New Rubber Needed for the Treg; Help !

[ozvino]

Hey guys, I hope all is well over in Vortex land; seems like clubtourage is dead this time, its been down for days, a real shame to see all of that information and data go down the tube.......

After only 25,000km I need new tyres. The stock rubbers (total rubbish) are near slicks and I think I want to buy Coopers. I know there was a lot of stuff about Tyres on CTreg, but with it gone I cant search. I have an R5 TDI 2005 model running the stock rims. My question is what model and size Cooper should I be looking at. Majority of driving (90%) will be on city roads.

Any comments on Coopers ? Pro's/Con's ?

As a side line, the VW Dealer told me that that a regular Tyre fitter cant do an alignment on a Touareg (I can hear you laughing), I should have the dealer do the alignment, my assumption is anyone who sells Coopers knows 4WD's and shouldnt have any issues;any comments ?

Im also curious what I should be paying for these (I live in metro Melbourne).

Any advice would be much appreciated

Dave (oznino)

[gpk_gti]

I hope all is well over in Vortex land;

Dave (oznino)

welcome Dave!!I also hope all is well in vortex land ,but this site is VWwatercooled Australia!!

[ozvino]

Yeah, my typo, apologies; watercooled and vortex, both great sources for VW info !

[V10TDI_downunder]

Dave,

What's your rim size?

I did 12,500K on my originals. I found out that it's tyre wear rating was only double of a control tyre, which is 100, the pirelli's were 200.

I run 19" goodyear MT/R's, I know they are a bit extreme. However, compared to the originals, they have lasted 2.5 times better more-over.

The treadwear rating goes as follows, a control tyre has a rting of 100, therefore a tyre with a treadwear rating of 220, last 2.2 times longer then the control tyre. Now dependining on the size of the vehiche, it's weight, tyre inflation, rotation, maintenance and the verosity of the driver, tyres may last 10,000km or more.

I have a tyre that has a treadwear rating 3.8 times of the control tyre, I have so far completed 38,000km on my treadwear rated tyres of 380 and they are only just over half way.

So the issue is the treadwear rating, relative to your driving conditions. I prefer a longer lasting tyre with good side wall and puncture resistant properties and something that will see me through many off-road conditions.

Because my Stump pulling, QE2 engine bay oiler has 19" rims, my choise is limited.

I am keen to explore 18' rims and fit Cooper's, they appear to be about the best tyre around.

my 2 bob's worth.

[V10TDI_downunder]

By the way Dave, welcome to a small club so far.

Where are you located in Melbourne?. I live in the West.

[barefoot]

Dave,

I changed to Pirelli P Zero and am quite happy with them. The original dunlops lasted 30k, the Pirelli is now at about 35k and looks like I'm only half way to the TWI. So generally I'm happy with them. They're not as good as the dunlops are in the wet.

There's some suitable tyres listed on this ML site:

http://www.whnet.com/4x4/roadtires.html

Cheers

[Moonan]

Dave,
My R5 survived to around 40k with the dunflops, and then I put on Cooper Discoverer ATR 245/65R17. These seem to perform as well or better in all conditions, and at around 78k on the vehicle now, seem to have at least 50% still on them.

The 245/65 size is a little bigger than the originals, you will go from speedo reading +6% to around +2% (Odometer will read slightly low, which isn't a bad thing). Matthew has gone for a slightly bigger size again, but I am happy with mine.

My only comment is that the rubber appears to be a slightly softer compound compared to the last AT tyres I had (Michelin LTX on the old Patrol) I say this because I've had a flat on a well-graded gravel road that was just a pointy stone through the tread, and there are some cuts from sharp rocks from an off-road day we had last year. Maybe I am just taking the Treg places that I didn't take the Nissan, but I don't think so really.

Anyway, the Coopers seem to be a common choice for 17 inch wheel Touaregs - around $300 per tyre.

cheers

[ozvino]

Guys, good to see you all over here on the forum ! Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated.

I spoke to Guests 4wd in melbourne; they called Cooeprs for me, and apparently the official word from Coopers is that on the R5, the ATR is too tall (25mm taller than stock) and ADR's state no greater than 15mm either way from factory fitted. I can still buy the ATR's, they will fit them, $290 fitted. Seemed a reasonable price.

Coopers are advising Tourage R5 owners to fit the Sport HP's; they appear to be more of a road tyre (from what I see online) but I will go take a look; they advise you can get up to 60k from them. No surprise, they are more expensive, around $340 fitted. I think he said they were 275/55, around 10mm taller than stock.

Think I will take a look before I buy them; 90% of my travel is on blacktop so maybe the Sport HP's are a good option. Will keep you posted.

Anything has to be better than the Dunlops.........

