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Insa Turbo Traction Track


M&S

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Hi all,

Am finally getting rid of the road tyres and fitting something chunkier B)

I've got a really good price locally for some Insa Turbo Traction Track. I'm happy that I can buy them locally, and having phoned around there's just nothing in stock at mostr of the usual advertisers :(

Anyway, just wanted to hear some opinions on these as apparantly:

"One of the best loved tyre patterns ever made for Land Rovers is now back with the new Insa Turbo Traction Track. "

"This superb all purpose dual pattern provides a central area of closer spaced tread blocks for low noise, stability and wet weather grip on tarmac along with a more open aggressive outer edge tread and shoulder lugs to give bite and grip in tough off-road conditions. "

traction%20track.gif

So, even if you haven't used the Insa Turbos you may have had a similar pattern in the past?

Also, which "legendary tyre" do they resemble?

They sound realy good, a bit more aggressive than some of teh so called AT's out there, but not a mud or extreme tyre? Keeping in mind some of the places I've been in the vehicle with nearly bald road tyres on I think that they should suit the D2 for laning, pay and play, and of course, the motorways?

Cheers, Martin.

PS - I'm not after any other recommendations for tyres, thanks. I've spent loads of time reading up on them, doing searches etc as well as actually checking sizes, price and availability :wacko: No more options please! (unless the comments about these come back as complete rubbish :ph34r: )

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Looks a bit like a BFG Trac-edge?

Yes, yes they do :i-m_so_happy: Nice one, thanks for the quick reply.

The BFG Trac-edge got some great reviews I seem to remember, but are not available anymore? I know these won't have the same wear rate, but at half the price I can afford to change them twice as often. And to be honest I more likely to rip a hole in the sidewall before they reach 50k+ miles :ph34r:

Looking like a good choice then I think :P

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Trac Edge as Mark said. Never really liked them but for no apparent reason (I've never even driven anything with them on) - I guess they are neither fish nor fowl, so depending on how you think they are either the best of both worlds or slightly mediocre at everything :)

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I used to have trac-edges on my 90. Great DD tyre and will go anywhere anytime. Ok in the wet they are not as good as some road biased tyres on tarmac, but they are a very good everyday tyre. Personally preferred them to BFG A/T's.

Don't know how the remould will fair, but it should be ok. If I was looking for an AT I'd probably go for it.

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Yep, Trac-Edges.. I had the original BFG version on my old 110... they were ok, but not brilliant either on road or in deep mud.. I didn't find them any better than any other decent A/T, and certainly not as good as my current AT2s...

I've also has Insa Turbo Tyres (Saharas) on my current Disco, well made for a remould and seemed to wear well, but we could never get them perfectly balanced, and they did hum a bit on the motorway..

I'd say if they fit what you want then go for it, but I'd rather have my current tyres.

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Well I've got a set on order so they should be here and fitted tomorrow.

I think they will be the compromise that I am looking for.

I've found it's not a case of seeing a tyre and thinking "I'll have that one" :huh:

I ended up finding all of the tyres avaiulable in the size I wanted, then working through that list looking at the tread patterns etc. Then finally deciding on a copule, ringing around for prices, finding they are too expensive or unavailable right now, so moving on to the next one! It came down to a choice of two really, the Insa Turbo Ranger (BFG AT copy) or this one. I'll happily report (good or bad) my thoughts as I add some miles to them :unsure:

Cheers, Martin

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I had a set of BFG Trac-edges on my Ninety - I really rated them as an all-rounder. I was driving mostly motorway miles but there was something in reserve to get you out of the gloop, and they were as quiet as road tyres. The original BFG rubber was very hard-wearing too, not so sure about remould though. I went all round Europe on mine in fact.

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Cool. Just got them fitted to the disco now. No time for a test drive, will have to do that tomorrow. But they look good and we think that the steel wheels look good as well.

Do you think I'll be able to change my steering stops now? I've come down from a 255 to a 235? Might get a bit better turning circle?

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Don't forget that more lock means more stress on the CV joints - exponentially so. I doubt a couple of degrees will blow your car apart but worth remembering that, on the limit, winding the stops in will move that threshold slightly closer to spannertime.

Cheers mate, will leave alone then :huh: The turning circle is pretty good anyway. Well, better than my LDV van was :lol:

Oh, and you forgot to say how much better suited the wheels and tyres are to the busted front bumper and scratched paintwork :P

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i had BFG tracedges on my td5 90, they did 70k miles, then fitted another set which currently have 37k on them and still going strong, even changed them onto the 110 when the 90 was sold and sold the 90 with the new General TR tyres.

I finid the trac edge (BFG ones) not used the insas excellent for mix of on and off road with obvious compromise on both but excellent alreound. far better than the AT2 and BFG AT i have used in the past.

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I hope you have a better experience with them than I have. I ordered up a pair to replace two Trac Edge while I ran out the other three of the set. Vehicle is a 300Tdi 110 CSW which I have driven for over 200K miles on Trac Edge.

