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Firestone SAT's


ibexman

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Guest diesel_jim

Yeah, i used to run them all the time. My friends and I in Bristol would try and buy them in bulk. it was great if we could get the slightly taller and harder 8 ply ones instead of the 6 ply.

Then the super mud plugga remould came out, these lasted about 10 minutes they were that soft!

both types were fun in the wet though, i remember many a weekend us racing back, "whacky races" style from the George Borrow hotel or Brecon back down south.

/tear in my eye/ great memories!!!

Just imagine if you could appear, 10 or 12 years ago, with a set of 35" simex's.... heh heh!

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Yes I had numerous sets of them. Couldn't hear the engine over 40mph (and I had a Perkins 4.236 at the time), couldn't go round a wet roundabout at more than 15 mph, only lasted 15 000 miles but they did grip. I liked the fact that they were directional too - it appealed to the forward or die mentality. Has anyone done any comparisons against (say) BFG Mud Terrains for grip?

Gus

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I had some great laning days and all round off roading on SAT's , bit scarey inthe wet on road ????? any one else

Hi IbexMan.

I do remember, it was the first hardcore off road tyre I ever bought, and it was good to by the standars at that time, having tried later designs i have found that the thread was very very good but the carcass was way to hard it did not give the thread a fair chance.

And if they where scarey in the wet they were frightning on ice

Kind regards

Ole.

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I had some great laning days and all round off roading on SAT's , bit scarey inthe wet on road ????? any one else

Those were the best offrroading days of my life ( mid to late 80's :lol::lol: ) As above it brings a tear to the eye...

My memories are enormous of these tyres as I ran them on everything but a handfull of the distinct anecdotal tales of SAT's are:

Opening some up with a tyre cutter to make directional knobblies - superb offroad but only lasted a few hours on the road!!

Follwing my mate in a V8 90 at about 80mph on a hot motorway in the south of France and commenting that the tyres were lasting well just as the screen got showered in moulten rubbe :lol:

Trying the fronts running in the wrong direction to add stability when braking into a muddy corner only to find it worked but took all the predictable carp handling away and adding an air of mystery as to when they would break free :ph34r:

Superb tyres! The Super Mud Plugga was almost as good offroad in fairness but was woeful on the road

Oh, halcian days

David

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I too have many memories of SATs, most of them scary!

I used to navigate on the Hillrally championship with Mike Bruce in Nessie the Series 1. We always used to run SATs long after everyone else had moved on to radial diamonds. They gave us a real advantage in the very soft stages as the extra couple of inches the 7.50s had over the 205s made all the difference. They were horrible on the road though, and I must admit to being more scared sometimes on the road sections than I was on the stages.

In the end I bought our way into radial safety by getting Michael a set of Colway Diamonds. Road sections were much safer.

H

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Ahh ! memories flooding back , SAT`s were the Duan Waun of tyres back then , If you had a set of these you were the kiddie .

I spent many a Sunday up and down the Fosseway in my S3 with a set of these on they were the best thing since the town and country pattern .

7.50x 16 BTW

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Still using a set here.

post-1119-1185827282_thumb.jpg

And on the Series 1 V8 as per Jules great for drifting around roundabouts :D

Once entered a Farnborough petrol station completely sideways and drifted up to the pump. As I stopped I saw the attendants face, mouth agape in shock :unsure:

Trouble is if I follow a Simex off road I will get stuck :(

guess they have had thier day

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My experiences with SAT's were nothing but positive. As an older generation offroader brought up on bar grips, SAT's were a huge improvement in offroad and on road traction.Their wet road handling were no worse than Simex ET's or TSL Swampers The carcass was extremely durable for airing down, even as low as 2 psi on rocky surfaces.

One snowy, sleety night in the mountains I drove 4 miles home on a rutted rocky track with a dead flat tyre after incurring a puncture. The next day after hosing all the mud and carp from the inside of the tyre I could not detect any damage or delamination whatsoever and after fitting a new tube that became my spare. Apparently they can still be bought from Firestone New Zealand, who still have the mould at a minimum order of 30 tyres. I would run SAT's today if they made them in 9.00x16 or larger sizes.

bill.

