tyre tread pattern for trialling

[nicks90]

its come time for me to ditch the greenway macho mud terrains on my 90 for a new set of tyres. The tyres are getting a bit long in the tooth and crazing on the sidewalls etc...

So the big decision is what to get for a bit of trialling!

now the obvious choice would be to get a set of simex-alike remoulds, as that seems to be the fashion nowadays. But i dont like fashion.

I've competed against chaps with simex-alikes for a couple of years now and i know they do grip better in certain conditions, but they;re also worse in others. Plus they are APPALLING on the road. I do a little bit of mileage on tarmac and often have my little girl in the 90 as well. So simex alikes really are a bit no-no for me.

So ignoring the current trend for the above - it leaves me with a bit of a quandry.

I like my old machos, they are a good all round safe tyre. Plus there are some good deals out there on insa saharas / fedima extreme versions now that greenway have gone bust. I got good miles out of the macho and they handled well on and off road and were moderately quiet.

But i've always fancied a set of diamond pattern tyres, just that little bit more aggressive but not as stupid as the simex-alikes. Is it me or have these really fallen out of fashion nowadays - how come? The only diamond pattern in 235/85 i could find is the fedima maxigrip. Bronco have gone (i believe) so no grizzly claws anymore, and i have heard some proper horror stories about bronco to put me off! I dont suppose anyone has used the fedima maxi and can tell me what they;re like on / off road and wear rates?

Only other type of tyre that sort of sits in my price range is the BFG clones. I dont rate that tread pattern. I know, I know... i just dont fancy them. I had real bfgs before and i was extremely dissapointed.

Really am on a bit of a budget, so £80/90 a corner is pretty the limit. Can anyone recommend something i havent considered above or give me any advice?

cheers

Nick

[M&S]

If you were happy with the Macho tread then these would seem to be a good option for your price range: http://www.tyremonkey.co.uk/2358516XBUINSAHN.html

[optixelectrics]

What about some grabber AT2's? I have them on my Disco S1, and find them fairy sticky on road, and not too sad off road either. They are probably as off road as I could get away with, without losing the on road drivability. I got a set of 4 off fleabay for £320 delivered.

[Disco-Ron]

I use 235-85 insa turbo sahara's on my trials truck, alrc legal, wear pretty well, as you say, quiet and decent on road characteristics.... and there's a guy on ebay doing 4 delivered for 280!

[Henry Webster]

I think the diamonds are out of fashion because the racing scene who used them most have moved on, partly through fashion, but mainly through regulation. The AWDC and BCCC have ruled these tyres out and I believe that NORC are not far behind. You must still be able to get them, though.

I like the look of the new BFG muds, but haven't yet tried them yet. I think you'll struggle to get them in your budget, though.

[Bowie69]

I may be wrong, but aren't the diamonds illegal on the road?

Insa Turbo Sahara's are a very grippy tyre, a mate has them on his truck and they are only marginally less grippy than the Simex ET patterned remoulds, and not bad to drive on the road at all, I would really recommend them.

[nicks90]

looks like i'll be going for another set of macho/sahara/fedima wotsits then. I;ve had mine for a while and i get on with them - so seems sensible to buy another set. Plus they are cheap and i've already put that set from ebay in my watchlist. £280 is a good price!

i dont know, there's always that little voice in the back of my mind that keeps saying "try something different!" that puts doubt on the sensible tried and tested option.

I just know that when i start pressing 'buy it now' i'll dither over a set of ET remoulds or something stupid like the recip 3G.......

one last question, are fedimas remoulds? cos they do a sahara type tyre called the fedima extreme evo with funky side biters. Wondering if they're worth the extra £40 for a set of 4 for new new new tyres rather than remoulds.

cheers

Nick

[Bowie69]

I think that pattern are remoulds, yes.

[Henry Webster]

Fedimas are remoulds yes, and most diamonds are legal on the road.

There is a first life casing for that pattern, the original Yokohama Geolander MT. I believe this is only available as 235/80/16 or bigger, though.

[nicks90]

well, i've stumped up the readies and bought some of the fedima evos pictured above.

they were only £8 per tyre more expensive than the insas version and i like the side biters on them. No idea if they will actually make any real difference, but for once i actually pandered to the looks rather than just the function.

for those who know me, looks and fashionable 'bits' have NEVER appealed to me before, so this is a real break from my ethical standpoint of being as unfashionable as possible.

[Disco-Ron]

it'll be interesting to see what you actually ghet, cos these http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/x4-235-85R16-FEDIMA-EXTREME-4x4-OFF-ROAD-MUD-TYRES-/280548409611?pt=UK_Cars_Tyres_RL&hash=item4151fd010b don;t have the side lugs!

Ahhhhhhhhh. the above ones aren't the EVO!