New tyres, 7.50x16
Discussion
With the 80” finally getting a new garage home and the start of new parts being ordered.
I’m going to need to change the well work and perished SAT 7.50 tyres before it can go back on the road.
This seems to have thrown up a minefield of tyres and various reports of what’s good, bad and down right awful.
Car will be rebuilt for RTV competition use and will be road legal so I can drive it there and back.
It’s also going to get taken out for trips, fun days and a rather ambitious road trip of nearly 900 miles next June with mates.
So.
What’s a decent tyre that can deal with muddy conditions but not fall over when shown a damp corner. ( I live in central Scotland, we get lots of rain, and mud
)
A.J.M said:
With the 80” finally getting a new garage home and the start of new parts being ordered.
I’m going to need to change the well work and perished SAT 7.50 tyres before it can go back on the road.
This seems to have thrown up a minefield of tyres and various reports of what’s good, bad and down right awful.
Car will be rebuilt for RTV competition use and will be road legal so I can drive it there and back.
It’s also going to get taken out for trips, fun days and a rather ambitious road trip of nearly 900 miles next June with mates.
So.
What’s a decent tyre that can deal with muddy conditions but not fall over when shown a damp corner. ( I live in central Scotland, we get lots of rain, and mud
)There are quite a lot of choices out there these days. And I'm not sure any are really that bad.
At the mild end of spectrum. BFG offer their latest KM03 Mud Terrain in a 7.50 x 16. These will be very nice on the road, and to some extent capable for trials and RTV events. But on wet and/or muddy sites will languish behind more aggressive patterns.
The BFG's are also pretty pricey.
At the aggressive end of the spectrum there are the Simex Extreme Trekker copies (aka Insa Turbo Special Tracks). This pattern is produced by most of the leading remould makers. These are good off road tyres, if a little obvious. And not great on the road. IMO they aren't the ideal trials tyre though.
And while many will claim 7.50, they are huge. Many will be the same as a 235 remould and even then, some of these are physically as wide as a 265 across the tread. So you may have issues keeping them in the arches and retaining your steering lock. They also probably won't suit your 6j rims either.
Personally I still rather like the Diamond pattern for trials and off roading. They work well in most situations and turn well. And are generally narrow. They are acceptable on the road IMO.
Cheap Diamonds from Kingpin, although I've found they wear quite quickly and are rather short for a 7.50 (under 30" tall). Despite being cheap, I'd probably buy something else personally.
I really like the Black Star 7.50 Diamond, almost 32" tall and a nice lug pattern for a Diamond. But you'll have to buy from an EU based website as I haven't seen them in the UK for sale for a while.
The Femida Maxi-Grip diamond is very nice. A bit like the Black Star, however they are only available in 235/85, so are a little fatter. But still a nice tyre IMO.
The next step down is to look at the Geolander copies. Again most of the remould makers sell a tyre like this.
This tread is almost as good as the diamond off road and surprisingly acceptable on road.
The Geoloander copies come in a few different flavours. Fedima offer the "Partner", which is a super narrow variant of this tyre. They offer it in a 7.50 although it is very short (about 29" tall) for a 7.50, but tend to fit S1 wheel arches well.
The Femida Evolution and other brands of this tread pattern are all much wider and even those claiming to be a 7.50 will be just a re-stamped 235.
There are a fair few other choices so long as you want to consider 235/85's. But for RTV I'd suggest the above, apart from the BFG are your main choice.
As a left field option, I'm currently running some other Black Star tyres on my S3 88. They are Guyanne 2's, they are available in 7.50, although I'm running 7.00 x 16. They work very well. But like the Black Star diamonds, you'll need to buy from the EU.
I don’t have a set budget as it will be next year before I buy tyres.
Have plenty of other bits to buy first before the tyres but I do like to do some research and get opinions of others.
Most of my mates run Insa Turbos on their 90s and they all do ok, it then comes down to the different suspension set ups etc.
Bar one mate who has a set of Zirellis which piss all over everything.
You are right on the sizes, I don’t want to ruin the turning circle with silly sized tyres but I’m also not against changing the wheel rims to get different ones if needed for a decent tyre that won’t ruin the turning.
Have plenty of other bits to buy first before the tyres but I do like to do some research and get opinions of others.
Most of my mates run Insa Turbos on their 90s and they all do ok, it then comes down to the different suspension set ups etc.
Bar one mate who has a set of Zirellis which piss all over everything.
You are right on the sizes, I don’t want to ruin the turning circle with silly sized tyres but I’m also not against changing the wheel rims to get different ones if needed for a decent tyre that won’t ruin the turning.
camel_landy said:
Why not?
I've seen the XZL used on trials and they were very effective.
M
To be fair, they are ok on some terrain. But they don't like wet grass. In really tough conditions though, they are just out of their depth.I've seen the XZL used on trials and they were very effective.
M
Think of them as a "sporty road tyre", something you could go to a track day on. While the aggressive remoulds are more akin to semi slicks. It's that sort of difference.
I quite like XZL's for laning, they work well for this. But on some trials sites, especially if wet/during winter you would be at a serious disadvantage.
Mine on some 8.25 x 16 XZL's:
A.J.M said:
How good or bad are the fedimas then?
What’s the difference for Partner to Extreme evolution?
They seem to be similar prices.
There is actually quite a bit of difference between the Partner and the Extremes.What’s the difference for Partner to Extreme evolution?
They seem to be similar prices.
The Partner has the same style tread, but the blocks are physically smaller and the tyre itself is narrower in design. It also has a ribbed style sidewall.
