went a bit wide last time.

All/most of the reputable brands should be a good tyre. Really depends what your are after tread wise. 
 

As for size. 235/85 or 7.50 x 16 are great sizes that work well on a Land Rover. 
 

A 265/75 is about the same height but fatter. 
 

If you want taller the 255/85 is a nice tyre. But expensive and very limited choice of tread. 
 

285/75 not quite as tall but taller than the others. But a lot fatter. 
 

That’s about your choice in 16” unless you want fatter again and arguably too big. 
 

There is a distinct lack of tall thin tyres. A 9.00 x 16 would be nice if there was some choice. 

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I had 265/75s on my car before I went to 235/85. In reality the 235 was as wide if not slightly wider. 

A lot of brands have a very loose view of what these measurements mean and what you end up with is highly variable. 

I don't think there is a best size because of this, there is only a tyre that best matches your intended use. 

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1 hour ago, ThreePointFive said:

I had 265/75s on my car before I went to 235/85. In reality the 235 was as wide if not slightly wider. 

What brand, where they remoulds? A 235 should be distinctly narrower over a 265. Remould 7.50's can vary quite a bit, but 'new' no-remould brands should be fairly even with sizing. A 265 is substantially wider than a 235.

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15 hours ago, mad_pete said:

Looking at the same thing for the same reason, what's a good size to go for on R16 with a slight lift ?  I think I went a bit wide last time.

Depends very much on what you want to do with it and how the vehicle is set up

 

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On 4/22/2024 at 6:55 AM, miketomcat said:

20170414_155610.thumb.jpg.c1e18090c78ca7bcbc3596bda905c6bc.jpg

Old photo but 255/85x16 on our 110. Personally these are perfect, they look great, add a little height, fit stock suspension just and raise the gearing a little so it cruises better.

Mike

That's a nice looking wagon fella, I've been toying with the same size tyre, just curious what ratio transfer box are you running 

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6 hours ago, stevebus said:

That's a nice looking wagon fella, I've been toying with the same size tyre, just curious what ratio transfer box are you running 

Disco 200tdi, defender lt77 and 1.4 lt230 on 255/85x16.

My ibex is disco 200tdi, disco lt77 and 1.4 lt230 on 33/12.50x15.

Oddly the ibex is quicker off the mark but cruise's at 70, the 110 feels slightly taller geared but feels like it's screaming over 65 compared with the ibex but will happily exceed the speed limit. It can only be down to differing ratios between disco and defender gearboxes, the tyres are near enough the same size (110's possibly slightly taller).

Either way it's what I consider the perfect ratio, tall enough to cruise but low enough to tow. A little more power would be nice but it works really well.

Mike

Edited by miketomcat
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Thanks for getting back, that's my 110 at the moment, a disco 200, defender lt77 and a 1:4 230 so it's good to hear it works, I get a bit lost in all these ratios and just wanted to be clear before I spend a thousand quid plus to find it doesn't work, all the best Steve 

Edited by stevebus
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11 minutes ago, stevebus said:

Thanks for getting back, that's my 110 at the moment, a disco 200, defender lt77 and a 1:4 230 so it's good to hear it works, I get a bit lost in all these ratios and just wanted to be clear before I spend a thousand quid plus to find it doesn't work, all the best Steve 

It definitely works and it's not as tall as fitting a 1.2 lt230. I find the 1.2 puts all the gears in the wrong place and is too tall to tow with. 33's on a 1.4 I find spot on, your never going to win a drag race but that was unlikely anyway. :hysterical: I know TSD runs the same in his ibex but with an r380 and 2.8tgv which is lovely just that little more power I was talking about, but his lwb will be r380 and 300tdi both on 33's.

Mike

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I actually borrowed a mates set for about an hour and it did seem to work well but I couldn't put it through every scenario I wanted to, it would be a bit of a cheek to ask to use them for a week or so, plus @vulcan bomber gave me a set of 33s back at Xmas time but only 4, I know your going to say I only need 4 but knowing my luck I'll get a puncture and be stuck on the side of the road for god knows how long getting it repaired, like I say thanks again I appreciate the information, all the best Steve 

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