Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Ant, picked up some Cooper Discoverer A/T's yesterday with new 15X7 steel rims. So far on dry bitumen they are a lot better than my D682's. They are quieter, grip better and give a softer ride. The Feroza is now more stable too- but that's probably got more to do with the wider rims.

Tyre size is 235/70R15, up from the standard 225/70R15 and the rims are 1" wider. The rims are CSA Ranger RV's, unfortunately the only colour available is white (a very bright white compared to the rest of the Feroza )

That's way fatter than what I'll be getting! Those blokes who are now servicing my car (kaos4X4 in Canberra) and have got me my old engine performance back, reckon those Goodrich ATs are great on light Suzukis. that's the ones with lugs shaped like bananas. So I might end up going for them, as they have the advantage of being legal.

I'm still surprised that you had those Duelers I love so much. The tread is the classic 4WD tyre tread, a bit like the picture Cooper use to push their tyres. I found them the total opposite of your experience, they were my secret weapon in snow but did everything else too. Vitey is pretty ordinary on dirt roads but I blame the short wheel base and lack of weight in the bum for that. I nagged Bridgestone Australia about them, but they couldn't find me any of the old ones, just the new ones that were meant to "replace" them but you'd never take them near mud or snow.

Meanwhile, the current rubbish Goodrichs i have (long trails) are showing a bit of wear, finally, but not quite enough to warrant a trip to the tyre shop...yet.

Here's a pic of my old D682's- is that the same tyre???

ant wrote:That's way fatter than what I'll be getting! Those blokes who are now servicing my car (kaos4X4 in Canberra) and have got me my old engine performance back, reckon those Goodrich ATs are great on light Suzukis. that's the ones with lugs shaped like bananas. So I might end up going for them, as they have the advantage of being legal.

BFGoodrich ATs are fair enough off-road, however in the wet on road I've heard several reports that "they're all over the place" (might be exageration)... water removal ain't so good and they can aquaplane to what I've been told, however, I've had no experience personally with those tyres...

Murcod: Glad you're happy with them so far! Let me know when you take them on snow... my guess is that it won't be as bad as you might expect...

Just a small comment on the wear of the Cooper ATs and their suitability for snow...

See the zig-zags opening up over time? That's gotta be good in the snow/packed ice (ok, ok it's not an MT... I know)

When I got my feroza it came with BFG all terrains. If I was 2 get another set of road tyres i'd never go back 2 a BFG. They might be a good tyre off road but there very dangerous in the wet.
Friends of mine had those BFG long trails on there land cruiser ute and they had the same problem with them being dangerous in the wet.
They run bridgestone dueler A/T's on it now and are very happy with the performance of the tyres.

I've heard a lot of bad things about BF Goodrich on road in the wet (even their highway tyres- the Longtrails....)

I'm still very happy with my Cooper A/T's.

The amount of grip they've got around corners on dry sealed roads is unbelievable. I've locked them up once emergency braking on dry bitumen, but even locked up they still gripped quite well and didn't go all skatey. Only had limited wet weather on road driving, they seem good. Limited off road driving too- they are a big improvement so far.

murcod wrote:I'm still very happy with my Cooper A/T's.

The amount of grip they've got around corners on dry sealed roads is unbelievable. I've locked them up once emergency braking on dry bitumen, but even locked up they still gripped quite well and didn't go all skatey. Only had limited wet weather on road driving, they seem good. Limited off road driving too- they are a big improvement so far.

Yeah I have trouble doing burnouts in the dry now too

I'm glad you're happy with the choice, you'll find that offroad their performance'll improve over time (to a point!) as the grooves widen up.

I have Cooper ST's on my Vit as well, they are good "rocky road" tyres but suffer in mud (not real mud tyres anyway). Also when wet (in brissy) they spin up to the point of vehicle goin sideways off the lights (thats with missus driving !) So I stick the road going AT Yokahamas on for around town. I reckon the Cooper STT's would be good but..
Also they are VERY heavy..

Dick wrote:I have Cooper ST's on my Vit as well, they are good "rocky road" tyres but suffer in mud (not real mud tyres anyway). Also when wet (in brissy) they spin up to the point of vehicle goin sideways off the lights (thats with missus driving !) So I stick the road going AT Yokahamas on for around town. I reckon the Cooper STT's would be good but..
Also they are VERY heavy..

Such a perfect excuse to get a rear locker... for the missus... "to take off straight at the lights"... lucky guy, lucky guy... so when are you going to try to convince her?