Which Tyres BFG or Coopers or Claws

G'day Trav,

One reason on a Defender TDI to fit 265/75 is the close rolling diameter in relation to the standard 750/16's the BFG's at 31.7" rolling diameter the standard tyres 31.5". If you go to Cooper 265's they are 32" so are 235/85's at 32".

With the BFG muddies hardly any speedo error.

Also the difference in width is only 1.1" wider than 235's 7.3" opposed to the 265's at 8.4" hardly any worth while difference and I can guarantee while your digging deeply for solid ground I'll be on the other side of the bog :wink:

And using examples of recent trip to Orange a heavy mud weekend, my car was the only car NOT TO BE BOGGED with the 265's, the others running standard 130 size tyres Coopers , disco 235/85 A/T, other disco also 235/85's M/t, RR 235/70 A/T. Pics are in gallery.

Actualy I did get stuck on first hole but in high range, no diff locks engaged in third gear, caught anawares you might say :oops: :oops: :oops:

Again as I said on another thread the other guy may not have been on the day as competant or capable as you in the mud, wrong gear, wrong speed etc.

I've run a number of different tyres and wheel size combinations over many years, over as many different terrains, and now successively 3 sets of 265/75 and I personally found them to be the most capable of all I have used and experimented with and thats quite a few. My old Rangie ran 225 & 235 A/T and M/T at the end, the 110 265/75 M/T only.

But this all personel choice what ever works for you & expensive exercise experimenting, swapping wheels & tyres with mates good way of doing it.

The same argument/discussion could go on forever with shocks, winches, UHF or 27mghz etc etc :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

Quote / This is why I fitted 235's not the wider 265's. We were out on a trip recently and a mate has 265's on his Rangie and I have 235's and found as you stated, my 235's dug through the terrain to maintain traction better than his 265's which ecventually diod but too some wheelspin (not always good in out enviro-pschotic society ) end quote
Not a good idea wheel spinning around in the mud any way if concerned about enviro issues, but that is why God invented mud and BFG M/T's to get dirty [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif[/img]

Cheers
Bryce

Quote:

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Originally posted by RoverOne

With the BFG muddies hardly any speedo error.

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LMFAO... [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif[/img]

As standard, the 110 over reads by 10% from the factory.

You're right though, this discussion can go on for ages. There is a lot to be said for driver ability, you mentioned diff lockS (which if you've got a rear locker you're pretty much unstoppable with any tyre choice) but I'll still stand by the tyre size in this debate. As I said, at least if you need the extra surface area, you can air down on the smaller tyre size.

Mark.

Quote:

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Originally posted by camel_landy+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(camel_landy)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-RoverOne

With the BFG muddies hardly any speedo error.

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LMFAO... [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif[/img]

As standard, the 110 over reads by 10% from the factory.

You're right though, this discussion can go on for ages. There is a lot to be said for driver ability, you mentioned diff lockS (which if you've got a rear locker you're pretty much unstoppable with any tyre choice) but I'll still stand by the tyre size in this debate. As I said, at least if you need the extra surface area, you can air down on the smaller tyre size.

Mark.[/b][/quote]

G'day Mark,

I was only refering to centre diff lock, not the maxi drive rear locker, and no I wouldn't turn a locker on in mud, you would only make the situation worse and dig in to China. Lockers used incorrectly are fatal, they only go on in extreme country on steep rocky ascents no other time, they are skill switches to many, to others get out of trouble buttons, I know guys that wack them on every incline they come to claiming less stress on the car climbing, which is true but just cause you have it you don't have to use it.

Back to the tyres, what ever you personally are comfortable with, I've used all sizes from 205's to 285's (on Rangie) but 265's do it for me.

Cheers
Bryce

I will say this, diff locks are not the 'be all to end all'. I've seen people with lockers get themselves in all sorts of **** from bad driving. I tell people in the club who think about going doe the diff lock road 'learn to drive, them add lockers to go further'.

Tyres are the first port of call before lockers IMO. A good set of MT's will go as far as a vehicle with road tyres and lockers within reason, quite surprising. I went this way as without lockers I was suprised how far I got to be honest.

Regards to the enviro comment, it was aimed at sarcasim, obviously done badly :oops: I agree with you Rover one, that's why MT's and mud were created.

Trav

Has anyone tried the new Coopers STT. They look more agressive to the BFGs and have a good side wall tread.

When comparing tyres, also compare the tread patterns. The tread pattern for example on the 235 MTR is very fine in comparison to that of the 265/285, and I would expect the wider tyre in the MTR to perform better in the mud. There will be a difference in the other brands also with respect to lug dimensions.

Funnily the best mud tyre I've driven on is 300mm wide! Love my Simex! [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif[/img]

Quote:

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Originally posted by marris
Has anyone tried the new Coopers STT. They look more agressive to the BFGs and have a good side wall tread.

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I have a mate with a set on his S2 Disco (well, now he has a S3 Disco, another mate of mine now owns them) and it's still early days but he seems to be impressed with them. They have only been off-road a couple of times and he'a a bit of a woos anyway [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif[/img] but the 'other' mate drives his S2 Disco hard off-road 8)

Re- Roverone's post, lockers are a abused tool at best. I like to have a go at something open then if unsucessful I then flick them in. I try to assess if I need them and for example if a hill has big ruts and I know I'll loose traction and come to a stop, then the 'magic' buttons get to do there thing [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img]

I might have contradicted myself as far as the 265's go, they're not a bad size and worth considering in the future, especially since the price is now about on par with the 235's. I bought the 235's to be honest because they were almost $50 a tyre cheaper than 265's at the time. Also I have never had that size so it may be time to experement a bit 8)

Regards,

Trav