Defender V8 Tyre Choice

[skwdenyer]

Wondering if I can get some data points? I realise there's no such thing as a settled view on tyres!

I have a 1986 110 V8. Currently on Wolf rims and General Grabber AT 235/85R16s. The Grabbers are too old to be safe and need to go, and I haven't found their wet grip to be anything to write home about.

So, looking for options. This is a weekend utility truck, not a DD. Equally I don't do much off-roading - maybe 20% of mileage in a year. Living high up in the Yorkshire Dales, it is however a "last line of defence" device too. So need some reasonable off road ability, but probably not a full-on mud tyre (no winch for a start).

Don't really want no-name tyres, but equally (as ever) an old V8 landie is a bit of a money pit, so would rather hold some cash back to spend on repairs and upgrades rather than the most extreme set of boots!

Options I'm looking at so far include:

Cooper Discoverer AT3 - seem very reasonably priced, some good reviews, but don't seem awfully "tough"
General Grabber TR - seem more road-oriented, but is their off-road performance terrible?
Cooper Discoverer St Maxx - seem to have more off road potential?
Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure - good reviews for non-mud conditions (see https://www.4x4community.co.za/forum/showthread.ph... and especially the link to the magazine tyre test PDF)

Is there anything else at a similar price point I should be considering, or anything to avoid?

Thanks!

[bakerstreet]

skwdenyer said:

Wondering if I can get some data points? I realise there's no such thing as a settled view on tyres!

I have a 1986 110 V8. Currently on Wolf rims and General Grabber AT 235/85R16s. The Grabbers are too old to be safe and need to go, and I haven't found their wet grip to be anything to write home about.

So, looking for options. This is a weekend utility truck, not a DD. Equally I don't do much off-roading - maybe 20% of mileage in a year. Living high up in the Yorkshire Dales, it is however a "last line of defence" device too. So need some reasonable off road ability, but probably not a full-on mud tyre (no winch for a start).

Don't really want no-name tyres, but equally (as ever) an old V8 landie is a bit of a money pit, so would rather hold some cash back to spend on repairs and upgrades rather than the most extreme set of boots!

Options I'm looking at so far include:

Cooper Discoverer AT3 - seem very reasonably priced, some good reviews, but don't seem awfully "tough"
General Grabber TR - seem more road-oriented, but is their off-road performance terrible?
Cooper Discoverer St Maxx - seem to have more off road potential?
Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure - good reviews for non-mud conditions (see https://www.4x4community.co.za/forum/showthread.ph... and especially the link to the magazine tyre test PDF)

Is there anything else at a similar price point I should be considering, or anything to avoid?

Thanks!

A more aggressive At or Mt is going to worse in the wet than AT3s!

I ran GG AT3s on my D3. I never once slid it in the wet. Never even felt like it was about to let go. All the tyres you have listed there are pretty expensive. What upgrades do you think the LR needs?

If you really think the GGAT3s aren't suitable (which they 100% are), the good years look like quite a mild AT.

All this depends on what sort of driving you do.

[300bhp/ton]

There are loads of good tyres these days tbh.

The better they are off road, generally the worse on road. But you've said you don't want want off road, but they must be good off road????


Remoulds will be the most cost effective to buy, and to be honest there are some good ones. Although these days, some new tyres cost hardly any more.

I really wouldn't worry too much about the name either.


Anything with sipes will be better than those without for wet roads.

https://www.tyresdirectuk.co.uk/tyres/tyresall/pag...

[skwdenyer]

bakerstreet said:

skwdenyer said:

Wondering if I can get some data points? I realise there's no such thing as a settled view on tyres!

I have a 1986 110 V8. Currently on Wolf rims and General Grabber AT 235/85R16s. The Grabbers are too old to be safe and need to go, and I haven't found their wet grip to be anything to write home about.

So, looking for options. This is a weekend utility truck, not a DD. Equally I don't do much off-roading - maybe 20% of mileage in a year. Living high up in the Yorkshire Dales, it is however a "last line of defence" device too. So need some reasonable off road ability, but probably not a full-on mud tyre (no winch for a start).

Don't really want no-name tyres, but equally (as ever) an old V8 landie is a bit of a money pit, so would rather hold some cash back to spend on repairs and upgrades rather than the most extreme set of boots!

