[bil.007]

SUGGESTIONS FOR HARRIER TYRES

Hello Team-BHPians,

I require some suggestions for the tyres of my Harrier.
Currently, it’s running on stock Bridgestone Ecopias 235/60/R18 103V.

Recently I visited some parts of rural India, and at the time it was raining cats & dogs, what happened was as there was no proper road available I had to go through these wet patches of land which had soft mud throughout. I was sceptical if the Harrier would make it through the uneven ‘kacha’ route, entered the soft patch and all of a sudden the car started sliding here and there, luckily either side of the road was not steep and hence wasn’t very dangerous at least this time round, it was like it was on a multidirectional slide (off-roading enthusiast must be knowing the technical term for this if there’s any), even tried to manoeuvre through the route by firmly holding the steering wheel pointing towards the direction of the route but didn’t feel like the car was in my control. This repeatedly happened further on the entire patch until it was over. Even tried changing traction modes to Wet and Rough Road but didn’t help much. Upon checking the tyres they were coated with wet mud.



Honestly, I was disappointed and expected the Harrier to hold itself better. Now I do understand that FWDs have their limitations but they should stay composed in such scenarios (at least not slide everywhere!). It felt like rally racing through mud except the car was just going through and I didn’t have much control over it.

What I want to understand is why this scenario has happened, I mean yes it’s because of the wet mud but what about the technical aspect and how can I overcome this? Should I go with All Terrain Tyres or something of that sort? Also if this is related to the tyres I'd prefer low road noise and great grip ones.

I mostly drive on concrete highways up to 125km per day 3-4 times a week and sometimes head onto rural patches like these whose frequency would only increase in the coming months.

Any feedback and suggestion would be highly appreciated.
Looking forward to learning more, always.

Cheers,
Bil.007

[DicKy]

Can't do much, other than to work the steering. Even most proper SUVs will slide around slush with their stock tyres. In my experience, the off-roading modes in the Harrier does make a difference in slush, especially Rough mode, not Wet mode. We can feel the brakes doing their work to keep traction. But the sliding will continue, just that you will have some sort of control.

At the end of the day it is a heavy FWD crossover, with a couple of ESP modes. Not an off-roader, how much Tata tries to push the LR pedigree.

Do check this thread.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-...oads-poll.html (SUV tyres for Indian Roads - Poll)

Changing to AT tyres would be helpful as ordinary tyres, especially mud caked ones will behave just like slick tyres on mud.

[Sheel]

If you are venturing on mud, within 10 meters, your tires would be coated with mud, the grooves will be filled, leaving you with wet slicks (kind of). An AT will help, but not by much. This will be true for FWD's as well as RWD's. I will pick a FWD any day over a RWD on low traction situation.

If you see yourself regularly visiting these type of roads, you have to take a more suitable SUV over these terrains.

[NomadSK]

This happens because it’s a FWD vehicle and it relies on front wheel for turning and acceleration. If your momentum is more in such slippery conditions, steering inputs are likely to be less precise in such conditions and you would continue to go straight inspite of turning your steering.

How I would tackle such situation would be, lower gear, least but adequate throttle and feel the traction to come out of the tricky situation. Any undesired extra momentum or Revvs will let it go in unwanted directions.

If these roads are your regular go-to types, then either go with AWD’s or better with proper 4x4’s

[GTO]

Don't sweat too much over it. If you venture on unfamiliar territory, you will get stuck. I've even gotten beached / stuck in my Classic & Thar 4x4s. Laugh & enjoy the experience .

Get A/T tyres only if you will be encountering tricky terrains frequently. Else, stick to on-road tyres for their superior performance on-road.

[Guna]

Once the tyres start loosing traction, even wet grass can be too slippery to come out of it, especially on a 2WD car (I have seen trucks getting stuck on wet grass). AT tyres would have helped but not much. In the terrain that is seen in the picture (soft-wet soil, short, water soaked grass), even soft-roaders with some kind of 4WD can get challenged.

[Geo_Ipe]

Originally Posted by bil.007

Honestly, I was disappointed and expected the Harrier to hold itself better. Now I do understand that FWDs have their limitations but they should stay composed in such scenarios (at least not slide everywhere!). It felt like rally racing through mud except the car was just going through and I didn’t have much control over it.

I don't think the tyres are to blame there. The wet grass/mud looks like proper 4*4 territory where any FWD or RWD would have struggled. All Terrain or Mud Terrain tyres might have given you a bit of advantage, but not much.

Contemplate switching to a proper 4*4 with a low range transfer case I you intend to do more of these terrains. I would suggest the new Scorpio-N!

[bil.007]

Firstly,
Appreciate every one of you for all the inputs provided.

After analysing all the multiple inputs, seems that situations like these are meant to turn out the way they were, although a proper 4*4 could have easend up things, but probably not a world of difference especially in this case.So not really disappointed with the Harrier now; regardless of this it’s hands down the Highway King!(detailed review on this soon)

As of now planning to stick with the stock tyres, although would definitely be interested in AT ones at the time of change.

However, I’ve recently installed Continental UC6 on my Brezza (changed at 35k km) and the braking especially has become insanely good ( had Apollo Alnac 4Gs prior) . Feels like I can stop the car at any given point with great confidence. I Had in mind to get the same tyres for the Harrier but turns out due to the nature of the vehicle and the routes I’ve got to tackle, AT’s would compliment it best.

Also the decision for a proper 4*4 addition to my garage has only strengthened. Looking forward to the 5 door Thar and hopefully it suffices my requirements as the 3 door really couldn’t at-least in terms of space.

Thanks once again.
Until next time.