The Extremes and Extreme Evolution are the same pretty much, the latter has some extra lugs on the side wall, more cosmetic than anything IMO.
Both are good tyres.
The Partners will generally cut into the ground better, but are probably worse on sand and for heavier vehicles. But will be better on grass and most mud, assuming there is something to dig down to for traction.
We have a set of both in the shed, although the Partners have had it now.
The Partners will look a lot smaller, even if they are a comparable size. The 235/85R16 Extreme is a lot wider and taller than the 7.50 Partner, which is very short for a 7.50 (about 29").
Ultimately I think the Extremes look better visually, but believe the Partners actually perform better the majority of the time.
300bhp/ton said:
To be fair, they are ok on some terrain. But they don't like wet grass. In really tough conditions though, they are just out of their depth.
Think of them as a "sporty road tyre", something you could go to a track day on. While the aggressive remoulds are more akin to semi slicks. It's that sort of difference.
I quite like XZL's for laning, they work well for this. But on some trials sites, especially if wet/during winter you would be at a serious disadvantage.
This was the requirement from the OP:Think of them as a "sporty road tyre", something you could go to a track day on. While the aggressive remoulds are more akin to semi slicks. It's that sort of difference.
I quite like XZL's for laning, they work well for this. But on some trials sites, especially if wet/during winter you would be at a serious disadvantage.
A.J.M said:
What’s a decent tyre that can deal with muddy conditions but not fall over when shown a damp corner.
Pure trialing... Some of the aggressive remolds would work nicely (though I'd still throw the XZLs into the mix & just adjust driving style to suit). As it's to be a mixture with some 'road manners', that's what would sway me to the XZLs or the BFGs you mentioned.M
We have XZL on the 88" Series One, can't fault them. They work well off road carrying tools and supplies on wooded hillside and we're unobtrusive on last year's 150 mile trip to Anglesey. They are on the "Wolf" rims which allow better steering lock than LWB rims while retaining the factory appearance.
Fedima make A SAT look alike came the Olympic.
Fedima make A SAT look alike came the Olympic.
A.J.M said:
Most of my mates run Insa Turbos on their 90s and they all do ok, it then comes down to the different suspension set ups etc.
Bar one mate who has a set of Zirellis which piss all over everything.
The Insa Turbo Special Track (sorry, pet hate "Insa Turbo is the brand, not the tread. And the tread is really a Simex pattern Bar one mate who has a set of Zirellis which piss all over everything.
). Are a good tyre and most of the remould makers have something similar. They are an aggressive tyre and more than a few have caused the early demise of diffs and half shafts. And sometimes they dig in a bit too much.Most of them are pretty wide too. Even a claimed 7.50 or 235/85, the tread lugs stick out miles and may rub on full lock or slightly stick out of the arches.
For me though, they are just a bit too predictable an option. I also don't think they have the side slope performance of a diamond. Although in certain conditions they are a very good choice.
If you really wanted this tread design, then the original Simex is actually far superior. The tread profile is slightly different and they just work much better. They also offer a 32.9.50R16 which is pretty ideal for trails vehicles. And they are cross ply, rather than radial. Which makes a big difference too IMO. But they are horrendous money!!! Last time I looked I think they were £380/each
The best Simex copy IMO are the Silverstone MT-117 Xtremes. More money than the Insa Turbo's, but better IMO.
I do actually have a pair of Special Tracks I run on the front, matched with a pair of Ziarelli Brutales on the rear. The Ziarelli's are extremely aggressive, but the lugs stick out too much for the front, unless you are prepared to accept a lot less lock.
Although, if I'm honest I prefer how it drives on diamonds.
If you fancy something different, then I would also recommend the Malatesta Kougar. It is essentially a copy of the Interco Bogger, although physically much smaller. I'd say it performs similar to a Special Track with similar side slope capability. On some terrain they have been brilliant, although I found them less good on wet grass, but only at one trials site so far.
In 238/85 they are tall and fairly narrow.
That said and done, the best trails tyre I've used are the Recip Maxi 3D's. Although I don't know anywhere that has them in stock presently.
camel_landy said:
Pure trialing... Some of the aggressive remolds would work nicely (though I'd still throw the XZLs into the mix & just adjust driving style to suit). As it's to be a mixture with some 'road manners', that's what would sway me to the XZLs or the BFGs you mentioned.
M
XZL's are ok on the road, they make a bit of a hum but generally drive pretty nice I agree. Hence why I like them for laning. But aren't great on wet tarmac IMO and not really any better than the majority of the remoulds, such as the Geolander copies talked about aboveM
But for trialing you will be at a disadvantage more often than not with XZL's. And looking at the ops vehicle, I suspect they will likely be more trials biased in it's usage, rather than commuting 10,000 miles a year in it on public roads.
Just as an example, this is a trials site we used to use. The slope is steeper than it looks in the photo. XZL's struggled and I mean really struggled to get up it. And when coming down was locked up and sideways, sliding all over the show and ultimately missing the gate the at bottom (one you were meant to drive through).
More aggressive remoulds had no trouble at all, even with the same driver.
100SRV said:
We have XZL on the 88" Series One, can't fault them. They work well off road carrying tools and supplies on wooded hillside and we're unobtrusive on last year's 150 mile trip to Anglesey. They are on the "Wolf" rims which allow better steering lock than LWB rims while retaining the factory appearance.
Fedima make A SAT look alike came the Olympic.
Perfect tyres for this kind of use. And is why the army have them as their first choice still.Fedima make A SAT look alike came the Olympic.
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