Tyre question

[A.J.M]

What is the smallest off road tyre you can buy in the uk?

width, depth and wheel size.

I have a future project in the planning stages, but will need some small off road tyres to fit on it.
So getting info just now so i can start pricing things up.

[g7jtk]

Quad bike or lawn mower tyres must be about the smallest

[anonymous-user]

Lego?

[A.J.M]

Should add, it's to be fitted to a car.

[Bill]

How "off road"? I only ask because SWMBO's car is on Kleber Quadraxer all seasons which have a M&S stamp.

[A.J.M]

Light mud, grass, gravel small rocks and possibly sandy conditions.

We are going to enter next years Mongol rally and I feel an off road tyre will likely be more durable than a normal road tyre.

Doesn't help we are going to enter with one of the most unsuitable cars for it.

[Bill]

What car?

[A.J.M]

A 2 seater, turbocharged RWD Mercedes Benz..

[Bill]

So the standard tyres aren't that small then? And a bit more ground clearance would be handy anyway, assuming they don't rub.

[A.J.M]

Have you guessed or do you need another clue?

Standards are 15s, but if I can go smaller I will try to. It's going to get some form of a lift and some underbody protection.

We aim to be the first team to start and actually finish the rally with our merc...

[Bill]

Jesus, I was thinking Roadster but they're still too expensive. Brilliant! What size are the standard tyres?

[A.J.M]

We're going to use a fourtwo coupe. With trailer, painted in Mad Max MFP interceptor colour scheme.

The fronts are 145/60/15. Or 155/60/15.
The rears are 175/55/15.

[SlimJim16v]

Maybe some M+S type loose surface rally tyres. They used to be quite small.

[PhillipM]

Autograss tyres are common in 13's, but might be far too soft for extended use.

Small diameter tyres generally are a bad idea for off-roading though...

[A.J.M]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VwacRktz2c

SFW in case people are wondering.

This is what we are signing up to do, so will need some good tyres that can cope with the conditions in the video, as it will be one less worry on the trip.

The car is the biggest worry, but the challenge of doing the above in a smart car is going to be a laugh.

So can you get tyres in 14 inch diameter or is 15s the best to go for?

[mat13]

If you can get 15's you should be able to get some bfg's to fit, just not sure how low in profile they go

[Bill]

Camskills suggest you can get Pirelli Scorpion ATR in 175/70 14 which gives a useful extra inch diameter (how much can you chop the bodywork back? ) IIRC plenty of owners use the same size tyres front and rear to try to get rid of the understeer so you might get away with it. But bear in mind the increase tyre size might foul when steering and will reduce the torque available at the wheels, which is abvious concern if you're planning to tow a trailer in mud....

[A.J.M]

Bill said:

Camskills suggest you can get Pirelli Scorpion ATR in 175/70 14 which gives a useful extra inch diameter (how much can you chop the bodywork back? ) IIRC plenty of owners use the same size tyres front and rear to try to get rid of the understeer so you might get away with it. But bear in mind the increase tyre size might foul when steering and will reduce the torque available at the wheels, which is abvious concern if you're planning to tow a trailer in mud....

14's sound idea.
Im going to be running the same size wheel all round, have a bodyshop friend who's going to trim the arches and fit those arches you find on defenders.

It is a 600cc engine fitted with the worse gearbox in history, torque is just above 3 hamsters and mud will be avoided if possible..

Will need to have a look for prices as well as we will need 4 plus spare, plus ones for trailer and spare for that. The trailers going to be one of those tiny metal efforts you get from halfrauds.

[Bill]

I'd look into fitting Smart hubs to the trailer so you can dispense with one spare, and I assume you're taking a puncture repair kit. You might even consider just taking a spare tyre rather than wheel as you need to keep the wieght to the absolute minimum.

Maybe build your own trailer out of a Smart subframe.

[A.J.M]

Was planning in filling the tyres with that self healing gel stuff to help minimize punctures.

The trailer's going to be 2nd hand, and cheap.

Have found these tyres...
http://www.camskill.co.uk/m26b0s243p59572/Insa_Tur...

These could be good if i can get the car to suit them.

Will be looking into hubs etc, have signed up to a smart car forum to get the full run down on them, for strengths and weaknesses so i can get it properly set up for this rather mad challenge.