Firstly, the 235/85 looked more like a 7.50 width. The tread pattern was close but wasn't as shown in the adverts (a Trac Edge lookalike).

The real problems have been with the road manners - basically appalling! On the rear they made the vehicle very tail happy and on the front the vehicle drifts all over the shop. I have tried adjusting tyre pressures and even rebushed the suspension to no avail. There was a step change on first fitting them.

I can find no way to endorse these tyres. There are cheaper tyres for off road use and they are unsuited to road use. I ordered them in on the strength of the manufacturer and the advertised tread, so have no beef with my local tyre place.

Roll on the end of March and I can justify fitting five new AT2s.

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Well the first test drive isn't great - these things are noisy! What a whine! Handling wise they feel fine, no complaints there, but the whine from 30mph onwards :angry: I expected a bit of noise but even the radio doesn't cover it up.

Will it get any better with a few miles on them? Or do I take 'em back now?

As I say, handling wise no problems, they feel pretty good.

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I picked a friend up and went for a proper drive. He runs the Insa Turbo Special Tracks. Anyway, after a while of general chat I said

"so don't you think that they are a bit loud then"

"what? oh, your new tyres, hang on, I hadn't noticed" :huh: "no, they sound alright, you should have heared my bog monsters, etc, etc..."

Some banter later (mostly aimed at me and how fussy I was) we took a detour down a lane. It is muddy and ends at a field which then becomes private and there is a muddy, rutted turning circle at the bottom (heavily used by tractors which have make a right mess of it on a day to day basis). Low third, lock on, clutch out and around it turned without so much of a flicker of the traction control light :D:P

"Look at you, grinning away?"

"Honestly mate, you have no idea, I've never been able to drive out of a rut before, not even with the BFG AT's on the Freelander"

"Eh?"

"You have no idea how much work was involved keeping the disco (when on the balding road tyres) in a straight line on mud or grass, never mind trying to steer in a direction that I want to go. Driving out of ruts, never done that before"

And I used to think that we did pretty well before :ph34r:

So, are they noisy? Yes. Are they REALLY noisy? Apparantly not. Can they be forgiven a bit of noise for their off road ability? If they carry on like that, YES :D

Time to turn the radio up a bit :D B)

I've come from low profile road tyres to these. I knew (and hoped) there would be some changes apart from the off road ability. The deeper sidewalls make for a more comfortable ride and we sort of bounce rather than thump. The steering is lighter and actually doesn't wander over white lines like it used to. The handling is just fine, I haven't tried them in the wet yet, but around my usual route I drove a bit harder than I normally would to test them and they didn't twitch at all. No worries there then.

Looking forward to giving them a full and proper review after a month or two's driving, by which time I won't notice the noise anymore :lol:

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you'll soon ignore the noise they make,

going from almost bald road patterns to anything with voids the width of your finger or more - and you will get and notice road noise.

How big the voids are, how hard the rubber compound is and how good the sound insulation on the motor is will determine how intrusive the noise gets.

these arent exactly an aggressive tread pattern, so it wont be that bad in a disco. You should try simex on a milly 90!!! hahahahaha

Have to say - your disco looks ace with them on!

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And today I found out why I'm happy to put up with a bit of road noise... :P

I've posted this elsewhere but thought it made a decent tyre review :ph34r:

I'm still grinning. It was great. Guess I should tell the story...

We went to watch a trial run by a local club at a quarry. They were really friendly and we both found ourselves having a ride around a section. Before they pulled the flags in they asked if the Disco was gonna give it a go...I wasn't sure but agreed to give it a go if on of the marshalls sat in the passenger seat He agreed and so I was commited.

I must admit, I thought we'd loose the front bumper completely and wouldn't make it over the ramp-over, and as for turning between two ramp overs on a side slope But the thing I was most worried about was getting through the flags. Apparantly they are 8ft apart...but they didn't seem it from where I was sitting.

Anyway, 1st low, through the first gate and down the hill. Smooth, controlled. Plenty of grip from the new tyres and I could even steer towards the next gate. At the bottom I had to turn left through another gate and then left again for the ramp-over where we'd seen a few struggle with cross axling. I used one of my "bumps" here, we are allowed two as it's over 90". Line up foir the ramp-over, turn upo it, steady, floor it, and, and, and over it went. Easy, no problems. Some may say we cheated as the two wheels off the ground only spun once before stopping and over we went Through the next gate, and this was the tight one, turning on a side slope and having to floor it back up and over the next ramp-over. Yes, it's going, we're through, straighten up quickly. Crack The back end snapped the cane.

It was great to give it a go, and I realise just how tight those gates are!

I don't think there are many clubs that would take the time to let us give it a go just because we turned up. But we had a good laugh and it made a change to do some challenging/technical driving rather than greenlaning.

