Skinny wheels

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What are the benefits?

It's a typical idea to stick wide aggresive wheels/tyres to make your Def/series look more manly, but going the other way, i do love the style of the older series models with no extended wheel arch and slimmer wheels so i'm looking to justify going down this possible route

Having thinner profile used to be well thought of ‘off road’ as the tyre can hunt down and find any stone, rock etc to gain some traction.
 
I'm not a massive off roader tbh

Does a slimmer tyre affect mpg? Less drag on the road perhaps or am i clutching at straws here with the marginal widths availble
 
What are the benefits?

It's a typical idea to stick wide aggresive wheels/tyres to make your Def/series look more manly, but going the other way, i do love the style of the older series models with no extended wheel arch and slimmer wheels so i'm looking to justify going down this possible route

Terrain, terrain, terrain.

It all comes down to the type of terrain you are driving.

A skinny tyre will be most advantageous on greasy clays and sloppy mud where the narrow treads can cut through the surface layers in search of firmer more traction affording ground where as a big wide tyre will simply float on the surface and won't cut through to firm ground. Skinny tyres are also an advantage in keeping a narrow vehicle width as the tyres won't protrude beyond the body profile needing spats/flares. Skinny tyres can be aired down as can all tyres to give a bigger footprint for sand/snow/boggy ground but they will have greater limitations.

It's all horses for course and of course there is no one tyre nor size that fits all, the 235/85 r16 size is a great compromise in both cross section and profile as it has deep enough sidewalls to deform and flex to provide the floatation at lower pressures with a narrow enough tread band that will bite through the grease and slop (dependent on your chosen tread pattern of course) to find traction, a very much happy medium that affords quite good fuel economy against wider tyres where the coefficient of friction and rolling resistance from the contact area isn't massive and as long as you air up for on highway action then they're quite economical even with mud terrains on.

Skinny tyres are your worst enemy when driving a heavily loaded vehicle in soft sand and boggy ground as they do not offer much in the way of floatation.

Hope that helps explain away some of the voodoo magic LOL
 
If I were not off roading I would have these on my motor.

s-l1600 (8).jpg


Michelin XPC 4x4 in 215/80 r16 size, skinny and super in the snow and wet with good hard wearing tread and flexy sidewalls make for a very good all round tyre for those who venture onto tarmac and a bit of gravel, will cope with wet grass but nothing ever does well on wet grass not even self cleaning tractor tyres lol

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/215-80-R...h=item1c8e6d1e05:g:MvAAAOSwo4tZkYX7:rk:1:pf:0
 
Wot @dieseldog69 said! :)

I run 235/85 r16 on my 90, and they are brilliant off road. Out perform wider tyres on the type of terrain we have in Wales. T he overly wide ones do look amazing, but quite often will perform like total bollocks on 90% of real world terrain likely to be encountered!

I've got a set of 7.50 r16' zxl's on a set of steel rims, when I fancy a more retro look I put these on, they are really just a spare set but as an all round tyre performed as well as my brothers 265/75 km2 bfg muds, in fact better in some places where they bit right down through the soft crust of a lane onto the hard stone below, I had far less loss of traction! They look 'proper' too!! :)
 
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If I were not off roading I would have these on my motor.

View attachment 170010

Michelin XPC 4x4 in 215/80 r16 size, skinny and super in the snow and wet with good hard wearing tread and flexy sidewalls make for a very good all round tyre for those who venture onto tarmac and a bit of gravel, will cope with wet grass but nothing ever does well on wet grass not even self cleaning tractor tyres lol

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/215-80-R16-XPC-Michelin-4x4-103S-M-S-NEW-215-80R16-21580R16/122648600069?fits=Tyre+Width:215|Aspect+Ratio:80|Rim+Diameter:16&hash=item1c8e6d1e05:g:MvAAAOSwo4tZkYX7:rk:1:pf:0
Would these be worth getting on a second set of wheels to use a purely winter tyres?
 
What are the benefits?


It's a typical idea to stick wide aggresive wheels/tyres to make your Def/series look more manly, but going the other way, i do love the style of the older series models with no extended wheel arch and slimmer wheels so i'm looking to justify going down this possible route


Narrower wheels may bring some benefits. Quicker lighter steering. Less rolling resistance and likely better mpg.


They are also less likely to rub.


Off road for most of the terrain in the UK they will generally perform better off road than big wide tyres.


A standard Land Rover tyre size is a 7.50 x 16 and you can still get these. Although sometimes take a bit of searching. The new BFG KM03 mud terrains are available in this size. Sadly a few remould makers claim to sell them, but they end up being a restamped 235/85


The 7.50 is the same height (might even be taller) as a 235 but quite a bit narrower.


After much searching I actually bought a set of 7.00 x 16 Blackstsr Guyane tyres for my Series. They are almost as tall as a 235 but even narrower than a 7.50.


They go very well off road.








