BFG AT versus Good Year MT/R

[100SRV]

Hi,
I've just bought a Defender 110 which has BFG AT tyres on deep dish alloy wheels, I also have a set of Good Year Wrangler MT/R on tubeless HD steel wheels (I need one new tyre to replace a badly worn one). I originally bought the MT/Rs to put on my other 110" instead of the (very mild) Grabber TRs, long before the "new" 110 became available which is how I ended up with two very similar types of tyre.

The 110" wil be used for a mix of road and green laning, often solo, Both tyre types are 235/85R16
I plan to sell the alloy wheels because I don't really like them and they limit the turning circle.
Bearing the use type in mind what are PHers experiences of both tyre types in mixed use?

[camel_landy]

Personally, I'd go MTR.

Road manners are fine and they're a little more off-road biased than the AT.

M

[100SRV]

camel_landy said:

Personally, I'd go MTR.

Road manners are fine and they're a little more off-road biased than the AT.

M

Thinking the same.

Got to say I was pleased with them after many years on the Grabber TR, no major impact on grip or road noise.

We had to use them in 2003 on the BTCC as a control tyre and were underwhelmed but think that was because we were using the more aggressive Fedima tyres.

[SlimJim16v]

I would go for the BFG ATs, quite an aggressive AT and should be enough for green lanes. They'll obviously be better on road and are snow rated. The Goodyear MT/RS are very good on road for an MT, but still not great.

Edited by SlimJim16v on Thursday 6th January 20:31

[100SRV]

SlimJim16v said:

I would go for the BFG MTs, quite an aggressive AT and should be enough for green lanes. They'll obviously be better on road and are snow rated. The Goodyear MT/RS are very good on road for an MT, but still not great.

Thanks but I'm not looking to buy new tyres just decide between what I already have.

[SlimJim16v]

100SRV said:

Thanks but I'm not looking to buy new tyres just decide between what I already have.

Sorry, I meant BFG ATs, which you have. I'll amend the post too.

[Calite]

SlimJim16v said:

I would go for the BFG ATs, quite an aggressive AT and should be enough for green lanes. They'll obviously be better on road and are snow rated. The Goodyear MT/RS are very good on road for an MT, but still not great.

Edited by SlimJim16v on Thursday 6th January 20:31

This, for a 4x4 playing double duty as a road/daily driver I don't think there's a better tyre about than a BFG AT.

With the exception of something very lightweight (i.e Jimnys) that imo benefits from a lighter duty sidewall like a General Grabber AT3

If it's purely a toy then definitely go full MT.

[yellowstreak]

I have the BFG ATs on my 80 series. So far they have been great. They are not noisy on the road and have been superb in the mud.

[Miserablegit]

I’ve been using BFG ATs for 14 years and highly
recommend them- great in snow.
Only replaced them with the same when they got “old” based on date code rather than wearing out.

[100SRV]

Thanks for all the experience from BFG users, sounds like I should be saving to get the tyres swapped between each set.

[300bhp/ton]

100SRV said:

Hi,
I've just bought a Defender 110 which has BFG AT tyres on deep dish alloy wheels, I also have a set of Good Year Wrangler MT/R on tubeless HD steel wheels (I need one new tyre to replace a badly worn one). I originally bought the MT/Rs to put on my other 110" instead of the (very mild) Grabber TRs, long before the "new" 110 became available which is how I ended up with two very similar types of tyre.

The 110" wil be used for a mix of road and green laning, often solo, Both tyre types are 235/85R16
I plan to sell the alloy wheels because I don't really like them and they limit the turning circle.
Bearing the use type in mind what are PHers experiences of both tyre types in mixed use?

Did you get sorted on this?

We have 2 new'ish 90's on the farm. Well they were both bought new and done about 15,000 miles each and are in mint condition really. Ones on a 12 plate, the other a 65 plate (Feb 2016 delivery, right at the end of production). From the factory they have MTR's fitted.

Personally I'd say they are a pretty dreadful tyre. Very skittish in the snow and so darn noisy on the road. Both of these 90s are quite refined and quiet for Land Rovers and the MTRs are very very evident on them. We had some KM3 BGF MT's fitted to the 65 plate for a while. They were notably a lot quieter and road no worse.

The MTR has pretty decent dry tarmac manners, just the noise is awful. And of course use in snow. Lastly they are completely hopeless in mud too, at least chalky clay mud round here.

TBH based on how much better most other tyres are on and off road. I'm staggered how Land Rover signed the MTR off as standard factory fit. Probably also worth noting that in other markets outside the UK, the MTR has a totally different tread pattern too.

[100SRV]

I kept the MT/R on the tubeless HD rims.
These or the AT would both struggle in clay.
They do whirr on tarmac but grip is acceptable, snow performance largely irrelevant since we have so little.

Bear in mind that my other regular car is a Bowler on Kumho KL71 so I'm not looking for saloon car levels of refinement or grip.

[Familymad]

Agree re the MTR. Cyclic humming noise gets worse as the tread wears too.

[100SRV]

Familymad said:

Agree re the MTR. Cyclic humming noise gets worse as the tread wears too.

Did you try swapping the running side so they rotated in the opposite direction and did that make any difference?

[100SRV]

Familymad said:

Agree re the MTR. Cyclic humming noise gets worse as the tread wears too.

Related to this I've noticed on some surfaces around 50 to 60mph it feels like the 'Rover is driving on a mildly corrugated surface. Need to have a look at the tyres to see if they are wearing oddly and whether changing the direction of rotation might help.