Tyre quiz

[Turbocharger]

I've decided I'm in the market for a set of tyres. I shouldn't and can't really afford it but my 235/85 Trac Edges are getting past their best, the 285/75 Grizzlys are too noisy and anyway I can't sensibly run two sets of tyres any more since I got a new smaller flat.

I need one set of tyres to do motorway miles, daily commuting (30 miles) and still be good offroad. They should be taller than 235/85s but don't need to be as big as 285/75 because I don't like the abuse on the CVs etc. I love the TracEdges but deep mud leaves them wanting.

My thoughts turn to 255 BFG Muds after many good reports on noise, wear and traction (and a little bad press about bead leakage). I guess Billing is a good place for cheap deals - how much are they in the 'shops' so I can compare price?

Alternatively, what other tyres should be considering? Same pattern and size from Colway perhaps, so I'm not heartbroken if/when I rip one?

[Ivan]

Paddocks are doing 255x85 for £89 each + the dreaded.

Ivan

[Turbocharger]

Thanks for that. Hmm. £100 a corner is the same price as the Grizzlys were, and I'm a bit gutted after I ripped one apart last time out.

Is there a similar sized mud/compromise tyre at a better price? I'm not too bothered about wear rates since they seem to wear according to price(!) but with the same risk of damage for all tyres.

[white90]

255/85/16 BFG M/T KM

are £100 each around here too.

cheapest place was £95 for a while.

I'd buy another set at any day as soon as these are worn out

superb tyre/size all round ideal for what I do and need.

[steffUK]

Hi there

you're saying that 285/75 are too big and therefore you're looking into 255/85?

Well, 255/85 are BIGGER than 285/75. Remember, first number is the width in mm, second number is height of the tire wall expressed as the % of the width. So the 285/75 tire has a hight of the wall of 213.75mm and the 255/85 has a hight of 216.75mm. In order to get the overall hight of the tire you multiply by 2 and add 16inch for the rim. Or you check the BFG website which tells you that the 285/75R16 has an overall height of 33.1 inch while the 255/85 has on overall height of 33.3 inch.

And before someone does the math, I know that (213.75*2/2.54*10)+16 only comes to 32.83 inches but that is a question you can ask BFG directly.

www.bfgoodrichtires.com/assets/pdf/mud_terrain_ta_km.pdf

Still, the 255/85 is one of the best tires i ever had on my car!

Cheers

Stefan

[steffUK]

[TJ101]

John

Yep 255/85 BFG,s the ones to get, never had any problems with the 3 sets i've had

[Turbocharger]

It's not the height so much as the rotating mass which I (perceive to) smash things although I hadn’t done the numbers as above. I’m just baulking slightly at spending £400 on tyres which I’m going to intentionally drag around quarries etc. Does anyone else make 255/85s in a similar pattern?

[Daan]

Hi there

Still, the 255/85 is one of the best tires i ever had on my car!

Cheers

Stefan

I agree with that, I bought them years ago (i think it was 1995), used them for everything on my S3, including motorway miles. They work well on mud, sand and tarmac, last a long time and there is very little noise. The blocks are a-symetrical i shape (Have a look at them and you know what I mean), which means they dont get into a vibration. Several tyres I tried and looked (like the general m/t for example) look similar but dont even come close. Especially the General, which is slightly better in mud, it is no good in sand and lasts only half the miles.

In te beginning I was also beating everyone to it, when 7.50s were the fashion.

Of course, these days people use simex 35s or bigger, but if I wanted an all round tyre, BFG 255/85 Mt would be my choice.

Daan

[Mark90]

Very few manufacturers produce 255/85R16's, think only Cooper and BFG, this is also why you don't get remoulds in that size, lack of cases. If I was buying new Cooper would get my money. Not impressed with the 'bead protector' on the BFG KM's that collects carp and also not impressed with side wall durability. That said the BFG's are a nice handling tyre on the road and perform reasonably well off road and are a good all round tyre, but then again so are the Cooper STC's or SST's.

[LandyManLuke]

I've got 255/85's, but they're Wildcat Durango, same pattern as the (old) BFG MT. I use them in the mud, as well as the 200 mile trip up and down the A1/A14 from here to home. they're surprisingly quiet, seem to wear well, and they're a bit cheaper than the BFGs.

Luke

[Kev Baldwin]

If you're doing mainly m-way miles with the occasional off-road playing then I suggest you go with the Cooper Discoverer S/T rather than the BFGs. Nothing wrong with the BFG, but the S/Ts will suit your needs better. FWIW, they are in my opinion the as yet largely undiscovered natural succesor to the Trac Edge, but one that comes with more of an off-road bias tread.

