jwest
Full Access Member
....so tell us how you really feel lol I agree when you say "you don't need as much traction as you think" these vehicles are very capable stock from the factory... however, is it better to have and not need, then need and not have? tire tread makes a huge difference on any surface you drive on. I don't think any of the tires talked about on this thread are "noisy as hell" they are just louder than a highway tread tire. "Beating the **** out of suspension parts because of 19" rims" i'll have to put you in touch with the engineers who spent thousands of hours designing and testing every part on these cars to withstand all sorts of terranes and situations, clearly you know more than them! My LR4 is my daily driver, 80% on pavement, as are most. it would be great if I could throw thousands at it on new rims and beefy off road tires, then be able to switch back to nice and quite highway tires for the drive home BUT not every off road trip is planned. I know many times i've been driving and decided to take a ******, rutted out back road when my GPS had me staying on the pavement, the idea behind these cars is that they are universal. you don't need to stop and disconnect sway bar links or throw different tires on it to have a good time! select mud/ruts and have at it. So why not sacrifice a little noise for a tire that does the same thing. as for fender modification.... thats something I'd never do but everyone has there own opinion. ATTURO tires seem like a cheaper alternative to most options out there, cheaper DOES NOT mean junk! I know the reason i'm part of this site is to find cheaper solutions to any issue my land rover throws at me. JWEST you are right, these are expensive cars....so what's wrong with saving a few bucks here and there?
1-I've never heard of that tire but also true it could be just fine. However, who wins all the baja races....? I run Nokian for winter, BFG for dirt and Michelin for highway which is probably the weakest one of all and that's saying something IMO. I've heard the MS2 will crack the rubber before I use up the tire so we shall see...
BFG simply are THE best tire you could put on a heavy ass lr3/4/rrs o I'd rather pay a few $ for a tire that will more likely last longer but also fail less often and perform better at 20 psi with zero worries.
2-while the suspension may have been engineered to take abuse, why beat it (and yourself or passengers or gear) to death with high psi 19" tires when you can roll so much better with a low psi on an 18" tire that is also larger profile/sidewall.
3-tread and traction. You know what would be an interesting head to head, your best 19" in rocks, mud, steep, soft, and full articulation against a truly not off road tire like the Michelin MS2 but on my lr3 with it in 32" aired down to 22 psi where I will have more articulation simply due to the tire squish and also more ground contact if desired. Mine will excel where all 4 tires still work when a 19" equipped lr will be lifting tires off the ground. I'll have the magic carpet ride regardless of the traction results though
In this head to head, if I used a BFG AT KO2 and you had a 19" mud, mine would run circles around you with a E load range tire a lowest psi just wrapping over all the weird stuff that could cut a 19" sidewall.
4- If you're 80% pavement, like most of us are, and it's probably honestly more like 95% actual mileage if you drive it for much else, then the BFG AT KO2 is the ideal single year round tire. They aren't even very noisy IMO. My km2 are however very noisy by comparison. Check out my photos of where I took the highway michelins though.... i'll repost a couple here. I also took them to test on wet PNW trail outside Index WA. It was black rated. Hardest aspect of that was approach/departure angles and big ass rocks.
5- I joined the site long ago to find BETTER solutions, not cheaper ones ... No offense, but I think better is more important than cheaper. Too often 'cheap' actually becomes not a value when you find it is not as good as a few bucks more expensive. I wouldn't want to be in Colorado 6 hrs by foot from the nearest highway on anything besides BFG or the other top makes.