LRM’S GUIDE TO BUYING TYRES
52 LANDROVER MONTHLY
therefore, the moreweight itcan carry.
Yo u’ll find that most of this information
is available onyour tyre’s sidewall, where
it willstate how much pressure thetyre
can handle, and therefore, how much
weight itcan carry.
Again, most factory-fitted all-terrains
willfeature a load limitof about 1100 kg.
In contrast, some aftermarket LTproducts
will boast a loadcapacityof 1350to
1700 kg. However, that’s notto say that
one is automatically better than theother.
If you don’t need aLTtyre with a high
payloadcapacity, you’re probablygoingto
spend muchof your timecursing the
tyre’s ridecomfort.
Likewise, if you do need aLTtyre but
currently havean OE fitted, there’s agood
chance that’s whyyou may be picking up
puncturesand/or sufferingreduced tread
life. Simply put, it’s not the righttyre for
the applicationyou’re exposing itto.
THE RIGHT STUFF
Weall havedifferent needs, different
driving habits, and differing ideas asto
whatweconsider anoff-road adventure
to be.
Asfar as Defendersgo, the application
of thevehicle is quitestraightforward, it’s
a workhorse, the only question that needs
answering is: What kindof work does it
do, and how heavy-duty doyour tyres
needto beto match that application?
The Freelander is equally defined in its
application, whereas a Discovery is a bit
more tricky in thesense that it’s a terrific
all-rounder that bridgesthegap between
daily driver and all-out adventure vehicle.
In much thesameway, most off-road
tyres feature aterrain designation, where
many all-terrains sport a70/30 split (7 0
percent on-road use and 30 percent
off-road).
Mud-terrainsgenerallyswing those
numbers theotherway into an 80/20
split. However, sometyre manufacturers
havecaught onto thefact that an obvious
gap exists between
thosetwo designations,
and in between these
figuresthey’velaunched
an almost hybridtyre
pattern like the Cooper
S/T MAXX and Mickey
Thompson BAJAATZ
which are closer to a
50/50 split.
But withoutwanting
to get too caught up in
terrainratios, what
matters most is: What
areyou willingto live
with? As mentioned
before,heavy-dutytyres
docome withsome
drawbacks.
Ofcourse, sometyre manufacturers
haveexperimented with materials like
Kevlar, which hopeto add a layer of
punctureresistance, whilst maintaining
lightweight flexibility, fuel economy and
on-road comfort.
However, althoughKevlareffectively
achieves what it aimsto do, thesetyres
aren’tcomparableto a heavy-dutyLT
alternative intermsof ultimate rupture
strength. Inotherwords, Kevlar is a great
way of balancingseveral conflicting
features, but it’s not acure for all.
Similarly, much like independent air
suspension is unquestionably
revolutionary, incertain applications
it doesn’treplace asolid axlefor
all-out ruggedness. This brings usto
our final point...PRICE...NOWAIT... VALUE!
Comingbackto the questionof: ‘What is
the best off-road tyre on the market?’.
Perhaps the true answer is: ‘Thetyre you
can afford’.
Naturally, there’s far moreto picking
the righttyre for you than justcomparing
graphs and specifications. Ultimately, it’s
a questionof budget. However, asGENERALGRABBER AT3
A well-pricedtyre that’s gaining
swift popularityfor it s
affordability, low road noise and
great on- andoff-road traction.
Naturally, being acommonly-used
OE tyre, the Grabber isn’t
designedfor harshoff-road
conditions and heavy payloads,
but for the most part, it gets the
job done and isoften happiest on
a softroader or light-duty 4x4.JOHNNY NEL (FRONTRUNNER
UK):“I usedto have road-bias
tyres onmy D4 but after a recent
sand driving trip inFrance, I
decidedto go with atyre that
offers a little more whenoff-
roading. My dad hasowned every
Discovery model produced and he
told me all the guys on the
overlandingforumsrecommend
these tyres for a D3 or D4.So I
decidedto go with them. Iwas no t
disappointed with them during the
photoshootfor this article.”mentioned before,cost and affordability
arerelativeto value,soalthough one
tyre may appearto be asweeter deal
than another, the bitter pillof longevity
(or lack thereof) isoften thetaste that
lingers longest.
Although most tyres arecovered bya
general defect warranty, very few
manufacturers provide additionalcover in
theformof a tyre-protection plan and/or
mileage guarantee.
The problem is, ifyou don’t know how
long thetyre can effectively last (provided
you follow astrict maintenancerecord),
how doyou really know how much the
tyre is costingyou per mile.
With this in mind, I believeoneof the
best ways toshopfor atyre is to finda
product thatoffers the best value, and
with any luck, a mileage guarantee. The
morewe(as consumers) usevalue asa
buying metric, the moretyre
manufacturers will beforcedto up their
game andto stand behind their product.
So, don’t lookfor the best performing
tyre on the market based on thumb sucks
andcampfire chitchat, and instead, buy
the best valuetyre on the market,
because that’s comparable, and that’s
what lasts.