Oh, and the tyres... The Disco is a different vehicle. Seriously. Forget lifts, forget winches, forget remaps, forget everything, the first thing you should do with any Landy on road tyres is get it a new set of boots! We were always impressed with the vehicle, never afraid to give it a go. But now everything has fallen into place, I can drive the vehicle in a controlled, sure footed way. I can steer instead of sliding! And the TC light only ever came on when in a cross-axled situation. Just like when you might engage difflock. Superb The engine can work in it's torque range now instead of reving for the TC. It can climb hills, boy can it climb hills! And if it can't, I can stop, select reverse and drive back out (unlike previously where I'd slide backwards whilst still in a forward gear!)

You can probably tell I'm rather excited and rather pleased New tyres ROCK, and the D2 is a seriously capable off road vehicle.

Oh, I said something about a tyre review...erm, well on the road they do squirm a bit under heavy braking, down hill, when going into a corner. But they don't actually skid. They just seem to lean a bit. Driven like a land rover, or driven like my father would drive the tyres are fine on the road. If you want to corner at silly speeds and fly up motorway slip roads doing 90mph before hitting the brakes at the roundabout, then you probably don't want these tyres. You probably don't want a Landy either ;)

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ah its a slippy slope martin, before you know it you'll be looking at secondhand trials motors and trying to justify the cost of buying one then leaving it on the drive. then steph will be wanting a go too....... :lol:

It's too late. We are looking at a 200tdi disco later :ph34r: The problem is it's mint, FSH, one owner (since 1992!!). It would be a shame to trial it really. This clubs season has finished until September though, so maybe Steph can run it as here car until then. She said "we'll keep that as the car and use yours for off roading" :ph34r:

:P

Not sure. Discos are cheap, 90's might be a bit tougher, suzukis are even cheaper (but not a Landy so...). Who knows, I have time to think about it. There was a 110 county station wagon (A reg) that looked standard, even down to the balding tyres. The driver did really well with it, one of the better ones in my opinion. Guess it goes to show how it's the driver and not the vehicle ;)

We are on the hunt. Want something standard(ish) though. Oh, and somewhere to park it :blink::(

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It's too late. We are looking at a 200tdi disco later :ph34r: The problem is it's mint, FSH, one owner (since 1992!!). It would be a shame to trial it really. This clubs season has finished until September though, so maybe Steph can run it as here car until then. She said "we'll keep that as the car and use yours for off roading" :ph34r:

:P

Not sure. Discos are cheap, 90's might be a bit tougher, suzukis are even cheaper (but not a Landy so...). Who knows, I have time to think about it. There was a 110 county station wagon (A reg) that looked standard, even down to the balding tyres. The driver did really well with it, one of the better ones in my opinion. Guess it goes to show how it's the driver and not the vehicle ;)

We are on the hunt. Want something standard(ish) though. Oh, and somewhere to park it :blink::(

Disco's are great fun but for trialling they have limits. If there are other Disco's/RR's its not so bad, but if the club is mostly 90's, 88's and other small vehicles you'll have to accept that you probably won't be challenging for top spot very often.

Its when you get a lot of trees that you'll really start and notice the size. Mine has damage on both front wings and a huge dent in the side (behind drivers door, its a 3 door). A 90 probably would have suffer no damage at all but only due to being smaller.

A 110 I think you'd fine similar issue and turning circle. It'd still be a real hoot and a lot of fun though.

If its just for trialling a SIII 88 is hard to beat for all out fun and ability. But then you will also lack the power, articulation and many other attributes found on the Disco.

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  • 4 months later...
i had BFG tracedges on my td5 90, they did 70k miles, then fitted another set which currently have 37k on them and still going strong, even changed them onto the 110 when the 90 was sold and sold the 90 with the new General TR tyres.

I finid the trac edge (BFG ones) not used the insas excellent for mix of on and off road with obvious compromise on both but excellent alreound. far better than the AT2 and BFG AT i have used in the past.

My 110 TD5 Dual Cab has a set of Trac Edges. They've done 85k miles on three different Defenders, but will have to be replaced soon as they're down to 4mm tread. They're still okay on the road but are starting to struggle in muddy, cultivated fields.

I've found them good on dry roads, acceptable on wet, good in the mud, and very good in snow and on nice. I'm a crofter so my Defenders have all worked hard in all sorts of conditions, carrying and towing heavy loads. With the Trac Edges on, I've hauled a livestock trailer with 20 sheep on board up a steep, winding hill road that had knee-deep snow over ice. Not a slip or a slither the whole way up. I've also hauled 500-750kg loads of field stone across ploughed fields.

Yes, M/Ts have the edge in deep, claggy mud and A/Ts have the edge on wet roads, but as a long-lasting, genuine all-rounder the Trac Edges were the best for my purposes.

The Insa versions will hopefully have much, if not all, of the traction of the Trac Edges, but I seriously doubt if they can match the longevity.

My second favourite was the BFG Commercial T/A Traction, but again that's no longer available. It was almost as long-lived as the Trac Edge, equally good on snow and ice and better on the road. But it wasn't as good in the mud.

Now, I'm trying to decide what to go for next. I know someone with Cooper Discoverer S/Ts and they seem fairly good.

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