Thread: Help choosing a tyre please

Phillip, better tyres have come out in the last 30 years.

Slunnie do you think that I do not review what is available every time I buy new tyres? Or maybe you think an AT KO is the same as the old textile AT of 30 years ago. Trendy new is not always better .

I just completed about 25K touring around OZ including Lawn Hill, station tracks to Savannah Way. Savannah Way to Roper Bar, Then some bitumin, then the roads into the sights at Kakadu, then around Alice, Then Oodnadatta Track. In May went to the Flinders then up to Arkaroola , Strezlecki, Merty Merty, Tibooburra, White Cliffs all towing camper.
previous work included tracks like at Yalwal, Brindabellas,and numerous other rocky tracks.
Only problems in 9 years are 2 slow leaks from nails as described.

Compare that to reports on Goodyear Wranglers, Coopers, Bridgestone etc.
Last time I bought I compared Coopers, ( lucky I chickened) and Michelin ATX.
The tread pattern looking "old fashioned" because it hasn't changed substantially for several years just tells me it works.

To me reliability is an important (the most important?)attribute.
They work for me .
However the Pirellis look great on road tyres, like the Long Trails I run on the road, and from what you say they are nice and quiet as one would expect with a mild tread and round shoulders.

Regards Philip A

Gday Philip, I'm just stirring. I see what you write here and on other forums and know you're considered.

What does spin me out a bit though, is people (not you) that get fixed on a certain thing, product, method, design or whatever and the cant see beyond that. Although they have what they consider to be the best, sometimes they might miss out on what may be a better best for them.

I look at tyres and see the development of things such as silica compounds and in comparison to carbon black they have soooo much to offer such as better traction and wear rates.

I see evolution of tread designs that can give more of what we're looking for in a tyre such as dispersion, traction etc and less of what we;re not looking for eg noise and rolling resistance, and this something that has been particularly evident in the mud tyres that have spawned off the back of the MTR with angulated side lugs.

But its interesting, because as you say, not everything trendy is best (what is a "trendy" tyre?), and it has been interesting with carcass construction to see that there was an industry move from rags to radial, though hard core is still generally bias - but there is I suspect a trend for these to be moving now to radials with tyres such as the Krawler, and muds are now are starting to hybridise with bias technology such as in the STT, MTZ, Claw etc.

I can only image years ago the people that were riding horses, shunning the motor vehicle because the horse did everything that they needed. Horses for courses though as we all sat. I run the ATR on road, MTR for touring and Simex for play. Likewise my ute now runs Crawlers for outright offroad traction delivered in a usable manner.

Originally Posted by Slunnie

Phillip, better tyres have come out in the last 30 years.

I agree with Simon, I used to be a big BFG AT fan and ran them for a long while. But I do think they are being out done and are losing there market dominance. A couple of years back everyone would go for BFG At as a first tyre. Now a days there are so many more options out there that are excellent and competitive on price.

That said, I now run BFG muddies and Yokohama HTs. The BFG muddies havent changed much in the last 20 years or so and IMHO are still an excellent tyre. They last, are chip resistancce, tough and surprisingly good on road.

Angus

Hi Angus, speaking of the BFG MT being around for 20 years, it is about to be replaced from this:



to this:



The new Km2 is only out in a small range of sizes which does include 315/75-15 (35")

I recently fitted four 245/70 16 Scorpion ATRs. So far I have done about 2000 kms of highway driving on them. No problems so far!

In the next few weeks they will do a bit of dirt work and some Fraser Island touring. I am sure they will be fine for that.

I was considering BFG A/T or even the new pattern M/T, but neither were available at the time. Realistically the Scorpion ATR are probably a better tread pattern for the predominantly highway driving I do.

Perhaps I will get some M/Ts as play tyres when my guards are cut and flared (in a couple of weeks).

Originally Posted by Slunnie

Hi Angus, speaking of the BFG MT being around for 20 years, it is about to be replaced from this:



to this:



The new Km2 is only out in a small range of sizes which does include 315/75-15 (35")

Yeah I know!! I have been trying to wear mine down so I can justify buying a new set of KM2's in 265/75/r16! They arent available yet though... And I dont think Im ready to cut the guards and do a 3-4 inch lift to fit 35's!! I would really like to though...lol

I think the knew KM2 looks really good. Hope they perform.

Angus

I certainly have no complaint about the BFG ATs I have been running for five years, but as they're going to need replacing soon I'm considering my options.
One option is to stay with the current 235/70/16 size, which would mean I need only buy 2 new tyres, so that would be the cheapest option.
However, I'd like to go a little bigger since the 50mm lift, maybe to around 245/75/16 or similar.
Must be LT so it can handle rough roads as well as be OK for normal driving.
So, if I'm going to buy 5, or even 6 (for 2 spares), then I'm certainly going to look around and see if times have changed.
Both my son with his Four Runner and two other rellies with Mits swear by the Cooper STs, but I wonder if they're not a bit too aggressive and noisy for bitumen running around the city.
The Scorpion ATRs sound interesting, but I wonder about puncture resistence.
Goodyear MTRs also sound interesting, but I hear they wear pretty rapidly.
I think I'll just sniff around a bit and see.

I've been finding the opposite about MTR's. Mine have been my daily drivers for what seems like an eternity and they've still got a heap of tread on them. I put them on early 04, still going and I don't show them any particular mercy.