Dave
(Heidelberg, Melbourne)

[Moonan]

Hi Dave,
I'm not sure what the guys at Coopers were smoking, but according to the website http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html, the following numbers apply:
Stock tyre as fitted to R5 Touareg:
255/60 R17 has an overall diameter of 737.8mm
Cooper tyres I have:
245/65 R17 has an overall diameter of 750.3mm
So they will be 12.5mm "taller" than originals. Therefore it is well within the ADR requirement (as interpreted in all mainland states) of "not more than 15mm > largest tyre on the vehicle's placard". You also need to be sure that the load rating is not less than (for an R5) 105 and the speed rating (in Victoria) is not less than K. The Coopers with load rating of 107 and speed rating of S (180k) are fine for an R5 in every state except the NT (where you must have speed rating not less than placard (H).
My reference for rules wrt size and ratings is a toyo tyres website http://www.toyo.com.au/tech_info8.html
(thanks overlander forum)

cheers,

[bobzed57]

My 2 cents

Dave

I took moonan's recommend a few months ago and went with the slightly larger Cooper ATR. My Dunlops lasted less than 30k, and because I was using the Treg in the bush, I binned them sooner rather than later.

I'm very happy with the ATRs, especially those few extra mm of clearance. I haven't scraped the underside yet. I've got nearly 9k on them and despite all the roundabouts here in Canberra, they look pretty new. They're also reasonably quiet.

Having said that, I did get bogged in them the weekend before last, not because of the tyre, but the lack of momentum. Ultimately, you've gotta pick a tyre for your usage patterns. For me the ATR is very good. Maybe muddies next time, depending on how adventurous I get.

Cheers

Bob

[matthewfnorbert]

yep the ATR is excellent, i did 40k on mine and still look like new.

the size neil quoted is the best for the r5, i think mine were a few mm taller but wider. the ATR's were around $295 fitted

[dmm_au]

Good thread. Here a link to the ATR page at Cooper

http://www.coopertires.com.au/tyres/atr.htm

Would this advice be the same for the TDV6 with 17" wheels?

[barefoot]

Dave,

I changed to Pirelli P Zero and am quite happy with them. The original dunlops lasted 30k, the Pirelli is now at about 35k and looks like I'm only half way to the TWI. So generally I'm happy with them. They're not as good as the dunlops are in the wet.

There's some suitable tyres listed on this ML site:

http://www.whnet.com/4x4/roadtires.html

Cheers

Well 2 out of the four Pirellis ahve reached the twi now, that puts them at 60k, the remaining two have another 10k so I guess Pirelli will last around 60k-70k. I tried to replace the worn ones with the same tyre except Pirelli told my tyre shop they no longer bring in P Zero, and suggested I go for Zero Rosso which is an assymetrical tyre and $370 each, I said no thanks and replaced them with what the tyre shop recommended, Hankooks Ventus ST $250 ea fitted.

For a cheap Korean tyre, the Hankooks really surprised me, phenominal in the wet (yes I'm obssessed with this aspect of the tyre, see below), and quieter than the Pirelli on the tarmac. Don't know how they'll last though, the tread pattern looks performance (so probably soft compound).

[short story on why I like my tyre to work when raining]
When I was a bit younger, had less sense and drove an awd, I thought I was invincible until one day it rained hard, I thought I'm out to play with my awd, the car aquaplaned, if you have aquaplaned at speed, you'll have remember that not only you loose control of the car, the splashing water makes quite a heart stopping roar, all the while, you wonder why the steering wheel is shaking, and this all happens in about half a second followed by about 4-5 seconds of the car sliding and me thinking I hope I don't hit anything (and thank god I just slid onto the grass verge). I always wet test the tyres in any car I drive now.


Cheers

[Flipper Dog]

Barefoot, what size are you running with?

[Transporter]

Well 2 out of the four Pirellis ahve reached the twi now, that puts them at 60k, the remaining two have another 10k so I guess Pirelli will last around 60k-70k. I tried to replace the worn ones with the same tyre except Pirelli told my tyre shop they no longer bring in P Zero, and suggested I go for Zero Rosso which is an assymetrical tyre and $370 each, I said no thanks and replaced them with what the tyre shop recommended, Hankooks Ventus ST $250 ea fitted.

For a cheap Korean tyre, the Hankooks really surprised me, phenominal in the wet (yes I'm obssessed with this aspect of the tyre, see below), and quieter than the Pirelli on the tarmac. Don't know how they'll last though, the tread pattern looks performance (so probably soft compound).

[short story on why I like my tyre to work when raining]
When I was a bit younger, had less sense and drove an awd, I thought I was invincible until one day it rained hard, I thought I'm out to play with my awd, the car aquaplaned, if you have aquaplaned at speed, you'll have remember that not only you loose control of the car, the splashing water makes quite a heart stopping roar, all the while, you wonder why the steering wheel is shaking, and this all happens in about half a second followed by about 4-5 seconds of the car sliding and me thinking I hope I don't hit anything (and thank god I just slid onto the grass verge). I always wet test the tyres in any car I drive now.


Cheers

Hi Barefoot,
I also have replaced stock Michellin tyres on my T5 (235/55/17) with Hankook and I noticed that they are holding better and are quaiter too (and it is not comparing worn out Michellins to a brand new Hankook - I remember very well road noise from day one I was driving from the dealer home). Michellin pilot premacy was over $ 500.00 each and Hankook was $ 195.00 each at Bob Jane.

Let us know how many km's you get out of them.
I got 35,000km from Michelins and so far 10,000km on Hankook and it looks like they should last longer than Michelins.