I ran a set for 2-yrs before getting rid of the Discovery. My buying criteria were the same as yours and I couldn't fault them on and off-road. They do come in the elusive 255 size and better still, are cheaper than BFGs.

Sinton Tyres in Milton Keynes are the Cooper importer.

Kev - in no way connected to Cooper tyres - Baldwin

[Turbocharger]

If I'm allowed to hotlink a little:

Cooper Discoverer ST - looks like an AT:

Cooper Discoverer New STT - looks more aggressive than a TracEdge to me, more like an MT:

Cooper Discoverer Radial STT - looks a bit lairy for motorway miles

Of these, the new STT (middle one) looks like the kind of level I'm after. I'm willing to tolerate noise and vibration since I'm young and carefree (and I feel stoopid in a caged Ninety on all-terrains). Are Sinton Tyres coming to Billing?

[Mark90]

Cooper Discoverer Radial STT - looks a bit lairy for motorway miles

Will seem like road tyres after the grizzlys

[Kev Baldwin]

The ST is more of an open tread than a traditional AT pattern. More of an MT-lite!

[Turbocharger]

Mmm... I'm much more convinced after seeing them on a vehicle. I'll have to have a poke around at Billing and see who's offering sensible deals. I'm still kicking myself after passing up 285/75 MTs from Kumho, Sodbury price £47 each, Monday's price £98 each

[Kev Baldwin]

And another:

[JST]

surely drivetrain damage is due to the moments made from the force of the tyres suddenly gaining grip, therefore larger tyre (ht) the larger the moment?

[Turbocharger]

The tyres can't increase the torque of the engine, but their rotational mass can smash stuff when it's leaping from one end of the backlash to the other as the wheels spin and then grip, spin and then grip.

[western]

I've got 255/85 BFG MT's on my 110 & very happy with them.

[JST]

correct engine torque unchanged

but my assumption was that a wheel spinning in the air at max torque hits the deck.

the taller the wheel the higher the shock transfered back through the transmission for any given speed, as the outer side of the wheel will be going faster than a shorter tyre.

only my thoughts.

i run 255/85 BFG MT and rate them highly.

[Bull Bar Cowboy]

I’m on my second set of Grizzly’s and they are pretty much worn out. The first set were excellent, however, the second set have begun to fall apart so I am loath to spend £120+ per corner on them. In their defence, I found them OK to almost 3 figures and very well mannered on the road ……… the off road performance was also excellent. Both sets gave me between 20 / 25 K per set.

Just to be different I have ordered a set of Super Swamper LTB’s in 34x10.50 ……… yeah, they are x plys ……. Or to be very American…………..bias ply ………. but what the hell

Ian

[02GF74]

correct engine torque unchanged

but my assumption was that a wheel spinning in the air at max torque hits the deck.

the taller the wheel the higher the shock transfered back through the transmission for any given speed, as the outer side of the wheel will be going faster than a shorter tyre.

A spnning wheel won't be at max. torque; quite the opposite.

The larger diameter tyre will act as a bigger lever but it is also the energy stored in the rotating object that matters; this will depend on its angular velocity, its mass and where on the radius the mass it located.

[BogMonster]

I have driven a Discovery 3 with the new STTs on and they did hum a bit on the road but it was not too bad - probably about the same as BFG MTs I would guess, though not having tried both types on the same vehicle, I could not be sure. I looked at the ST's for my Discovery a couple of years ago but they weren't available in the size I wanted IIRC, so I stuck with BFG AT's. Nice pattern though, and the 17" STTs that fit the Discovery 3 seem like a good strong tyre carcass too, so if all Coopers are built like that then they ought to last.

[imspanners]

If I'm allowed to hotlink a little:

Cooper Discoverer ST - looks like an AT:

Cooper Discoverer New STT - looks more aggressive than a TracEdge to me, more like an MT:

Cooper Discoverer Radial STT - looks a bit lairy for motorway miles

Of these, the new STT (middle one) looks like the kind of level I'm after. I'm willing to tolerate noise and vibration since I'm young and carefree (and I feel stoopid in a caged Ninety on all-terrains). Are Sinton Tyres coming to Billing?

Got New STT's fitted to mine.

Having gone from Colways to STT's the silence is deafening!

There's a slight hum, but not monotonous.

Found them wanting on loose dusty surfaces, last weekend, but hey ho, they're mud tyres not rock-crawlers.

Don't get rid of trapped stones too easily either.

(perhaps the tuneful Colways weren't so bad after all)