Advice on tyres - Off road tyres.

[kolchy]

Thinking the need for 85% highway driving still may make a pure 4WD tire not a great match wrt fuel econ, noise, hwy performance etc... Happy to be proven wrong tho

[kolchy]

Just wondering how the 18's would soak up corrugations? I think 15k's of smooth gravel would be fine with 18's, but 15k's of corrugations would be better with 16 or 17' wheels & more side wall?

Road is normally pretty well maintained - owner local grader lives up the hill so doesn't let to out of hand.

Fitted to Tiguan, it wouldn't. The 18" and generally any low profile tyre is more likely to get the puncture on the dirt road. I stick with the 16" for very same reason, the comfort and a casual drive just a bit off the road.

Good point - took 2 trips to the farm (which we do weekly) for the A4s 245/40/R18 to puncture That said, it was bad timing too - 3 years of multiple trips a week down without a problem, and just as we got new tires - POP!!

That was 40's tho, thought 50 would have been OK/better? 16" has 65s, so its kinda middle ground. On first drive it felt slightly 'floaty' in parts, but I also need to get used to a SUV rather the a low slung A4 on super low tires and stiff springs...

[kolchy]

...Remembering that anything more than 15mm over stock diameter is illegal

Thnx Hillbilly for the input. When u say this tho, is that tire size? Or rims?? Learnt more about tires this evening than I'll probably ever know

[MGV]

I think when Hilly says "putting larger diameter wheels will up the gearing and make the vehicle less responsive" he means the overall diameter ie rolling diameter & not wheel diameter.

Also think getting a puncture with whatever rubber is just a 'luck of the draw' scenario. I have done about 2000k's on all kinds of gravel with 245/40/19's, occasionally at around 120kph & hit some pretty cringeworthy potholes without an issue, & the 2 punctures i have had in the life of my 45000k old tyres (still a fair bit of life left in them yet!) was only due to nails left on bitumen from tradies...

[Guest001]

I think when Hilly says "putting larger diameter wheels will up the gearing and make the vehicle less responsive" he means the overall diameter ie rolling diameter & not wheel diameter.

Also think getting a puncture with whatever rubber is just a 'luck of the draw' scenario. I have done about 2000k's on all kinds of gravel with 245/40/19's, occasionally at around 120kph & hit some pretty cringeworthy potholes without an issue, & the 2 punctures i have had in the life of my 45000k old tyres (still a fair bit of life left in them yet!) was only due to nails left on bitumen from tradies...

I meant the diameter of the wheel and the rolling amount is the circumference A larger diameter gives a larger circumference and therefore does less revolutions per kilometer, effectively upping the gearing and making the vehicle slower off the mark and slower acceleration.
It also affects braking coefficient, steering and other things.

How do you know it was tradies LOL

[Guest001]

Thnx Hillbilly for the input. When u say this tho, is that tire size? Or rims?? Learnt more about tires this evening than I'll probably ever know

The diameter of a circle is the measurement from one side to the other.

So if you measure across a wheel (including the tyre) of course, lying on the ground and it is 834mm you may only go to 849 mm


Look here and put the sizes in and you will see the difference and what it does to speedo etc

Custom rims, wheel tire packages for your ride - RIMSnTIRES.com

[MGV]

Sometimes i wish my keyboard was broken...

[kolchy]

Wow, great tool - thnx!

[Guest001]

Sometimes i wish my keyboard was broken...

You have been reading my mail ROFL

[Diesel_vert]

The following tyres are OE factory fitments on a Tiguan:

215/65 R16 98H
235/55 R17 99H or V
235/50 R18 97V
255/40 R19 96V or W

so there shouldn't be any issues in using any of the above tyres.

Got the TDi and it came with the stock 16"s. Found some Davenport 18" rims, but wanted to ask if anyone had advice on rubber. I do mostly highway driving, but we live on a few kms of dirt road, and when the weather gets bad, we can't use sealed roads and its a 15km trip to get to the freeway all on dirt, so performance on dirt roads is pretty important too.

Does anyone have any recommendation/advice?? I've asked the peeps at Motorsport Wheels & Tires (recommended via a friend) and got the following feedback:

235/50/18 Dunlop SP01 $295 Fitted and Balanced.
235/50/18 Pirelli Scorpian Verde $320 Fitted and Balanced.
235/50/18 Hankook K110 $260 Fitted and Balanced.
235/50/18 Kumho KU39 $195 Fitted and Balanced.

I've no experience with the above tyres, but here's my 2 cents:

Pirelli classifies the Scorpion Verde as an SUV tyre. It's the newest in terms of design and has an emphasis low wear and low noise (looks similar to the Cinturato P7), with reasonable road-holding. As long as you're not intending to go on track days, I think it's worth the premium over the others. This tyre appears to suit your needs best.

