MTR vs BFG vs Cooper

[shorty_f0rty]

after 2 services on my cooper AT's with 60000km warrenty i'm a bit shy of the whole warranty deal..

on both occasions when i got my 10k wheel balance n rotate I ended up having to get a part replaced before they would do any work. each time i had to pay about 200bucks more than the 40bucks warranty work..

i guess the warranty would pay if they honour it (which isn't always the case).. but its not something i'll consider when looking at my next set of tyres..

[TuffRR]

Isnt the Coopers warranty only meant to pro-rata the value of the remaining life of the tyre? ie warranty to 80,000kms, you only get 60,000kms - Cooper will give you 25% off your next Cooper tyre purchase.

I might be wrong, but if this is the case it just locks you into getting Coopers, especially if they are not performing up to standard.

[bogged]

Isnt the Coopers warranty only meant to pro-rata the value of the remaining life of the tyre? ie warranty to 80,000kms, you only get 60,000kms - Cooper will give you 25% off your next Cooper tyre purchase.

I have heard this on EO.. otherwise they would go broke replacing 80% worn tires all the time

[Hoonz]

i've had all 3 of these tyres ...

STTs were shit all round up here and wore really quickly ... doin mud and rock and lots of bitumen, didn't stick to much

BFGs are still going on my bros car! they're on they're last legs now tho
were great in the mud and we did some rock on them air'd down lots
they almost compared to mtrs

MTRs no so good in the mud ... wet rock they're good and anything dry
nice and sticky .... soft compound ... don't expect good wear rates
next set of tyres for me are MTRs

[red90]

BFG: Absolute crap on hard and wet surfaces. Barely OK in mud. Tread life and cut resistance is excellent.

Cooper: Hmmm, wouldn't touch. The BS adverts about being #1 in the US is BS. I live in Canada and have NEVER once seen a Cooper tyre and don't know any place that sells them.

MT/Rs: Great all around tire. Good on most surfaces. Not great in mud, but nothing is other than real mud tyres.

Not sure of the availabity, but the Interco TrXus MT is magic. In North America, much cheaper than the MT/R and a little better in all surfaces.

On the size, I'd really consider 265/75 over the 235/85 on a Disco. They are just too heavy. Very little more trimming to do and gearing is the same.

[iwannabeapirate]

The MTR/R is a awesome tyre, but really does not cut it in victorian mud.

Really?? ***** I better throw mine in the bin, they have done heaps of trips up Gembrook, Toolangi, high country snow trips and inc a night trip with pricks from here , they took me everywhere that dudes went on swampers/boggers.

They wouldn't have gone so well last Saturday on Two Scouts Track in Gembrook after 160mm of rain. My mates 33x12.50 MTRs looked like slicks while my 285/75R16 Silverstones were clean. Both of us were running 19psi.

[TuffRR]

Not sure of the availabity, but the Interco TrXus MT is magic. In North America, much cheaper than the MT/R and a little better in all surfaces.

The TrXus is available in 235/85/16.

I did consider the TrXus MT but decided against it because of its on-road performance and weight. The Discovery will be my wife's daily driver and from reports i've read the TrXus is a bit scary in the wet, certainly worse than a BFG/STT/MTR.

Also, the weight is a concern. Sure the sidewalls are thick and strong but I think they will be putting too much strain on the std rover drivetrain.

[Roctoy]

from personal experience my 35' BFG Mud's have lasted forever on my hilux, they have put up with all sorts of stuff. I had a set of 32x12.5's on my surf before that and i put them through all sorts of terrain and i don't go slow around corners on the black stuff either!

My dad was sponsored by Coopers for a Kimberly Trip, they barely lasted 12,000kms round trip where he gave them back to Coopers at the end and bought a set of BFG Muds, this was on an 80 series.

And after tonight i will have MT/R's so i'll let you know.

(If they sold 37 x 12.5 x 15 inch BFG Mud Terrains in Aus, i'd buy a set tommorow.)

But the MTR's were to good a deal to pass up.

So i'd reccommend the BFG Mud terrains at this stage.

Chris

[bogged]

They wouldn't have gone so well last Saturday on Two Scouts Track in Gembrook after 160mm of rain. My mates 33x12.50 MTRs looked like slicks while my 285/75R16 Silverstones were clean. Both of us were running 19psi.

had no issues up high country where we had snow, sleet, hail and pissing down rain for the 3 days...

[Boopa]

...are the Procomp Xterrains any comparison to the above MT's....or does the whole directional thing not work in the mud?

