Anyone running an L405 on 20" wheels - Smoother than 22's?

[Mulsanne-Speed]

I have a 2016 Range Rover Autobiography 4.4 SDV8 which is currently running on 22" Turbine alloy wheels - While I love the way it looks with these bigger wheels, it's nowhere near as smooth as my old 2007 L322 4.4 petrol which runs on 19" wheels.

I'm thinking about changing the 22' wheels down to 20"s:

Has anyone done the same? Is it a lot smoother for the downgrade? And is it worth the change?

Please advise?

Many thanks

[London GT3]

My 2017 Autobiography came on 21’s and I bought a set of 20’s with Pirelli Scorpions (they are actually the 2018 Vogue design). I bought them new (but from eBay) and they are noticeably better on rough London roads.

I have run Range Rovers for the last 6 years. Great cars, especially for commuting but London’s roads are awful and anything you can do to improve it will help.

[London GT3]

This is the guy I bought mine from. He has another set here with Pirelli Scorpions:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RANGE-ROVER-VOGUE-20-SI...

[Mulsanne-Speed]

Thanks for that London GT3 - Is it only noticeably quieter / softer when you hit a pothole....... Or is it quieter / smoother in general - For example a less firmer ride / less tyre noise?

Many thanks

[The Wookie]

Try a set of tyres with cavity foam, I think we put ContiSilents on my parents L405 with 22’s to replace the standard Contis and it made a big difference to the rolling comfort and road noise. I never hit a pothole in it now and cringe, although the ride in their old L322 probably has the edge still in terms of plushness

Not sure what the OE options are for tyres, generally I find Michelin’s ride the best, it’s what I use on the Cayenne

[London GT3]

Sorry for the delay. Just coming back to this.

My 21’s were Continentals so it may not be a completely fair comparison based just on size.

I have always preferred Pirelli Scorpion on my L322 FFRR and I therefore carried forward this preference on the L405 FFRR.

I commute from Hertfordshire to London Bridge across central London. The improvement in compliance is noticeable (the moment you hit the speed humps or pot holes). I don’t notice a perceptible change in noise - both are very quiet as far as road noise in concerned. So on balance I would say it is a slight improvement in overall comfort and especially when the going gets rough!

[Mulsanne-Speed]

Thanks The Wookie - I know Bentley are putting these foam filled tyres on the new 2018 Mulsanne, and feedback has been good.

Thank you also to London GT3, It's good to know that the difference is noticeable. Short term I'll either go smaller rims or foam filled - Long term, I think I'm going to have to look at a 5.0 SC Petrol with smaller rims, I think it's the only way that I'm going to get close to our 2007 4.4 Vogue Petrol's quietness.

I did have a 5.0 SC Petrol on order but Land Rover kept moving the delivery date, it would have taken 9 months from date of order if I hadn't cancelled!

Thanks again to both of you for your comments

[trowelhead]

I'm currently in a 2018 RRS with 22" - ride is good but probably would be better on smaller wheels.

Just wondering if in the real world, the outlay would be worth it... Probably would cost £2-3k for new set of wheels...

[flat6gallivant]

I had similar questions to you and 3 years ago bought a set of 20 inch RR wheels shod eith Pirelli all season tyres to replace the factory Pirelli 21’s in an attempt to improve the ride on my l405.

There are low speed ride improvements on the 20’s. Definitely closer ride to l322.

However the trade off is the car then didn’t feel so capable on B roads, dynamic ability fell away quite sharply I found especially at the front end. Appreciate this car is no racer and motorway etc was fine but as we all know it is a nice place to make decent progress on any road.

The following spring I dug out the set of 21 inch wheels and replaced the Pirelli Verde 21 tyres for equivalent size Michelin summer tyres. Mainly as past experience indicated softer ride on Michelin. Definite ride improvements over Pirelli 21’s and better ‘feel’ and I think perhaps the same or better than running Pirelli 20’s.

So much so that the Pirelli 20’s that I had been running all year round at that point didn’t go back on and are now winter use only.

Hope that helps.

Ps- Perhaps someone on here can shed some light on the difference the dynamic roll system makes to the ride. The reason I ask is it feels like the pressures LR use have been pumped up over the years to remove the dreaded l405 front end knock/rattle that sounds like a worn bush, to the detriment of the ride, especially into pot holes/sharp undulations etc!

[The Wookie]

If that rattle is the same as we had on ours it was pad rattle!

[flat6gallivant]

Will keep an ear out for pad rattle - not has that one before!