Best Winter tyres for a D2 -and what size??

[disco_al]

My bro is after some better tyres for the winter for his D2. At the moment he has the standard fit alloys (IIRC 17" or possibly 18") on his 04 plate td5. Now am i right in thinking that he can go for a set of 16" steels (or alloys) and fit a set of good winter tyres in a higher profile?

this is all new to me, as my 300 was easy to sort out.

[BogMonster]

The standard alloys would be 16", 18" were always an extra cost option at least on ROW vehicles. There are no 17s on a D2 so the factory tyre options were either:

235/70R16 on 7x16 alloys

255/65R16 on 8x16 alloys

255/55R18 on 8x18 alloys

I have on mine the 7x16 Tempest alloys it came with and fitted slightly oversize 255/70R16 BFG AT's. When I eventually replace them, it'll be getting a set of Grabber AT2s if available, as I've used both tyres in snow and ice conditions and both are excellent though some say the AT2s harden up towards the end of their life. Tyres here wear out so quickly (20k miles on our roads maybe 25k if you are lucky) it's not really an issue.

Whichever wheels he has you could get AT2s as they are available in all the above sizes.

[disco_al]

excellent, cheers.

[BogMonster]

Probably worth mentioning that all the 18in tyres give a much harder ride and I find they tramline on ruts in the road as well. My D2 is the most comfortable one I have ever driven, the bit of extra height and width really improves the ride (plus I run my tyres a bit soft due to the low road speeds here) and it looks better on the slightly oversized tyres as well

[M&S]

16" alloys are cheaply available on ebay and such like.

I stepped down from 255/55 18" to 235/70 16" and agree the ride is much better.

Standard fitments are listed in the user manual so not really difficult to sort out

Personally I think a narrow tyre is better for road going snow.

[plasticbadger]

As others have said the 16" wheels will give better ride, compliance, motorway handling etc.

In terms of the best size, the standard 235/70/16 are fine for all road based and light off road duties. The 255/70/16s on mine give a usefull bit of extra clearance on proper offroad terrain, but it suffers from being over geared when laden or towing.

Tyres wise, it depends on what kind of 'winter' you're going to experience. I have General Grabber AT2s on mine and in the snow and ice earlier this year they were awesome, everything from black ice to 9" deep snow was easy work. They're not as good in wet and slippy conditions as the standard fitment Michelins were, but the Michelins were hopeless in snow.

[BogMonster]

Tyres wise, it depends on what kind of 'winter' you're going to experience. I have General Grabber AT2s on mine and in the snow and ice earlier this year they were awesome, everything from black ice to 9" deep snow was easy work. They're not as good in wet and slippy conditions as the standard fitment Michelins were, but the Michelins were hopeless in snow.

OK so this shot is of the 110 (I had to move to using the Defender as the Ranger ran out of ground clearance in the drifts...) but I can vouch for AT2s being excellent on my Ranger in this sort of winter we ran in and out of town in it every day in conditions ranging from glassy butt-kissing black ice to white-out blizzards with 10 yards visibility and I only had to give up for a few days in the middle because the car couldn't get through the drifts - the tyres were never a problem except for being not tall enough

[maxtherotti]

+1 for the AT2,s

had them on my disco in the snow early this year and utterly fantastic they were too

and on my rangie before that

and will be on this range rover when the coopers wear down

[pinhead]

Another plus for at2s had some put on on Friday and been playing in snow on north yorks moors today and they were fantastic loads of grip down hill too when sliding (or not

) on packed snow

[MartinK]

Another vote for AT2's.

I have had 3 sets of tyres on my 2002 TD5 Disco since new:

0 - 70,000 miles - original Michelin 4x4 - good on-road, not so good elsewhere.

70,000 miles to 150,000 miles - BFG AT's. They were still in good nick after 80,000 miles, but I had the wheels re-painted and sold the AT's for £20 second hand!

150,000 miles to 172000 miles (now) Grabber AT2's

I rotate the tyres annually to even-up the wear, use 30psi front, 40psi rear for on-road.

IMHO the BFGAT's were slightly better on-road. Not much to differenciate off-road. I think the BFGAT's will last slightly better than the AT2's (the AT2's are showing signs of wear after 22000 miles - but still less that 30% worn).

However the AT2's are (were for me!) a good bit cheaper, so my suggestion would be go for BFGAT if the price is same/similar, but if the AT2's are cheaper then there's no significant down-side - save the cash, you won't be disappointed...

[M&S]

Well, I'm in my second winter with them now and I can honestly say that my 235/70 R16 Insa Turbo Traction Tracks are superb in the snow, I can't fault them at all, not a bit.

I just wish they weren't so noisy the rest of the year