Thread: Help choosing a tyre please

Dear All,

Got the new tyres yesterday. 245/70R16 Pirelli Scoprion ATR's in LT construction and I have to say that they are a lot quieter than both the Cooper ATR and Michelin XPC. In fact the whole car seems to ride a lot better.

Anyway re the turning circle and with the shortened lock stops in there is also no scrubbing on the radius arms either - in fact quite a bit of clearance so real happy there too.

Thanks to everyone for all the info especially Slunnie for that excellent writeup.

Cheers
Peter

You'll love them knp.

Ozscott, the 265/70's are 30.6" and the 265/75 is 31.6" though what you're saying is still highly applicable.

How do you think the Pirellis will compare with BFGs in a similar LT size re noise, grip on and off road and wear rates?
For historical reasons, I have one Pirelli Scorpion HT on a wheel in the back shed, which is nice on road but useless off it.
I'm planning to replace my BFG AT LT 235/70/16s with something a bit bigger, since there is room after the 50mm lift, but am undecided what size and make to go with. Like to get more diff height and tyre width without scraping.
They will spend most of their time on bitumen, but must be capable of handling Cape York later this year though, so I'm seeking a suitable compromise.
Friends say their Cooper STs last forever, but they sound rather noisy to me.

What I found at Cape York was that the track's were not necessarily that hard on tyres, but there were a couple of creek exits that were clay muddy where AT's etc were having problems, notably the first proper one at the bottom of the OTL. This said, we all ran Simex up there at 20psi and ignored the corrugations. The only place that I recall being really sketchy was in to Chilli Beach - that was a quagmire and we were certainly glad to be running open tyres.

Thanks.
I'm not gonna buy MTs just for one trip so I think I'll compromise with ATs. But I do want more height and width than the current 235/70/16s give.
If you''re towing a trailer (a strong off road trailer), can you take the chicken tracks to avoid the worst bits? Nothing to prove. I'll be in a group so can get towed where necessary.
Would a decent set of ATs let down to low 20s be OK on the corrugations? We're going in September so it should be pretty dry by then?
I'm basically thinking either BFG ATs, Scorpion ATRs or Cooper STs in LT.

There's not really chicken tracks, but I wouldn't sweat it if you're in a group to be honest. People are towing through there all the time with AT's and trailers etc. A lot of the time the difficult parts are where the track is cut into the banks anyway, and most of it is single track. I really think that any of those tyres will be fine. My choice would be the ATR based on what it will do for the other 99% of its life, especially if its dry up there. If its wet then the ST's ***shudder*** (seriously consider the MTR instead) would be a better tyre, but the ST is noisy.

I'm not sure if the AT's at 20psi would be suitable. They're a different construction to a bias tyre which is quite stiff. I'd definately drop the pressures though, maybe 25 or a little higher. I guess it just depends on how heavy the Disco is, but the corrugations are fast dirt.

You would prefer the Scorpion ATR to the BFG AT? What size in an LT do you think would be best for a Disco1 with 50mm lift?
Looking at their size range I see:



LT265/75R16 109S
LT245/75R16
LT235/85R16 120R

I've highlighted the ones I think might be goers. Do you agree?

Maybe mid-20s for pressures, you might be right.

I guess preferring the ATR over the BFG AT is just a personal preference. I like the pattern, I like the carcass, I like the noise levels, I like the smoothness + ride, it has less "edge" which can be good and bad, and the compound is silica which gives a lot of traction but I dont expect a 100,000km life from them. I haven't driven on BFG AT, though I would expect it to be better in mud, but that'd be about it. Its just an old technology tyre these days.

Mick I'm really not sure re sizing.