Cheers,
Bil.007

[Shubhendra]

Originally Posted by bil.007

Honestly, I was disappointed and expected the Harrier to hold itself better. Now I do understand that FWDs have their limitations but they should stay composed in such scenarios (at least not slide everywhere!). It felt like rally racing through mud except the car was just going through and I didn’t have much control over it.

What I want to understand is why this scenario has happened, I mean yes it’s because of the wet mud but what about the technical aspect and how can I overcome this? Should I go with All Terrain Tyres or something of that sort? Also if this is related to the tyres I'd prefer low road noise and great grip ones.

You cant do much with 2wd cars, sticky mud coats the entire tyre in a few minutes. Even a proper 4WD SUVs with HT tyres and heavy weight get bogged down in monsoon slush.
An aggressive tyre (BF Goodrich, Continental Cross Contact, UM 4X4 etc.) may help a little but will increase road noise and hard ride.
If you are going to use the same route frequently, small pebbles, tree branches will help increase the traction (only if its not a deep mud).

[gandharjc]

Your usage is 99% highways, from what I read.
Mudding was an outlier.
Don't change to AT for the remaining 1%.
ATs have worse grip on-road, longer braking distances and are noisier. They also ride quite stiff.

If you want to go PROPER mudding, get a lightweight 4WD + MT (mud terrain) tyres.

Analogy: Tractor tyres. Large grooves. Terrible grip on road. But do very well in mud.

[AirbusCapt]

Originally Posted by bil.007

SUGGESTIONS FOR HARRIER TYRES

Hello Team-BHPians,

I require some suggestions for the tyres of my Harrier.
Currently, it’s running on stock Bridgestone Ecopias 235/60/R18 103V.

Recently I visited some parts of rural India, and at the time it was raining cats & dogs, what happened was as there was no proper road available I had to go through these wet patches of land which had soft mud throughout. I was sceptical if the Harrier would make it through the uneven ‘kacha’ route, entered the soft patch and all of a sudden the car started sliding here and there, luckily either side of the road was not steep and hence wasn’t very dangerous at least this time round, it was like it was on a multidirectional slide (off-roading enthusiast must be knowing the technical term for this if there’s any), even tried to manoeuvre through the route by firmly holding the steering wheel pointing towards the direction of the route but didn’t feel like the car was in my control. This repeatedly happened further on the entire patch until it was over. Even tried changing traction modes to Wet and Rough Road but didn’t help much. Upon checking the tyres they were coated with wet mud.

Attachment 2470339

Honestly, I was disappointed and expected the Harrier to hold itself better. Now I do understand that FWDs have their limitations but they should stay composed in such scenarios (at least not slide everywhere!). It felt like rally racing through mud except the car was just going through and I didn’t have much control over it.

What I want to understand is why this scenario has happened, I mean yes it’s because of the wet mud but what about the technical aspect and how can I overcome this? Should I go with All Terrain Tyres or something of that sort? Also if this is related to the tyres I'd prefer low road noise and great grip ones.

I mostly drive on concrete highways up to 125km per day 3-4 times a week and sometimes head onto rural patches like these whose frequency would only increase in the coming months.

Any feedback and suggestion would be highly appreciated.
Looking forward to learning more, always.

Cheers,
Bil.007

Its all about throttle modulation. In a no grip situation, a heavy throttle will lead to problems as described above. What needs to be done is first select and hold on to one gear (either 1st or the second) and modulate the throttle just enough to ensure the car doesnt stall, or wheelspin. This will ensure a slow and even progress through wet mud, slush or ice. The steering will feel like you are steering through empty air, you just hold on to the steering to prevent any untoward turning, give gentle inputs and point the car in the general direction you want to travel.
If the car slides uncontrollably you need to remove your foot off the accelerator, but dont brake. Let the car stop by itself.
In the worst case with zeeo grip, put your floormats under the driving wheels and let the car gain traction to move off the slush. Repeat as required. Also have a spotter who will walk the trail and guide you through grippier patches.

One must never venture offroad alone, without a spotter/winch even if you are driving a hardcore 4×4.

[Phantom 510]

Harrier is a soft roader inspite of its Land Rover genes. It is butch, imposing and has all the qualities to make it stand out. It will cruise and commute effortlessly but taking it to the offroads will make it feel like a fish out of water tbh. AT tyres no wonder would make it look even more muscular but won't help on the off roads as it's an FWD. Regards!

[BlackPearl]

There are a couple of things that you can do -

1. go for AT tyres. Proper tyres make a huge difference in mud. But if it is 4WD territory then just changing tyres will not help.

2. See if there is any option of offroad training nearby or some trails where you can take your Harrier along with an offroad instructor and push it to the limits. You will learn the basics of offroading and also learn the limits of your car under supervision. You might be surprised to see what a 2WD car with proper tyres can do once you learn the basics

[Bibendum90949]

All I want to say is that you were in a wrong car at the wrong place. This Tata in 4*4 guise, perhaps would've seen you through without much drama. But then, Tata had other plans.

If you're going to frequently encounter such terrains, a proper 4*4 is your best best. Nothing else will do, including better tyres. Thar, Scorpio N, Jimny etc are the options you can look at.

[kinetic]

I just googled the Ecopias to check the tread pattern, and its no surprise they didn't work. The name is a dead giveaway itself!

Like the others have said, if you find yourself in mud or loose surfaces/sand often, you'd need a decent set of off-road biased tires for both grip and durability. These Ecopias are fine for paved roads and the occasional dry hard-pack trail.

Edit: just noticed its a 2WD Harrier. Tires will also help you so much if you start slipping or lifting wheels through ruts.