revisiting tyres on 18" rims

[PaulP38a]

On my '99 P38A, I'm running 33" Maxxis Big Horns on 16" rims which are great off-road but a pig on highway runs... noisy, lots of wandering and not very comfortable. Happy to keep these tyres and rims for off-road play but am after another set for mostly on-road and light off-road use. When the Maxxis wear out, I'll probably switch back to Cooper ST 265/70x16 as I still have the spare from my "old" P38A and was very happy with these tyres.

I've also got a set of 18" rims with some pretty average Bridgestones that I've never put on the car since I picked them up in January.

Having done a bit of research here and on RangeRovers.net it seems that Michelin XPC and Pirelli Scorpion ST's are the pick. Unless I've misread - the Scorion ST's have been replaced by the STR's. Since I'm going to have to get 5 tyres to fit on the 18" rims, I'm canvassing opinions of other P38A owners before I commit another $1-2K :eek:

I don't mind if the tyres have an OD of greater than 29", but would prefer no larger than 32" as the 33" Maxxis scrub on the back of the front arches on "normal" EAS height - even with the 2" lift kit... Yeah, I'm might get around to cutting/folding the wheel arches one day :o

Also, the diffs have 4.1 ratios that are a better match for 31-33" OD tyres than the standard 29" tyres. Obviously my speedo reading is out too but I'm planning to get a TruSpeed correction unit one day...

Your suggestions appreciated.

Cheers, Paul.

[RRv8]

everyone including me seem to love the XPCs both for on road and off they are a very capable tire
but they are very hard to get in OZ and my best quote was $540 each which for 5 was way out of my price range

if you are after a road only tyre then the scorpion is the way to go I cant recall exactly what I was quoted but I think it was in the upper 3hundred each

if you still have factory rims then I would recommend that you at least go and have a look at what I am now running Yokohama A/T-S GO12 255/65R16 (same as Factory size)

when I purchased mine they came with 4wd road hazard protection for stake damage, impact damage etc

to me they seem to be at least as good as the XPCs (on and off road) if not actually better so far I cant fault them

I would venture to say forget about the Maxxis and coopers and what ever
and swapping wheels etc when you want to go from road to the rough stuff

just run one set of rims with these

they do whine a little on road with the windows down around 70Kms on the smoother tar but
its not obtrusive and its easily drowned out with talk or the radio going (or just close the windows)

the best part is they are not too expensive $285 each

before I forget I have done lots of open road travel and off road trips
including 4 passengers... fully loaded with tent etc and even with trailer
and they have tracked true and never seemed to loose grip
( I have actually tried to force drift or wheel spin on wet tar so far no luck - I am a bit of a hoon :) )

I have not managed to try them out yet on rock and deep mud
I hope too in a couple of weeks

[Scouse]

I'm running the Scorpians on my 18" wheels. Standard size is 222/55/18 & I'm running D3 size which is 255/60/18. They seem like a decent tyre on the hwy.

[andrew e]

I don't mind if the tyres have an OD of greater than 29", but would prefer no larger than 32" as the 33" Maxxis scrub on the back of the front arches on "normal" EAS height - even with the 2" lift kit... Yeah, I'm might get around to cutting/folding the wheel arches one day :o

Your suggestions appreciated.

Cheers, Paul.

chop chop. Then 35s (although the 40 inch claw would be better)


just a sudgestion:D