Narrow tyres V Wide tyres

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Originally Posted by tombraider

Fashion didnt dictate a thing.

More rubber = Better braking, more grip...

And offset affects handling far more than tyre width...

I could fit a 7.50R on an offset rim and it would drive like rubbish.

Or run my 305s on correctly set offset rims and have no tramlining or adverse effects at all...

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Generally agree - however steering will (almost) always be heavier on wide tyres, and usually the offset is dictated by whether the tyre will clear the suspension components on full lock (for very wide tyres).

That said, I am happy to put up with the above for the improved performance on and off road.

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Originally Posted by PhilipA

For competition,its true that most have wide tyres, but I wonder how much is fashion and availability.

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In comps, if a narrow tyre performed better, then I can guarantee thats what people would run. People don't spend bulk money building comp cars just to look cool. There is the Interco Q78 TSL which is a 36" narrow tyre, though you rarely see these in use anymore. I'd go so far as to suggest the only reason why tyre manufacturers make narrow bog style tyres is for fitment reasons only, rather than performance.

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Originally Posted by tombraider

I could fit a 7.50R on an offset rim and it would drive like rubbish.

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I've never driven anything on 7.50's or similar that handles well. Mind you they've also all be various Toyota products, LC100, Troopy and Hilux.

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Originally Posted by Slunnie

I've never driven anything on 7.50's or similar that handles well. Mind you they've also all be various Toyota products, LC100, Troopy and Hilux.

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Agree - most sets of 7.50s I have tried handle (in the wet) like blunt ice skates. It is amazing the difference changing to 255s or 285s makes.

Sorry I should have been more specific.
When I said 75 , I was referring to the aspect ratio as in 245.75x16 . or 80 as in 205R16.
I do not think anyone in the world would argue that 7.50 R16(which is 100 Aspect ratio) is in any way better than a lower aspect tyre.

I agree that if the offset is changed so that the contact patch centre is under the bearings, then a wide tyre will be better,but IMHO nowhere near a narrower tyre, But how do you achieve this on a Rangie or Disco without fouling.
Regards Philip A

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Originally Posted by p38arover

I did but didn't bother. Have you read Easo's posts? :eek:

:D

Ron

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Originally Posted by easo

They get better when my wifes home!!

Easo

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Yeah, my wife stops me drinking, too! :D

Ron

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Originally Posted by p38arover

Yeah, my wife stops me drinking, too! :D

Ron

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Mine makes me drink !!


I think my Range Rover goes quite well with it's 7.50Rx16 tyres, on or off road.
I suppose, compared to a Morris Minor running 5.20x14s, anything handles better.

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Originally Posted by Scouse

Mine makes me drink !!

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You mean as "she drives me to drink!"? :D

Ron

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Originally Posted by p38arover

You mean as "she drives me to drink!"? :D

Ron

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No, I have to drive myself there - luckily it's not too far away.
:):)

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Originally Posted by Slunnie

I think the reason why most of these replys say that skinnies are better, is because thats the tyre which they run and its also whats easiest to fit to on a Land Rover product.

If you go to any of the 4WD comps where they are really pushing their tyres hard in the worst conditions you'll notice that there is nobody that runs skinnies and performs well. Probably the skinniest tyre now used would be a 12.5" tyre, possibly a 13.5" tyre. Comps are the same conditions that we drive when fanging around in the 4WD, except for touring, but comps are a lot harder and a lot more demanding on the tyre.

You'll probably also notice that there isn't a lot of tread pattern acknowledgement in this thread with what is being compared, and this makes a significant difference to performance.

You'll probably also find that a wide tyre in comparison to a narrow tyre elongates by the same amount, though the wide tyre maintains its wider footprint. I'm surprised to constantly hear that a skinny elongates, where a fattie doesn't as it's just not the case.

From what I've seen and experienced, the larger the diameter of the tyre and the wider the foot print, the better the traction in sand, road, rock etc etc etc.

In mud, the pattern is what makes the biggest difference, and the wider the tyre the more drive you get off the pattern. A 7.50 open pattern Ag tyre will never outdrive a 11.5" Simex JT2 in the mud.

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Slunnie, Im not meaning to burst your bubble mate but I made it 100% clear at the start of the thread that I was asking what people were running and that I wasnt asking what anyones opinions were on someone elses ideas on what is right or wrong.

I posted that at the start to make sure that people didnt post this sort of crap that just gets people fired up with a subject like this.

I posted that I was surprised that so many people run skinnies still on their rovers and also surprised that they had similar reasons for sticking to them that I do.

Not one of the people here posted anything about their comp rigs and if you have one then go ahead and post what you run on it and the reasons why but I dont want this thread to end up as just another "you have to change your opinion" threads that have been pretty common of late.

Im not trying to sound like Im telling you off, Im just wanting the thread to get back on track for what info I was looking for.