[iwannabeapirate]

They wouldn't have gone so well last Saturday on Two Scouts Track in Gembrook after 160mm of rain. My mates 33x12.50 MTRs looked like slicks while my 285/75R16 Silverstones were clean. Both of us were running 19psi.

had no issues up high country where we had snow, sleet, hail and pissing down rain for the 3 days...

I'm sure they work well in many circumstances but in this case his tyres were clogged enough to stop him from going further whereas I was able to continue without any problems. In fact, he was having trouble when trying to back down the track as his car was sliding all over the place due to the clogged tread.

[red90]

The TrXus is available in 235/85/16.

I did consider the TrXus MT but decided against it because of its on-road performance and weight. The Discovery will be my wife's daily driver and from reports i've read the TrXus is a bit scary in the wet, certainly worse than a BFG/STT/MTR.

Also, the weight is a concern. Sure the sidewalls are thick and strong but I think they will be putting too much strain on the std rover drivetrain.

I think you have bad information. I have 235/85/16 TrXus MT on my 90 for the last 3 years. They are no heavier than a BFG. They have no problems in the wet. In fact they are as good an any AT tire I've driven in the wet, snow and ice. On road, they are great. You wouldn't know you were driving an aggressive tyre.

I had BFG MT for the 5 year before them. They were scary in the wet from my experience. They were crap on all hard slippery surfaces. I hated off roading in them after awhile as they would slide where everyone else had no problems.

[up2nogood]

Who's selling the TrXus?

[GUJohnno]

Procomp sell the TRXUS..

I run Xterrains on my Patrol. Fantastic on road, great on gravel and rock and about the same in mud as an ordinary mud, tho got to be careful with side ways slippage...
As this is yur wifes car driven daily you need to consider what would suit that even if the off-road is compromised a bit.

In this case IMO the MTR or Xterrain would work well. Both work great on road, great off road, but not the absolute best in mud but more than likely to get you where you want.

[TuffRR]

Xterrains do not come in the size i am after, otherwise i would have considered these and the radial Claws.

Red90 - there are a lot of reports supporting the weight and wet road handling issues of the TrXus about ie http://www.offroad.au.com/reviews/tyres ... errain.cfm

[up2nogood]

I was gonna go the Cooper STT's, but you buggers have me now thinking otherwise.

Other than Red90 (I know you like 'em), anyone running the Interco TrXus?

[searsy989]

I read this about the BFG Muds on a 4x4 website

www.skips4x4.com.au (lots and lots of good 4WD photos)

He fitted them to his Hilux and he got 70000km's out of them, new tread pattern ones, with only one puncture, 20% tread left.

They can't be that bad if he got that much out of them.

[Boopa]

I run Xterrains on my Patrol.

...how are you finding the XTerrains wearing Johnno?

[red90]

Red90 - there are a lot of reports supporting the weight and wet road handling issues of the TrXus about ie http://www.offroad.au.com/reviews/tyres ... errain.cfm

What a load of BS there. Sounds like someone writing articles on off road equipment that doesnt off road.

I have personally owned BFG MT and TrXus. There is no difference in weight. I'm in QLD at the moment. When I'm back in Canada next week, I'll throw one on the scales. As stated, wet traction is substantially better than the BFGs and as good as the road tyres that were on the 90 before them. I know lots of people running them. Everyone has been very happy with them. In addition, I've never balanced them. No vibrations on the highway at all.

In Canada, they are 75% the price of BFGs and half the price of MT/Rs.

[TuffRR]

In Canada, they are 75% the price of BFGs and half the price of MT/Rs.

Over here I have been quoted about $250 for MTR's and BFG's and $330 for the TrXus. Thats a pretty substantial difference when you have to get four. I've seen the prices in the US for them and they are quite cheap over there (about $190AUD).

[Daisy]

I can now comment that the MTR's SUCK big time in the mud.

They turned into slicks in no time from my run at ormeau

TOM

[-Scott-]

What pressure did you have them at? (I haven't had mine in mud yet...)

Scott

[Daisy]

What pressure did you have them at? (I haven't had mine in mud yet...)

Scott

had them sittin on 30 psi at that time.. thou i could have tried lower.. but my BFG's sittin at 37 psi (road pressure) was heaps better than the MTR"s in simliar mud situations.

TOM

[Tazz]

Its funny reading this thread as things contradict.

Have not had coopers but have had both BFG muddies and MTR's allthough both in 35-12.5 size.

From my experience the mtr's seem better in the wet on tar, but dont seem to last as long as the bfg's, as for the mud thing, any tyre needs power to clear them and i havn't noticed any difference between them.