The Hankook and Kumho are high-performance passenger car tyres, with an emphasis on grip and handling. Wear, noise and light off-road duties are not their forte.

The Dunlop SP Sport 01 is an older design and IMO, not worth the savings over the Pirelli, or the premium price over the Hankook or Kumho.

Thinking the need for 85% highway driving still may make a pure 4WD tire not a great match wrt fuel econ, noise, hwy performance etc...

Based on all the information you've provided so far, I would look at purchasing passenger or SUV tyres.

All-terrain or light truck tyres seem harder to justify for your particular needs and intended usage patterns.

Road is normally pretty well maintained - owner local grader lives up the hill so doesn't let to out of hand.

If the idea of 18" wheels on your car is too appealing, my suggestion is to try them and see how you go, but hold onto the 16" wheels and tyres.

After a while, if you find the capabilities and characteristics of the 18" wheel and tyre to be really lacking, then just swap them back.

[kolchy]

Went to check out the rims today but they were sold! Bugger!! If anyone has 18" Davenports, you know who to PM

[jctee]

Getting back to the thread topic - "Off Road Tyres" - would not 3 ply sidewalls be recommended ?

I know 215/65 R16 Pirelli P6 and Hankook Dynapro's have a 1 ply sidewall - it is on the tyre. Not ideal for "off road".

Any recommendations for legal size R16 Tiguan tyres with 3 ply sidewalls ???

[Diesel_vert]

I would focus on the tyre's intended application. For instance, a passenger car tyre with a 3-ply sidewall still probably wouldn't be as useful overall when compared to an all-terrain tyre with a 2-ply sidewall in off-road conditions.

The Pirelli P6 is a passenger car tyre. The Hankook DynaPro HP RA23 is an SUV tyre designed for on-road usage. Irrespective of how many sidewall plies they have, I don't think they wouldn't be as useful off road compared to an A/T tyre.

To get the ball rolling, below is a list of suitable tyres (though far from comprehensive) for your consideration, if off-road performance is the main criteria:

Bridgestone Dueler A/T D697
Continental ContiCross Contact AT
Dunlop Grandtrek AT3
Yokohama Geolandar A/T-S G012

[Melon Head]

If you are worried about wet dirt roads, wouldn't you be better looking at something from the Bridgestone dueler range, or coopers, or BF Goodrich....? I've been considering the upgrade to a tig lately and have been thinking of going the opposite to many by jacking it up a touch and whacking some aggressive rubber on it

Me too, I'm keen to get a Tiguan and take my family to some of the places I ride my trail bike.
I am thinking of getting another set of 16" steel wheels and putting a set of BF Goodrich All Terrain tyres on them for those special adventures.

Has anyone succesfully fitted 235/70 R16 or 235/85 R16 tyres to the car?
I don't mind if I have to raise the suspension an inch to make it work.

235/55 R17 have a rolling diameter of 690mm
235/70 R16 have a rolling diameter of 735mm
235/85 R16 have a rolling diameter of 805mm

Used this to determine outside diameter Tyre dimensions: 235/85 R16

[jctee]

I would focus on the tyre's intended application. For instance, a passenger car tyre with a 3-ply sidewall still probably wouldn't be as useful overall when compared to an all-terrain tyre with a 2-ply sidewall in off-road conditions.

The Pirelli P6 is a passenger car tyre. The Hankook DynaPro HP RA23 is an SUV tyre designed for on-road usage. Irrespective of how many sidewall plies they have, I don't think they wouldn't be as useful off road compared to an A/T tyre.

To get the ball rolling, below is a list of suitable tyres (though far from comprehensive) for your consideration, if off-road performance is the main criteria:

Bridgestone Dueler A/T D697
Continental ContiCross Contact AT
Dunlop Grandtrek AT3
Yokohama Geolandar A/T-S G012

Thanks to all for the contributions re offroad tyres.
I decided to go with the Bridgestone Dueler A/T 697 215/65 R16C 106/104S. These are labelled LT (Light Truck) tyres.
$209 fitted from BJ's.
From the sidewall info:-
Plies: Tread 2 Polyester + 2 Steel + 1 Nylon, Sidewall 2 Polyester. Made in Thailand.
I have just completed a return trip from Brisbane to Weipa, including the Bloomfield/Daintree track without any problems.
Over 1000 klm of dirt roads with 5% "bad" corrugations, and another 5% of rough dirt road.
On the rough dirt I was overtaken by a quite a few Landcruisers/Prados/Nissans with camping trailers, but I usually went past them at their petrol stops !
No new rattles or noises. Had a wheel alignment check at Charters Towers on the way back - all OK.
Very impressed with our Tiguan. Averaged 6.3 litres/100 klm over 6500 klm. After a good clean, it looks like new again.


Tiguan at Laura, after trip to Weipa.