Winter Tyres

[pinhead]

Yes I know another wheel and tyre thread but I have read through many posts and not got any answers

I have a d2 v8 on l322 20" alloys and I want a different set of Tyres probably on standard rims for winter use and pay and play days

The truck is not lifted and I don't want to lift or cut the body so I think I want fairly standard sizes

Snow performance and not too much worse on the juice are the first priorities then pay and play day performance second as I won't be doing too many

Will mud terrains be better than all terrains in snow or not I have had conflicting opinions on this

Opinions please

[M&S]

Insa Turbo Traction Track

SUPERB winter tyre in snow and slush, and do better than an AT when off road. In fact drop them to 20-25psi and you'll be mighty impressed with the grip you get off road. I use them all of the time, on road, off road, club trials, etc. The only downside with them is the noise on tarmac - they whine.

In the snow they are excellent!

I wouldn't recommend them to everyone for everything (no tyre is that good) but from what you have said you require I really don't think you'll be disappointed.

http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?plid=m64b1634s229p59596&rs=gb

[pinhead]

Thanks for that have had a look at those and they look like the old trac edge tyre you can't get now

Not sure if I fancy remoulds though

[axlechorus]

Traction Trac are indeed a remould of the Trac edge which I still run as a day tyre on my disco and sometimes off road in the summer. They are a very solid tyre and the remould traction trac I have on the back as a spare does look good though I have never used it.

Moving away from remoulds it becomes a question of the BFG All Terrain or the General Grabber AT2 which are both very competant All Terrain tyres though you do pay for it. To answer your question about MT or AT on snow an AT is normally better for snow and espically slush and ice due to its greater surface print.

Size wise the largest I know will work on a D2 as stock is 245/75 R16 and which gives around 1 inch more under the diffs and fills out the arches nicely. I was out with D2 using that size KL71 muds and it worked very well on a weekend in Wales (May 09) although the sidewalls on the KL71 are relatively soft compared to others.

Ultimately I would chose your size and see what tyres you can get for the money. Your car is never going to go everywhere in Stock. So saving a few £ on some tyres may allow you to purchase a steering guard or solid recovery points that will serve you much better in the long run, compared to the extra money on a set of boots.

All the Best

Ryck

[pinhead]

Thanks for that ryck

I have phoned my mate who works at a tyre place and they have 4 235 70 16 general at2 there wholesaler is showing no more stock so I have got my name on them £74 each plus the vat didn't think that was bad ok so they are no taller than stock but should work fine for us I hope

ordered some winter Tyres for the van while I was on going to be a dear weekend

Now I hear what you are saying about recovery points and it is on my list I will start a new thread for recommendations on those some time soon

I am on with making the cdl work at the moment and I am not sure weather to make my own or blow my brains out on the ashcrofts one it seems a lot of money for a correct looking interior on an 11 yer old car

Andy

[Range Rover Blues]

BFG A/T are one of the best tyres I've come across on snowy roads. Ok not as agressive as a mud tyre in the deep brown but you are looking for a compramise here.

Good wear characteristics, low rolling resistance and noise, good for towing, great in snow and deep water, less damaging to lanes.

Conversley I've found M/Ts don't offer the same grip on wet tarmac.

[Phil B]

For fresh virgin snow drifts big wide Tyres

But

Ideally a set of 235's would be the best idea for compacted ****e n snow n stuff also good fun in mud just get a suitable offset on the rim to compensate for width, if you wanna go up a size get 265's I'm quite happy with my insa turbo Dakars good cleaning of lug and excellent grip with a reasonably unnoticeable roadnoise

[widget]

I've just put a set of all terrain tyres onto my D3. Although I'm not in the same vehicle as you, perhaps if I explain my thinking it may help yours?

The stock tyres are 255/55 R19s (see pic). For green laning I wanted a deeper profile of rubber, to mould around rocks and allow emergency airing down. My secondary requirement was for a winter tyre - i.e. one which is siped, works well under 7 degrees centigrade and is rated with the snowflake symbol. Third requirement was price - about £700 fitted.

I've been driving Defenders for a few years and have indulged in an expensive tyre habit; running BFG Muds, MFG ATs, and General Grabber TRs. In winter the ATs were vastly superior in the cold, wet and light snow than MTs. Only in deep snow off road did the MTs work any better, noting that they were unsuitable in most other winter conditions. For green laning I reckon I can do 95% of UK lanes on ATs with no modification to driving style. The other benefit of ATs is approx 7% better fuel economy (comparing same size BFGs on my V8 Defender auto) and lower tyre noise. I don't do pay and play.

So I looked for an AT style at sensible cost. The latest AT from GG is available in the 19" and 18", but not 17" yet. I don't know how it performs but GG rate it the same off road and superior on road to the AT2. 4x 19" would have used the entire budget of £700.

I decided to buy a set of 5x 17" rims for off road and winter use. These are incredibly cheap on ebay as many D3 owners want to upgrade to bigger rims. I got 4x 17" from a LR dealer (Harwoods Tonbridge) on ebay for £100. I also picked up a lone rim for £20 on ebay. These rims will also fit a Discovery 2.

So the choice was BFG ATs or GG AT2s. BFGs are longer lasting and have a superior tyre wall and load rating compared with the GG AT2s. The AT2s are a more suitable size for the D3, are adequately speed rated (BFGs aren't) and £40 less expensive each. Both are Snowflake symbol'd.

A couple of weeks ago I tootled off to Micheldever tyres and had 5x 265/65 R17 General Grabber AT2s onto my D3. Total cost was £580 for the 5, fitted and balanced etc. Including the rims I hit the £700 budget exactly.

The winter ATs will stay on until March when the mean temperatures rise. Then will be swapped for the road biased Pirelli Scorpions for on road use until November next year. Then swapped for laning as required, not that I do much in the summer anyway.