Options I'm looking at so far include:

Cooper Discoverer AT3 - seem very reasonably priced, some good reviews, but don't seem awfully "tough"
General Grabber TR - seem more road-oriented, but is their off-road performance terrible?
Cooper Discoverer St Maxx - seem to have more off road potential?
Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure - good reviews for non-mud conditions (see https://www.4x4community.co.za/forum/showthread.ph... and especially the link to the magazine tyre test PDF)

Is there anything else at a similar price point I should be considering, or anything to avoid?

Thanks!

A more aggressive At or Mt is going to worse in the wet than AT3s!

I ran GG AT3s on my D3. I never once slid it in the wet. Never even felt like it was about to let go. All the tyres you have listed there are pretty expensive. What upgrades do you think the LR needs?

If you really think the GGAT3s aren't suitable (which they 100% are), the good years look like quite a mild AT.

All this depends on what sort of driving you do.

I'm not on AT3s - they're much older

Agree about expense, but I have zero experience with the "off brand" makes upon which to base a decision I'd be happy to get cheaper boots, but honestly don't know where to start in evaluating choices.

[skwdenyer]

300bhp/ton said:

There are loads of good tyres these days tbh.

The better they are off road, generally the worse on road. But you've said you don't want want off road, but they must be good off road????


Remoulds will be the most cost effective to buy, and to be honest there are some good ones. Although these days, some new tyres cost hardly any more.

I really wouldn't worry too much about the name either.


Anything with sipes will be better than those without for wet roads.

https://www.tyresdirectuk.co.uk/tyres/tyresall/pag...

Thanks. Remoulds I looked at (ImsaTurbo?), but I'm old enough to remember when that was a very poor choice, and the price didn't seem especially attractive for the possible downsides.

Aware of my dichotomy re performance. I'm looking for an all terrain option I guess

[fredd1e]

Conti CrossContact AT in 235/85x16. Had good wet/dry grip on road and an AT tread for those not too muddy offroad jaunts when I had them on my old 110TDCI CSW

[300bhp/ton]

Not sure I can recall a time when Insa Turbo wasn't a good choice tbh. Have been running remoulds on and off among other tyres for over 20 years.

Remoulds generally wear a bit quicker, but for many they end up changing tyres because they are old, not worn. So it's no big deal really.

These Maxxis tyres are a 'new' not remould tyre and are a good price. They look like they should be pretty handy all round and likely one of the better AT's off road. On road they might not be the best, but likely more than good enough for most people most of the time.

https://www.tyresdirectuk.co.uk/product/at-980-235...




If you want something more road biased, then I'd probably go for something like a the Geolander AT.
https://www.tyresdirectuk.co.uk/product/geolandar-...

[skwdenyer]

300bhp/ton said:

Not sure I can recall a time when Insa Turbo wasn't a good choice tbh. Have been running remoulds on and off among other tyres for over 20 years.

Remoulds generally wear a bit quicker, but for many they end up changing tyres because they are old, not worn. So it's no big deal really.

These Maxxis tyres are a 'new' not remould tyre and are a good price. They look like they should be pretty handy all round and likely one of the better AT's off road. On road they might not be the best, but likely more than good enough for most people most of the time.

https://www.tyresdirectuk.co.uk/product/at-980-235...




If you want something more road biased, then I'd probably go for something like a the Geolander AT.
https://www.tyresdirectuk.co.uk/product/geolandar-...

Thanks. I wasn't clear; I recall back in my youth (!) being advised against remoulds on the basis that (a) there were question marks over the history of the carcass, and (b) over the durability of the retread. I'm sure the world has moved on, but my thinking (or preconceptions!) haven't

Thanks to all. I've ordered Cooper Discoverer A/T3 Sport at £90 each, so we'll see how those pan out.

[300bhp/ton]

skwdenyer said:

Thanks. I wasn't clear; I recall back in my youth (!) being advised against remoulds on the basis that (a) there were question marks over the history of the carcass, and (b) over the durability of the retread. I'm sure the world has moved on, but my thinking (or preconceptions!) haven't

Sadly that's the same BS always spouted out about remoulds. Never yet seen such an option based on any facts though.