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My experiences with SAT's were nothing but positive. As an older generation offroader brought up on bar grips, SAT's were a huge improvement in offroad and on road traction.Their wet road handling were no worse than Simex ET's or TSL Swampers The carcass was extremely durable for airing down, even as low as 2 psi on rocky surfaces.

One snowy, sleety night in the mountains I drove 4 miles home on a rutted rocky track with a dead flat tyre after incurring a puncture. The next day after hosing all the mud and carp from the inside of the tyre I could not detect any damage or delamination whatsoever and after fitting a new tube that became my spare. Apparently they can still be bought from Firestone New Zealand, who still have the mould at a minimum order of 30 tyres. I would run SAT's today if they made them in 9.00x16 or larger sizes.

bill.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm

SATS

Had a set on my old 2dr bobtail RR mit 5.7 chevy and 3 speed auto.

I still remember going through a hedge backwards on a bend in the wet :huh:

Was the best off road tyre in the late 90s if not a tad "FMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMME" in the wet :lol:

Nige

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I joined the offroad scene in 1996/97 ish and everyone had SATs or Pluggas. When I got a set of crossply SAGs I thought I was the boy since they were fractionally taller and otherwise just as good in the mud. On the road in the wet, they made the SATs look like proper road tyres by comparison though...

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Guest diesel_jim
. I would run SAT's today if they made them in 9.00x16 or larger sizes.

bill.

Years back i remember in the UK "4x4 magazine", which occasionally had a COLOUR picture in it, there was a pic of some old russian staff car and that had 9.00x16 SATs on it,

i remember searching for weeks trying to track some down, to no avail :o:o

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7.50 SAT's changed offroading sooo much when they came out...before them it was dunlop trak-grips (showing me veteran status now :lol: ) or t & c's..Alliance did do a nice non directional too. My V8 SIIA was great for smoky burnouts n drifting on roundabouts too.....another thing of that era .....no one had diff locks & only a few of us had winchs , those that did were nearly all mech or hydro . I did find some 10.50 - 18 SAT pattern tyres back then but they were non highway spec. Back in '89 I think a mate & I entered the arc nat winch event , each with V8 90's on SAT's , mine with a ramsey offroader leccy winch & simons with a series hydro winch . No-one else entered had coils or SAT's ......we found ourselves able to drive the whole section to the end, turn round and drive all the way out again.....it was a win but didn't feel much like it as we did no winching :D . BFG MT's arrived in the UK in the early 90's & the rest is a nice shade of sepia........

halogen days indeed

Steveb :P

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You were flash even then eh ?

Sealed beams for most of us,

....and we were happy,

....got up at 4.30am went down pit......... :P

Nige

hehe KC daylighters too....the SAT's had a down side too , when you did get stuck it was a lot further in than anyone on T&C's ....same as now with portals n 40" boggers I suppose

Cheers

Steveb

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hehe KC daylighters too....the SAT's had a down side too , when you did get stuck it was a lot further in than anyone on T&C's ....same as now with portals n 40" boggers I suppose

Cheers

Steveb

only ever had SAG's (non directional) still scarey in the wet

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Sadly missed, I had them on my S3 for a while before going to Colways.

As a few have said above a 9.00x16 SAT would be a great tyre to have even now. I think my memories may be a bit rose tinted though and BFGs are probably a good ten times better all round ;)

Will :)

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Guest diesel_jim
only ever had SAG's (non directional) still scarey in the wet

I liked SAG's, nice and tall too, and i reckon they grip nearly as well as SAT's

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The mud-plugga was the far better tyre for trials as the side walls were softer , I had my first set 20 years ago on a 2 door bobtail R/R

I think they were made in Wales and by memory brought back just a few years ago ??

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