Paddy Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 I need to replace 4 tyres on my old 90. She does 80% on road & 20% off. BUT when I’m off road shooting and fishing on my own, I need the best chance of not getting stuck!!On road driving is sedate so I guess these won’t be scary on tarmac. Is this the best choice or suggest any other alternatives? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
need4speed Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 Boy will this open a can of worms.... BFG A/T's? Or maybe even M/T's? Ive been in a defender on road with the M/T's and i dont think there too loud... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big.Mike Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 BFG A/Ts are great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 BFG are great - but just so expensive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 How are the conditions where you go off road? If it's wet muddy woodland rides/tracks then probably mud terrains are your best bet. If it's harder underfoot with rocky/stony or made up tracks, forestry roads and the like, then AT is probably enough! Of course to be safe the MT are the way to go and just take the hit on noise and fuel consumption. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big.Mike Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 BFG are great - but just so expensive They last forever... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanuki Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 They last forever... Good-grip and long-life are opposite ends of the tyre-characteristic spectrum. I'll be watching this thread with interest because I've got a set of Wolf rims which need to be wrapped in some mainly fast-road-biased rubber and my tame accountant's said I can drop the £££ from 00:00 hours tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 There's truth in that ..... my last set of AT's came off at around 50k miles. Mind you I replaced them with the Insa Track Edge copies - which are now at 35K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big.Mike Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 Good-grip and long-life are opposite ends of the tyre-characteristic spectrum. on "normal" tyres I'd agree with you, I suspect the design has more play than the compound Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffR Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 I've got Cooper ST's on a 110 V8 family truck that I use occasionally for work (that is when it ain't in bits...) and they cope very well with most conditions, very good on wet tarmac (miss being able to power slide it tho), only had difficulty in deep sticky mud. Last well too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddy Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 I would defiantly go with an 80/20 MT unless you do over 20k a year, coopers are a good mix I think, I've never had any however many friends have and I was going to go for a set next until my landrover usage changed. Have you considered getting a knobbily remould and testing the water? Just stirring the can! Will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Divster Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 I'm on my second set of coopers in 120k miles. I really rate them. My first set were STs. I'm now on STTs. The wear rate is really good, the road noise is minimal and the performance on and off road is very good. I estimate I'll get another 20k out of the current set and will buy the same again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddy Posted January 1, 2014 Author Share Posted January 1, 2014 Yep I realised it was a can just waiting to burst again. Getting tyres in Ireland is limited and expensive so I really want to get it right. I’m running on Hankook AT’s which have been ok but have had some close calls in mud and soggy grassland fields, hence the thinking about MT’s. The AT’s have only done low mileage but are 10 years old and perishing around the tyre treads.Well it seems a contest between Coopers and BFG, I think for me the Cooper MT’s are winning, price will be the issue, especially here. Thanks for your input’s… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big.Mike Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 kuhmo make a fantastic tyre the 71, I had some which I swapped for bfg at simply because the wheels stuck out an inch beyond the wheel arches... if I needed a good value long lasting mud terrain I don't think you could find a better tyre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 Good-grip and long-life are opposite ends of the tyre-characteristic spectrum. Quite right, and BFG ATs aren't very grippy on the road in my experience... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddy Posted January 1, 2014 Author Share Posted January 1, 2014 Interesting site for those a pondering like me, http://www.offroaders.com/tech/AT-MT-Tires/Cooper-Discoverer-stt.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Litch Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 "Good-grip and long-life are opposite ends of the tyre-characteristic spectrum." "Quite right, and BFG ATs aren't very grippy on the road in my experience..." Couldn't disagree more with these two statements. Been using BFG AT's for nearly 14-years and not only do they last well but the grip on tarmac is far better than other tyres I have used, this seems to be at odds with other tyre manufacturers but in my opinion BFG have managed where others have failed. You may pay a slight premium for them but the grip & lifespan more than cover this. They tend to "go off" after high milages despite still having usable tread but we are talking 70K+ so I think they have given there moniesworth by then. "She does 80% on road & 20% off." If you really are spening that amount of time off the tarmac and you are driving alone for most of that time then I would forget about an AT altogether and go for an MT as an AT is only ever going to be a compremise. An AT may look chunky compared to a road tyre but compared to a real mud tyre they are very mild. A cheap mud tyre may have stability, grip & longativity issues but something like a BFG MT will play dividends in the long term. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big.Mike Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 "Good-grip and long-life are opposite ends of the tyre-characteristic spectrum." "Quite right, and BFG ATs aren't very grippy on the road in my experience..." Couldn't disagree more with these two statements. Been using BFG AT's for nearly 14-years and not only do they last well but the grip on tarmac is far better than other tyres I have used, this seems to be at odds with other tyre manufacturers but in my opinion BFG have managed where others have failed. You may pay a slight premium for them but the grip & lifespan more than cover this. They tend to "go off" after high milages despite still having usable tread but we are talking 70K+ so I think they have given there moniesworth by then. "She does 80% on road & 20% off." If you really are spening that amount of time off the tarmac and you are driving alone for most of that time then I would forget about an AT altogether and go for an MT as an AT is only ever going to be a compremise. An AT may look chunky compared to a road tyre but compared to a real mud tyre they are very mild. A cheap mud tyre may have stability, grip & longativity issues but something like a BFG MT will play dividends in the long term. couldn't agree more... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddy Posted January 1, 2014 Author Share Posted January 1, 2014 "She does 80% on road & 20% off." If you really are spening that amount of time off the tarmac and you are driving alone for most of that time then I would forget about an AT altogether and go for an MT as an AT is only ever going to be a compremise. An AT may look chunky compared to a road tyre but compared to a real mud tyre they are very mild. A cheap mud tyre may have stability, grip & longativity issues but something like a BFG MT will play dividends in the long term. Of the 20% off road, between 2 or 3% being critical, which is why I’m looking at MT’s. It’s a tossup between Cooper mtt and BFG, availability which impacts on cost may be the deciding issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Jenkins Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 I put the Cooper AT3 tyres on my 90. Wear and grip seems good and a chunk cheaper than BFG. A lot quieter than the goodyear MTR's on my 110. I suspect that in really sticky mud, the Goodyears would be better, but for 80% on road, consider an AT tyre instead of a mud tyre like STT. Of course the mud tyres look much cooler..... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammyb Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 I had BFG A/T's on my 90 and it was scary, in the rain/drizzle was like driving on ice!! would never have them again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big.Mike Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 I had BFG A/T's on my 90 and it was scary, in the rain/drizzle was like driving on ice!! would never have them again. Like ice? What size and pressure were you running? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 I had BFG A/T's on my 90 and it was scary, in the rain/drizzle was like driving on ice!! would never have them again. Exactly my experience, fine in the dry, but scary in the rain if you're not expecting it. Mine are 265/75R16 at 2.5 bar on a P38. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Litch Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 I found the pressures in the handbook (remember that 265/75x16 BFG AT's were factory fit for years) were too hard for my vehicle as it was unlaiden most of the time and the footprint was minimal. Adjusted the pressures (down) and they have given great confidence ever since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom1809 Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Having had both the cooper stt and bfg km2's I can say they are equal. So far neither have let me down. The only think is the stt had more sidewall lugs where as the km2's don't. The other thing is the km2's I find don't clear sticky mud very easily but the stt's had this nasty habit of picking up a stone and then clicking for about 5 miles before making you jump when it flings the stone of into the wheel arch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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