[skwdenyer]

300bhp/ton said:

skwdenyer said:

Thanks. I wasn't clear; I recall back in my youth (!) being advised against remoulds on the basis that (a) there were question marks over the history of the carcass, and (b) over the durability of the retread. I'm sure the world has moved on, but my thinking (or preconceptions!) haven't

Sadly that's the same BS always spouted out about remoulds. Never yet seen such an option based on any facts though.

Fair enough. My childhood was really rather a long time ago, too

[blueST]

What about Nokian Rotiva AT? It’s a road biased AT, but has good cold weather performance for those Yorkshire winters. It has the mountain snowflake rating but isn’t their full on winter, but will be better than most. They also do a full winter in Defender size with a name I can’t spell.

[bakerstreet]

300bhp/ton said:

Sadly that's the same BS always spouted out about remoulds. Never yet seen such an option based on any facts though.

Yep, I've heard it all. I had re-moulds on my old Pajero off roader. They were pretty big and aggressive but sounded fine on the road. I also have re-mould MTs on my Series, but to be honest a series makes so many noises, its difficult to tell them apart!

Will probably go for them again.

What shocks a lot of people is Aircraft tyres are re-moulds

[skwdenyer]

blueST said:

What about Nokian Rotiva AT? It’s a road biased AT, but has good cold weather performance for those Yorkshire winters. It has the mountain snowflake rating but isn’t their full on winter, but will be better than most. They also do a full winter in Defender size with a name I can’t spell.

Thanks. I couldn't see a decent price on Nokians, so I went with the Cooper option. Happy to feed back here once I've tried them a bit.

[skwdenyer]

bakerstreet said:

300bhp/ton said:

Sadly that's the same BS always spouted out about remoulds. Never yet seen such an option based on any facts though.

Yep, I've heard it all. I had re-moulds on my old Pajero off roader. They were pretty big and aggressive but sounded fine on the road. I also have re-mould MTs on my Series, but to be honest a series makes so many noises, its difficult to tell them apart!

Will probably go for them again.

What shocks a lot of people is Aircraft tyres are re-moulds

Back in my youth (!) Colways were the tyre of choice for the impecunious club rally crowd. In fairness, there used (and I mean 1970s/80s) to be a lot of horror stories about retreads, and standards were pretty variable.

This is the current ROSPA advice:

ROSPA said:

What standards govern the production of retreaded tyres?

In the past, retread tyres have been manufactured in accordance with BS AU 44e. However, this standard did not specify a type approval test for retreaded tyres, which would guarantee a standard tyre quality.

On 1st January in 2004, ECE Regulations 108 and 109 came into effect, making it mandatory for retreaded tyres to be subject to a type approval test. This ensures that retread manufacturers must meet a specified basic standard in terms of the tyres' suitability for retreading prior to the process, and their performance after it. It is now illegal to sell retreaded tyres that that do not have the "e" mark.

Are there any problems with retreaded tyres?

In the majority of cases, retreaded tyres perform satisfactorily, provided the manufacturer's guidance about maximum vehicle loadings and maximum speeds is followed. Like all tyres; overloading, sustained high speeds, and under or over-inflation all contribute to increased tyre wear and/or premature failure.

Never buy a retreaded tyre without the "e" mark.

So, yes, in the past there was a potential for sub-standard retread tyres, but that has (in theory) been scotched by EU regulations. I realise a lot of HGV tyres are retreads; it is also worth recalling it used to be pretty common to see delaminated treads from HGV tyres adorning the road verges

[pja]

You won’t be disappointed in the Coppers, I have them on my V8 & they are great on & off road

[sparkythecat]

After much deliberation, I put some Toyo Open Country AT tyres on my old Shogun a few months ago. I'm very happy with them.
Best price at the time was from Demon Tweeks

[skwdenyer]

pja said:

You won’t be disappointed in the Coppers, I have them on my V8 & they are great on & off road

Thank you. Tyres currently sitting in wrappers; SWMBO has had other ideas for my time this week

[skwdenyer]

sparkythecat said:

After much deliberation, I put some Toyo Open Country AT tyres on my old Shogun a few months ago. I'm very happy with them.
Best price at the time was from Demon Tweeks

How have you found them off-road (if at all)? Demon Tweeks do seem cheap for them, but sadly don't have them in the right size for a Landie.

[sparkythecat]

They've been good enough for anything I've used it for, but it's only been field and track, nothing really challenging.