Thread: Narrow tyres V Wide tyres

Originally Posted by barryj

One guy had a 3 cyl 2 stroke with balloon tyres and another guy had the new 4 cyl 4 stroke with bar treads.

...we found out which vehicle could go where.

We then repeated the tracks and to my amazement the results were the same.

So are you going to tell us which vehicle and which tyre performed better? Or does the last sentence mean both vehicles and both sets of tyres gave the same results?

Originally Posted by vnx205

So are you going to tell us which vehicle and which tyre performed better? Or does the last sentence mean both vehicles and both sets of tyres gave the same results?

Yes, both vehicles went where they went before even with different tyres. Sounds strange but that is what happened.

Of course mud and rock driving would be different, although a wide tyre on mud may not get enough weight and just spin when a narrow tyre would have to slog it's way through and the risk of bellying to the chassis is there.

I run stock 205 x 16 on my old rangy, they work fine for road work, dirt roads, gibbers and general off road. Very pleased with them.
I run 235/70 16 on my disco, excelent in sand, but no other benefit over the 205's in other applications.
The narrow tyres seem to have less rolling resistance, give lighter steering and better fuel economy.
I had 10.5 x15"s on an old series 3 wagon many years ago, they were good in sand and sloppy conditions, but made the old girl a bit of a handful in most other situations.

camel trophy disco's had narrow tyres but were slightly taller than standard. If you have ever seen what they drove thru if Landrover thouht wider was better they would have fitted them. Armed forces also tend to use narrow tyres or should i say close to standard width as would be the more correct term. I use 245 70 16s on my disco 1 and have found more than adequate for both beach and forestry tracks.

I run 245/75r16 Maxxis Mudders on my Disco. I love them, they run really well. But I get them REALLY CHEAP

My experience has been that wide tyres are puncture prone and increase fuel consumption, that is why I have 255/85/16 BFG Mudders on my RR, and when deflated to 15psi are unstoppable. I think Aquarangie also runs these tyres, he has had them for a lot longer than me and could probably give you some more of an idea.

JC

Originally Posted by p38arover

It seems that the "wide" tyres we generally see are more for looks than effect. Note that I'm not talking of genuine balloon sand tyres.

Ron

Bingo..

Originally Posted by justinc

My experience has been that wide tyres are puncture prone and increase fuel consumption, that is why I have 255/85/16 BFG Mudders on my RR, and when deflated to 15psi are unstoppable. I think Aquarangie also runs these tyres, he has had them for a lot longer than me and could probably give you some more of an idea.

JC

ME too!!! these are the perfect upgrade tyre for Defenders.

LRH