I would say that choice is fairly limited for thin tyres though and tall and thin doesn’t really exist.


The 7.50 x 16 should be approx 31” tall for a good one (be aware some are as short as 29” though!) and some are over 32”.


What I’d really like is a tyre the same width as a 7.50 that is 34-35” tall. But nobody makes anything like it.


In the old sizing system the next tyre up from a 7.50 is an 8.25 x 16. These are around 33” and slightly wider than a 7.50. But they are like rocking horse poo to find.


I have a set of Michelin XZL’s in this size that I use for touring. The closest modern size would be a 255/85R16 which is also just over 33” tall. But the 255 will look quite a bit fatter.





The next size up from these is a 9.00 x 16 these are again wider. But are about the narrowest tyre you can get for this height of tyre. This is a more common army truck size, so you can still buy some tyres. But choice is very limited on tread patterns. Bar grips being the most common and some variations. Petlas also do quite a nice MT. You may need to look at agricultural tyre suppliers to find this size or MoD auctions.


9.00 x 16 can also vary in size a lot depending on who made them. They tend to range from anywhere from 34” tall to 37” tall. This tyre was the stock size for a Land Rover 109 One Ton, Series 2b and FC101.


I haven’t run these myself.
 
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Very much so, of course there are 100% dedicated winter tyres but these will also wear quite well in the summer too, were also fitted to 90s & 110s at some point too, we used to run them on our hard top fitters 110s in the heavy plant sector, great tyres.

Would be good for your 90 and save your XZL for laning ;)
 
Very much so, of course there are 100% dedicated winter tyres but these will also wear quite well in the summer too, were also fitted to 90s & 110s at some point too, we used to run them on our hard top fitters 110s in the heavy plant sector, great tyres.

Would be good for your 90 and save your XZL for laning ;)

Cheers bud, the the xzl are good off road but in cold weather or very heavy rain they aren’t that great and you have to be slightly careful!
 
Cheers bud, the the xzl are good off road but in cold weather or very heavy rain they aren’t that great and you have to be slightly careful!
Oh yes!!!

I remember getting all excited about the army run Goodyear G90 tyres back in the early 2000s until i had a set and on the first rainy day nearly totalled my Series, got rid of them in favour of Grabber mt radials, far superior in every way and didn't invoke fear of the combination of rain and roundabouts lol :)
 
very informative post, cheers!

Agree completely. I always used to go as tall and thin as possible, which in practice meant 7.50R 16 on landrovers.

The other important thing to remember is that the sizes on sidewalls are nominal sizes. Actually measuring tyres of different makes throws up some surprising results. There are big variations within sizes from different tyre makers.

One reason I rarely buy tyres online, I prefer to go to a tyre supplier, where I can physically see the tyres before fitment.
 
If I were not off roading I would have these on my motor.
Michelin XPC 4x4 in 215/80 r16 size, skinny and super in the snow and wet with good hard wearing tread and flexy sidewalls make for a very good all round tyre for those who venture onto tarmac and a bit of gravel, will cope with wet grass but nothing ever does well on wet grass not even self cleaning tractor tyres lol QUOTE]

I had these (in 205 section) on my RRC but had to change them due to age rather than wear. Replaced with General Grabber TR's as the tread pattern is very similar & I wanted to keep the car as original as possible.
nb: TR's were factory fit rubber on Defenders for a while, but being a confirmed cynic I'd suggest that price could have been the deciding factor :rolleyes:
 
Easy steering isn't only about the ape behind the wheel, you know. :)

It also reduces load on the tyres themselves, and ball joints, steering boxes, and suspension bushes.

All of which are components that are well known to pack up regularly on Land Rovers.

Oh by the time I'm finished discovering new pockets of rust to cut out and weld up I have no doubt that my mini monster truck tyres will be perished and fit for the bin :(
 
Oh by the time I'm finished discovering new pockets of rust to cut out and weld up I have no doubt that my mini monster truck tyres will be perished and fit for the bin :(

I hope not, and you will prolong their life if you can protect them from sunlight as much as possible.

Does raise another serious point, though. Always makes me laugh to see posts on LZ recommending that people only buy premium tyres, even when the OP has already said the vehicle only does 2000 miles a year as an occasional toy.
So if they follow that advice, they are going to spend over a hundred quid each on tyres which will perish long before they wear out! o_O

Me, I would get remoulds where possible on an older Land Rover.
 
I hope not, and you will prolong their life if you can protect them from sunlight as much as possible.

Does raise another serious point, though. Always makes me laugh to see posts on LZ recommending that people only buy premium tyres, even when the OP has already said the vehicle only does 2000 miles a year as an occasional toy.
So if they follow that advice, they are going to spend over a hundred quid each on tyres which will perish long before they wear out! o_O

Me, I would get remoulds where possible on an older Land Rover.

I've had really bad experiences with remoulds in the past but I know that they are a lot better these days.
 
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