A/T Tyre choice for Freelander 1

Hi All,
My 2003 Serengeti TD4 is coming up for tyres soon. I need something that will get me about off-road but be good for on-road too (don't we all!). The choice at my local supplier is 215/70 16 BFG A/T's @ £110 each or 215/65 16 Yokohama Geolandar A/T's @ £75 each. I notice on another post in this forum that the extra diameter of the BFG's would result in the engine struggling off-road. I'd appreciate any advice as I'm new to the Hippo having owned Suzukis with low box for the last 15 years and never had the problem!
Many thanks.

Thats the first i've heard about the engine struggling off road. You can get varying tyre sizes for the 16's, anything from 205/80 to 225/75, there's loads of info on here with different people's experiences. I run 225/75's and have no issues whatsoever.

Oh, and the BFG's win hands down over the Yoko's, no question, even with the price difference!

SES88 said:

Thats the first i've heard about the engine struggling off road. You can get varying tyre sizes for the 16's, anything from 205/80 to 225/75, there's loads of info on here with different people's experiences. I run 225/75's and have no issues whatsoever.

Oh, and the BFG's win hands down over the Yoko's, no question, even with the price difference!

Click to expand...

More to tyres than just price

I have the BFG AT that I bought pretty much as new from a guy off this forum. They are tough, look good, hard wearing and highly recommended. A friend has the geolander, they are slightly quieter (his are more worn though so it's hard to compare) I think but nowhere near the quality. BFG are a premium brand too of course

Coopers are nothing to sneeze at............

Might bite the bullet and stick the BFG's on, then. Thanks for the speedy replies, chaps.

Have a look into Event ml698 all terrain 50/50 215/65/16
Have them fitted to mine. Have been great (noisy at first but after 300mile the new tassles have worn off)

Still handle well on road. Quicker round the corners than a lexus is200 (or my stupidity not sure)

Slight humble on road 74db no more noise than other at tyres

Copy of bf Goodrich tread pattern so grip well off road

Look good aswell

Cost me £270 for 4 fitted

I run Cooper AT3's so not BFG biased, although if I still have my car the next time I need tyres I'll be fitting BFG's

I have the General Grabber AT fitted to mine. They seem okay, but only done about 700 miles on them. They replaced General Grabber UHP.

I have them in 225/65R17 rims. I took my vehicle off-road last weekend and had no problems , but it is remapped.

I have 3 freelanders one with Pirelli scorpions 225/55/17, one with Pirelli scorpions 215/65 16 and one with 215/70 16 because that's closest to standard size you can get.

There are no real noticeable differences in gearing to me but if your serious about going off road I would suggest an auto as first is a little fast for technical bits, not that there are any technical bits round me!

Update: I had the BFG's fitted this morning. The vehicle is immediately lighter on the steering, feels more secure on the road and what I thought was transmission whine at 50mph and above has all but disappeared. Many thanks for all the advice, chaps.

I went from Yoko's to Bfg's and never looked back.