Monthlys mud tyre test suprised me as i am sure that in a similar test from one of the us mags, the mtr beet the bfg in its clearing ability.

As most others have said, the mtrs seem better on rock.

I would run mtrs again mainly because of the wet weather handling on tar, i reckon its better (prob because the compound seems a bit softer), same reason i dont think they seem to last as long.

Some one said that the bf's are noisier, in my opinion the mtrs are slightly noisier.

I guess that i just added to your confusion, sorry about that.

[GUJohnno]

I run Xterrains on my Patrol.

...how are you finding the XTerrains wearing Johnno?

I just measured them.......... interesting. The spare which I have used only once for a couple of hundred Km's measures 15mm. You would assume that is as close to new as you could get.
I have done about 34,000 km's on the rest. I drive it hard on and off road, and they measure 10.5mm. It seams as if they are 1/3 worn....

But I have just looked at a chart and it says that new they have 20.5 mm depth. So not sure what happened with the spare. Either the chart, which is at www.offroad.au.com/reviews/tyres/procom ... errain.cfm is inacurate or.......... ??

[GUJohnno]

I run Xterrains on my Patrol.

...how are you finding the XTerrains wearing Johnno?

I just measured them.......... interesting. The spare which I have used only once for a couple of hundred Km's measures 15mm. You would assume that is as close to new as you could get.
I have done about 34,000 km's on the rest. I drive it hard on and off road, and they measure 10.5mm. It seams as if they are 1/3 worn....

But I have just looked at a chart and it says that new they have 20.5 mm depth. So not sure what happened with the spare. Either the chart, which is at www.offroad.au.com/reviews/tyres/procom ... errain.cfm is inacurate or.......... ??

Ah..... just found out that the measurements on the net were actually 20.5/32 Bloody yankee measurements.......
So this does work out to be around 15-16mm new. So after nearly 70,00kms I should expect to still have a 1/3rd left of tread. Not bad.
John.

[Ryano]

I also like these 2 bits

A participating dealer has the right to refuse or vary the warranty period based on their discretion, or because of the particular use of the vehicle. (he wants to sell you a new tire)

The mileage warranty is only applicable to Capital City purchases. (Arent they offroad tires EG the bush?)

Just thought I'd throw in my 2cents on this one.
A couple of thoughts I had (All my opinion ):
ok, if you have a vehicle loaded to the max and towing a fully loaded trailer all the time, it's only natural that their tyre wear is going to be much faster than someone who doesn't carry all this weight.
It may be common place for this person with all the load to get only 30 000kms out of any brand of tyre. They try the Coopers and get 45 000kms. So with these circumstances they are still better off with the Coopers for mileage and value for money, even though they didn't get 80,000.

Road conditions in the country vary greatly and usually aren't maintained as well as Metro/Capital Cities. There are still a lot of gravel roads traversed daily by country residents. These conditions affect tyre wear, and generally you find that Country residents tyres wear quicker than Metro anyway. This isn't to say that rapid tyre wear warranty in the country isn't considered by Cooper, it just means that it isn't written.

Any warranty on any product is going to have stipulations and guidelines due to the differing conditions and circumstances. Besides, it's your choice whether you take up the warranty or not, and if you do, it's up to you to maintain the conditions.
My suggestion is to talk to the individual dealer, inform them of your needs from a tyre, your application and your expectations and ask as many questions as you can. They can then suit the tyre to your needs and wants. After all, the tyre dealers see how all tyres perform everyday.

[Roctoy]

the 2nd hand 37's MTR/s i've bought are out of round. (this is my assumption, as i saw them on the ballancing machine) There is ALOT of rubber there so i'm not suprised, but it has a vibration at about 80km but it's not there at 110km so i don't really care.
They ballanced up spot on.
Is there any thing i can do about this?
Chris

[Ryano]

You can try getting a balance optimisation done (involves turning the tyre on the rim until you find the point of least weight required.)
Can be a little costly as it requires a lot of time. Usually only needs to be once though.
Like you said 37" is a fairly big tyre with a lot of rubber and carcass in it's contruction, and has a tall sidewall. So weight of the tyre is going to be a lot greater than a 31".

Another thing to do is make sure the hub face is clean, and when doing the nuts up (Especially on Steel Wheels) try and take the weight of rim off the studs as you are doing them. Try and centralise the rim and nuts without using the tightening of the nuts to pull the rim up into place.

Hope this helps.

[GRIMACE]

I think my silverstones are out of round aswell sumtimes the car bounces up and down the highway