Tyres but not what you think

Ok, been looking around the posts and there are many discussions regarding tyre size, mainly whats the biggest you can fit to a Disco with or without lift. This topic is not that...

Here goes, what Im on about is wheel size and tyres. So I have 255/55/R18 very happy think they are great, bit of a bugger to get new tyres . Now many of the adverts in the magazines etc advertise for 16 inch wheels. However to have 16 inch wheels and tyres with a decent overall diameter the walls need to be quite high.

Now I was always under the belief (correct me if Im wrong) that the higher the side wall the more potentially vague the steering and handling. So why aren't there more tyres for us with the larger rims and why isn't it recommend as much, surely and increased overall diameter with a reasonable sized tyre wall is more efficient???

Comments

DougR said:

Ok, been looking around the posts and there are many discussions regarding tyre size, mainly whats the biggest you can fit to a Disco with or without lift. This topic is not that...

Here goes, what Im on about is wheel size and tyres. So I have 255/55/R18 very happy think they are great, bit of a bugger to get new tyres . Now many of the adverts in the magazines etc advertise for 16 inch wheels. However to have 16 inch wheels and tyres with a decent overall diameter the walls need to be quite high.

Now I was always under the belief (correct me if Im wrong) that the higher the side wall the more potentially vague the steering and handling. So why aren't there more tyres for us with the larger rims and why isn't it recommend as much, surely and increased overall diameter with a reasonable sized tyre wall is more efficient???

Comments

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The disco is meant for off road use, yes its a road vehicle but it has off road use primarily in mind, if you ran low profile big wheels you would constantly buckle your wheels as the tyre would offer minimal impact resistance and the wheel itself will take the brunt of any impact. Also a larger tyre allows for a better spread of footprint in soft ground conditions. You will also find that low profile tyres dont like heavy vehicles as there is no flex in the tyre.

Low profile tyres are great for performance vehicles but useless for anything else, you need a happy medium on normal cars and you want more tyre on off roaders

maybe hes a pimp

I have recently replaced my 18 inch wheels with 16 inch with 255/65/r16 tyres and the handling has improved immensely. On the motorway the car is now very stable whereas before, particularly in the inside lane the car used to veer all over the place.

I wish I was a pimp, loads of money.. Heheh

No that's a good point, as you say trying to find that happy medium, I'm talking 18 in rims here with 55 side walls. Not 22 inch with 10 side walls. So where do you think the medium is?

Agree you need the cushion and spread

NeilT said:

I have recently replaced my 18 inch wheels with 16 inch with 255/65/r16 tyres and the handling has improved immensely. On the motorway the car is now very stable whereas before, particularly in the inside lane the car used to veer all over the place.

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Very interesting. I must admit my old 300 TDI had 16 inch wheels and was fine. This is my first with 18's. I do find they track the ruts a lot on the motorway. Did you go alloys or steel?

I bought a secondhand set of alloys. Ran them for a month with the existing tyres and have recently bought some Grabber AT's

Very nice I'm after the grabber at2's. That was one of the reasons for starting this thread, I am considering either getting them for the 18's or getting them as a package on 16's but I wanted to see what the thought process was for many on the who high wall issue.

My current tyres are scorpion st and great road tyres but that's it, they have a fair bit of like left. One advantaged with getting a package deal is they can be stopped over depending on the trip. So long road trip for diving use the motorway tyre, general local driving and green leaning use the at 2's.

Been discussing this with others and it would seem that the 18's are what's causing the crappy response as opposed to my steering box issue, replaced yesterday, so it looks like 16's are the way forward. Wooho cheaper tyres lol. New alloys needed sad face.

I had 18inch Goodyear Wranglers and they were due for change.

One of the issues that I have always had with the car is that it is a bit choppy on the back end, particularly if only me in the car and the road surface is not good. I wondered whether a bit more rubber might to absorb the bumps might help also I wanted something with a better off road capability.

The new tyres have helped but I also need new shocks and that is next on the list so hopefully there will be another improvement.

I bought 4 alloys (unfortunately the guy only had 4) and then 4 AT's for pretty much the same as 4 Goodyear Wranglers would have cost and now I have a set of 18 inch alloys to sell so that will pay for the shocks.

The AT's are noisier than the Goodyears but only at motorway speeds. Other than that I am really pleased with them and they look so much better!!

I think you will find the AT2 has been replaced by the AT.

mmm, must admit Im thinking of maybe going steel on this, looks aren't a big thing for me, that said, some mad black steel with decent tyres do look good, they are cheaper and i won't worry abut them as much. Then as you say sell the 18 inch alloys.

I'm running 33"x12.5"xr15 on my disco 300tdi in metric its roughly 285/85/r15, and to be fair drives really well, alot better than when running 235/70/r16. i've driven a d2 on 20's and didn't like that at all

Been looking at tyres, 255/65/16 are the direct size replacement for my 255/55/18 according to the tyre calculators. The seems to be some around at decent prices.

I don't have a lift and not planning to get one so can't go much bigger without starting to affect things from what I've read. At a push 245/70/16 I suppose. Since I would prefer grabber at2 or BFG AT, what's the main size out there in use by anyone on an non lift D2. Now I'm not looking for the biggest, I've read all those posts, I'm looking for a good fit road handling and off road, whilst some things may look great, they are not always the best all round option. This is my day to day car as well.

65's maybe a better choice for alround usage to be fair. yes my disco is lifted on 33's but is also my daily driver. It all depends on what amount of driving you do on which type of terrain

alex8882 said:

65's maybe a better choice for alround usage to be fair. yes my disco is lifted on 33's but is also my daily driver. It all depends on what amount of driving you do on which type of terrain

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Nothing special 70% road and 30% greenlaning and Kent winters. I dont any major muddy things. That's why I'm also not considering a lift.