What road tyres are best for my Defender 2" lift

Lej · Sep 10, 2018

Hi all,

So I currently have a colossal set of BFG all terrains on my defender which are spot on for off roading, but I've recently had to commute a fair distance regularly and have realised that they just aren't practical for a number of reasons.

I'm after a few of things;

Tyres that won't look ridiculous on a 2" lift.
Tyres that will last.
Tyres that don't add to all the noise.
Tyres that are not too big as to increase wear on drive components.

Any help is appreciated,

Thank you!

Landy-Sam · Sep 10, 2018

Have you considered the Discoverer Cooper STT Pro's ?

neilly · Sep 10, 2018

Landy-Sam said:
Have you considered the Discoverer Cooper STT Pro's ?

As I understood it from @bankz5152 , he thought they were a bit noisy for MWay cruising.

Cheers

bankz5152 · Sep 10, 2018

Yup very. Try STMaxx I do 60 - 100 miles a day without issue

Landy-Sam · Sep 10, 2018

neilly said:
As I understood it from @bankz5152 , he thought they were a bit noisy for MWay cruising.

Cheers

Because a lot of the reviews say that they are not too bad for on road use as they are 80% offroad and 20% on road so there apparently not too noisy.

neilly · Sep 10, 2018

Landy-Sam said:
Because a lot of the reviews say that they are not too bad for on road use as they are 80% offroad and 20% on road so there apparently not too noisy.

OK, thanks, so do you have them fitted?

Cheers

300bhp/ton · Sep 10, 2018

Lej said:
Hi all,

So I currently have a colossal set of BFG all terrains on my defender which are spot on for off roading, but I've recently had to commute a fair distance regularly and have realised that they just aren't practical for a number of reasons.

I'm after a few of things;

Tyres that won't look ridiculous on a 2" lift.
Tyres that will last.
Tyres that don't add to all the noise.
Tyres that are not too big as to increase wear on drive components.

Any help is appreciated,

Thank you!

BFG AT’s are ideal for road use. Hence being standard fit on many vehicles.

Retroanaconda · Sep 10, 2018

Indeed. I’ve had several sets of road tyres and BFG ATs on mine and never noticed a difference in noise or fuel economy. Last set of BFGs did 72,000 miles in two years, so very good value for money also.

A set of 235/85/R16 BFG ATs and lose the 2” lift would be my recommendation.

1988smithy · Sep 10, 2018

Retroanaconda said:
A set of 235/85/R16 BFG AT

Exactly what I run on standard suspension, had them on my disco 2 as well. Very well mannered on road and more than capable for the off roading I've done at the landy shows and anything else you'd attempt in a standard defender I would've thought

300bhp/ton · Sep 10, 2018

1988smithy said:
Exactly what I run on standard suspension, had them on my disco 2 as well. Very well mannered on road and more than capable for the off roading I've done at the landy shows and anything else you'd attempt in a standard defender I would've thought

They are good for general use. Hence the name “all terrain”. Not much cop for serious muddy off roading in the U.K. though. They are more designed for the US market. Their terrain is quite different to ours.

But highly capable all round tyres.

Standard Defenders are perfectly capable of quite serious off roading however.

1988smithy · Sep 10, 2018

300bhp/ton said:
They are good for general use. Hence the name “all terrain”. Not much cop for serious muddy off roading in the U.K. though. Standard Defenders are perfectly capable of quite serious off roading however.

Yes, I've found they dont grip as well as they look like they should in deep claggy mud. If I was doing 'serious' off roading regularly in a standard defender I'd be running muds.

@Lej are yours the original bfg AT's or the new(ish) KO2s?

haza88 · Sep 10, 2018

I ran insa all terrains , direct pattern of bfg allterains but half the price and no road noise , and half the price great tyres

Lej · Sep 10, 2018

Retroanaconda said:
Indeed. I’ve had several sets of road tyres and BFG ATs on mine and never noticed a difference in noise or fuel economy. Last set of BFGs did 72,000 miles in two years, so very good value for money also.

A set of 235/85/R16 BFG ATs and lose the 2” lift would be my recommendation.

I did look at these, I know BFG's have some of the best on the market, I do however want to keep the 2" lift because I will be keeping my much larger tyres for winter and when I do eventually take it off-roading again. My concern is whether these would look ridiculous if i didn't lose the lift?

bankz5152 · Sep 10, 2018

Landy-Sam said:
Because a lot of the reviews say that they are not too bad for on road use as they are 80% offroad and 20% on road so there apparently not too noisy.

What I thought. Sold them less than a year later when i started driving daily and long distance.

1988smithy · Sep 10, 2018

300bhp/ton said:
They are more designed for the US market. Their terrain is quite different to ours.

Read this elsewhere and would probably have to agree, they are excellent in gravel/rocky Sandy stuff. Fantastic in the snow as well.

Just to clarify I'm running the KO2s

300bhp/ton · Sep 10, 2018

Lej said:
I did look at these, I know BFG's have some of the best on the market, I do however want to keep the 2" lift because I will be keeping my much larger tyres for winter and when I do eventually take it off-roading again. My concern is whether these would look ridiculous if i didn't lose the lift?

Your opening post says you already have BFG AT’s ????

Lej · Sep 10, 2018

1988smithy said:
Yes, I've found they dont grip as well as they look like they should in deep claggy mud. If I was doing 'serious' off roading regularly in a standard defender I'd be running muds.

@Lej are yours the original bfg AT's or the new(ish) KO2s?

They're the originals

Retroanaconda · Sep 10, 2018

300bhp/ton said:
Not much cop for serious muddy off roading in the U.K. though. They are more designed for the US market. Their terrain is quite different to ours.

Quite agree, they’re no good for proper mud plugging. They work for me because of my road use and because the off-reading I do undertake is generally on hard rocky/gravelly routes for which they are very well suited. They also work well in snow.

Lej · Sep 10, 2018

300bhp/ton said:
Your opening post says you already have BFG AT’s ????

Yes, but I have far larger ones which would only end up costing me money rather than saving me money. I would hope with them being smaller it would make the noise more tolerable and decrease wear on bearings, as well as economy and helping my landy not feel like so much of a boat lol.

neilly · Sep 10, 2018

Lej said:
I would hope with them being smaller

Do you mean width or diameter? or both?

Cheers

What road tyres are best for my Defender 2" lift

Active Member

Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Active Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Active Member

Well-Known Member

Active Member

Well-Known Member

Similar threads