[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by COUGAR

would a 215 affect pickup and mileage negatively?

Slightly, and Its not for mileage reasons I say do not put such big size.
Slight upsizing is okay, anything larger is just for looks and will make it very very difficult. We had around 200 width goodyears on our gypsy and it really really made parking very very hard.
Go for some nice allows and 195 tyres and you should be good.
Since you plan to do some serious offroading, look at functionality first. A dirt covered gypsy has more impact than a gleaming one with the widest tires in market.

[Samurai]

This is one tyre topic hardly discussed in the forum. Therefore, I am creating a new thread for it.

I live in a rural setting, where the roads are mostly broken tarmac dotted with pot-holes every few yards. The quality of roads including highways is very poor. During monsoon, one can do serious off-roading in certain sections of the highway. This is probably the case in many parts of India.

Those of us who own SUVs in rural settings have all run into this dilemma. What tyres to put on our ride that routinely switch between on-road and off-road kind of terrain. The stock tyres are usually not up to the task ahead of them. The highway tyres are designed to handle very occasional shocks here and there. The kind of off-road terrain presented by our pothole ridden roads is not what the highway tyres are designed for in the first place. We need better sidewall protection, and shock protection. Therefore, we need options to replace them with all-terrain tires that are available in the country.

So, let me kick start this with my tyre requirement.

My Grand Vitara came with 225/70R16 Yokohama H/T highway all-season tyres. Initially I was hoping to replace the H/T tyres with A/T tyres of the same size. However, my hopes were dashed as I discovered that the 225/70R16 size is a non-existent size in the whole country. Since the tyres are fitted in Japan, they obviously don't realise that this size is unavailable in India. The next closest fit is 235/70R16. But there is no hope of exchanging the tyres since nobody wants the tyre size I have, therefore I have currently stuck to OE tyres.

But I have noticed that whenever I drive on uneven broken roads, the traction is less. The turn-off from the main road to my office is really broken into gravel and I feel the slip everyday. In couple of off-roading I have tried, I have easily spun my tyres in dry mud. Therefore I am again thinking seriously about all-terrain tyres.

I know BF Goodrich T/A KO is available. The mud traction is weak according to worldwide user reports. The pattern looks too aggressive, that may affect highway manners. What are the other A/T tyre options, please share your knowledge.

[Raajiv]

Samurai,

Just went through the latest ACI Mag,There was an advertisement on YokoHama Geolander A/T tyres avaiable over here.But i am not sure about the profile.I smell you might have checked that too.

[indianrunner]

Hi Raajiv,

You can look at Michilen and Yokohoma for their AT tyres. The treads are aggressive and also good for the highway. Just a word of cautiom with regards to modifications on your vehicle - the indian manufacturers are very uncomfortable with these other than what they give you with the vehicle. I have a Pajero (which is THE off road vehicle) and to do even do some basic modifications I am told ' we dont recommend it and it might affect your warranty'.

There is also a thread on the off roading activity the Pajero factory team carried out near Bangalore (to show its off roading capabilities) which even a regular vehicle can complete. So you can imagine how conservative in thinking the manufacturers are!!

Rgds

[Samurai]

Currently I am planning only two mods related to off-roading.

(1) Replacing OE plastic skid plates with 6mm aluminium skid plates. I am getting it done through the local maruti dealer. They didn't have any concerns about warranty with that. That's quite common sense.

(2) Replacing the tyres with 235/70R16 All-terrain tyres, which again won't affect warranty.

I need an AT tyre that doesn't degrade the on-road behavior significantly.

Raajiv, which tyre model was that, AT-S or AT+II? The latter doesn't have the size I need.

indianrunner, the Michelin offers only LTX A/T series in India and they don't have anything below 265/70 in 16" tyres.

[Raajiv]

Mod Note: Please do not quote entire posts in every reply. Simply click the "Reply" button instead of the "quote" button.

Will check it out and tell you by tonight.

Thanks,
Raajiv Sai

[(IVI)]

maxxis has got a very good tire for offroading..available in bangalore

[Samurai]

I have seen P and LT tyres available in the same size for a given tyre model. I know P stand for passenger and LT stands for light truck, but what is the real difference?

Originally Posted by (IVI)

maxxis has got a very good tire for offroading..available in bangalore

Must be their MA bravo series, which model numbers are availables?

[kpzen]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Raajiv, which tyre model was that, AT-S or AT+II? The latter doesn't have the size I need.

Only AT-S comes in 235/70-16.
A/T+II only comes in
205/80-16
215/80-16.

Samurai
Is A/T + II better than A/T-S...??

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by kpzen

Is A/T + II better than A/T-S...??

No, AT-S is the newer product. Here is the user rating from Tirerack: Consumer Survey Results By Category

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by Raajiv

Will check it out and tell you by tonight.

Raajiv, can you specify the date on ACI edition. I want to look at the AD. Since Yokohama India doesn't believe in Internet, I can't checkout their web site.

[iceman91]

Look at BF goodrich or Mickey Thompson they have really good offroad tires
they are available in India now..a little expensive but worth every penny

[SUV]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Currently I am planning only two mods related to off-roading.

(1) Replacing OE plastic skid plates with 6mm aluminium skid plates. I am getting it done through the local maruti dealer. They didn't have any concerns about warranty with that. That's quite common sense.

(2) Replacing the tyres with 235/70R16 All-terrain tyres, which again won't affect warranty.

I need an AT tyre that doesn't degrade the on-road behavior significantly.

I have been using yokohama All Terrain's for couple of years and have not felt any loss of traction (Slush nor Tarmac) ever.

My Suggestion would be to go with Geolander AT+II Series, These are available in 235/70/R16 LT.

PS: I am currently using them on My Truck and have clocked 50K KM on varied terrain without any problems.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by iceman91

Look at BF goodrich or Mickey Thompson they have really good offroad tires
they are available in India now..a little expensive but worth every penny

Hi Amit, I guess you remember that my Baleno tyres were picked by you. I am hearing from you after a long time. The BFG T/A KO is a very good looking tyre, but supposedly not good in mud.



The Mickey Thompson, never heard of them before, but boy do they look great. But most are in really big size, not much choice for me.

Originally Posted by SUV

My Suggestion would be to go with Geolander AT+II Series, These are available in 235/70/R16 LT.

Hmm, that's news to me. I have never seen AT+II in this size before. Is there any asian web site where alternative sizes are shown?

Edit: I found it, it is here: Yokohamatire.in.th

How about the following, are they available either through importers or otherwise?

Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revo
Goodyear Wrangler SilentArmor
Michelin LTX A/T2
Pirelli Scorpion ATR
Yokohama Geolandar A/T-S

[iceman91]

yes..been a while sir,
mickey thompson the baja are good tires but not available and like you rightly said not in the required size.
yes..I remember your baleno tires..and wheels..was a good set
well bf goodrich are good..its a first I am hearing about being bad in mud but then remember for good mud/off road you need big teeth which will be bad in wet/tarmac due to the gap between them