Hello folks,
My P38 needs a new set of boots. It has had later 18" alloys fitted before my ownership.
Tyre size: 255-60-18
Does anyone have any recommendations for the £100 to £125 each mark?
I would like something with some off-road pretensions rather than straight road tyres. I don't do any proper off-roading (yet) but do drive on grass cairly often.
Thanks for any help.
Smiler.
Long time no see Smiler!
You do know the standard tyre size for the 8.0J x 18 is 255/55 don't you?
General Grabber AT or AT2 are great all-round tyres. Easier to find AT3 new these days. They're supposed to sit between the AT and AT2 in terms of tread aggresiveness.
Here you go https://www.mytyres.co.uk/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?dsco=110&cart_id=12777676.110.72557&sowigan=GAN&Breite=255&Quer=55&Felge=18&Speed=&Marke=&suchen.x=x&m_s=3&kategorie=6&Transport=P&suchen=Show+tyres. I'll be fitting a set of Kleber Citilanders to mine in the next week or so ready for a drive to Latvia for the new year as they are an all season tyre that is supposed to be as good on snow as a genuine winter tyre (also have a decent EU marking, made by a company you've heard of, low noise, 3 mountain markings and at £82 a corner in my size, the price is decent too).
From this mornings playing out, I can tell you that Goodyear Wranglers with about 3mm of tread left are absolute crap in snow.....
Another vote for General Grabbers here. I've got AT2 on my Jeep (40,000 miles so far) and AT on the P38. I've offroaded the jeep at a pay and play site and was amazed how well it went. The P38 has only done muddy tracks and wet grass, but it coped very well. Both tyres have good road manners and do well in the snow.
General are Continental's SUV/4x4 division.
Mine had a brand new pair of ContiSportContact5's at the front a few weeks ago and has something by Landsail (I've never heard of them either, there when I got the car) at the back.
Neither are off-road tyres in any way but got me up a snowy slope today that a brand new Lexus 4x4 failed to get up :D
Worth a mooch through ebay.
Depends how fussy you are on new. I got a full set of nearly new Hankooks with 7mm treads including alloys for £120 delivered earlier this year. Then i flogged the alloys for £100. Bit of a one off bargain i'm sure but i'll guess there's plenty of options on there.
Ascot has Grabbers on it and while they seem to grip well are bloody noisy.
Gilbertd wrote:
Ascot has Grabbers on it and while they seem to grip well are bloody noisy.
I've noticed with the ATs that the more they wear past about 6mm, the more road noise you get. Haven't worn the AT2s down below 8mm yet.
Can't say that I find either particularly noisy though (for an M&S tread)
I’ve got bf Goodrich ats on mine, no noise and didn’t even notice the snow today, could of earnt a fortune pulling all the hybrid BMW’s out that were stuck, that will teach em to go green 😁
Gilbertd wrote:
Ascot has Grabbers on it and while they seem to grip well are bloody noisy.
What flavour of Grabbers are they? The AT2 on the Jeep might well be noisy but you wouldn't notice over the engine and wind noise :) I can't hear the (newer) tyres on the P38 which is, of course, pretty quiet.
Got Grabber HTS on mine which seem pretty decent in light to moderate snow, quiet enough that I can't really hear road noise over wind and lasting well so far. C wet grip rating which is fine the way I drive.
Wouldn't touch an AT of any sort with a barge, let alone the pole. Wet grip rating of most sizes is F which is risky on a 2 ton car. Local tyre place put a set of AT somethings on her ladyships L322. Serious credit card damage followed by endless complaints of insufficient grip. Not poxy surprised now I've actually checked the ratings. Absolutely not madame lead foot compatible. Last time I'll trust their judgement. On Vredstein Quatrac now which she likes.
Clive
I have noticed that I get less tyre noise now I've set my tracking to 0 toe in/ out (ie straight) on both cars. Less tread block deformation perhaps?
Hmm, lots of food for thought there. Thanks everyone for taking the time to reply.
a 55 profile opens up a few more affordable options compared to the 60 profile.
Morat wrote:
What flavour of Grabbers are they? The AT2 on the Jeep might well be noisy but you wouldn't notice over the engine and wind noise :) I can't hear the (newer) tyres on the P38 which is, of course, pretty quiet.
It's got a matched pair of ATs on the front and an AT2 and a Landsail on the back. All have a good 8mm of tread but it's the fronts that are the noisy ones. I've been looking for a secondhand AT2 so I can at least have matched tyres on each axle. Report is that it grips well in the snow though. As Dina was working an overtime early shift today she left home at 5am as the snow was starting and got back at 2pm just before it turned the sleet she went to work in it rather than a rear wheel drive Merc on summer tyres.
If you dont use it off road, then theres no point buying AT's IMO.
Mines on Goodyear Eagle F1's. A Rated wet grip. I wouldnt personally go any lower than B.
The Goodyear Wrangler HP All Weathers I've had on mine for the last 3 years are C rated and have been fine wet and dry. Both the Kleber and Vredestein Quatrac are C rated too, both supposed to be as good as a winter tyre on snow and both have a 70dB noise figure. As there's only £5.50 difference in price and Clive reckons they are decent, looks like I'll be going for the Vredesteins. The General AT3 has a B for wet grip but a noise figure of 75dB which seems to bear out my findings with the earlier ATs on the Ascot.
The Ascot is on the standard 8Jx18 wheels and 255/55x18 tyres, BUT, as my car is ex-plod, it has 7Jx16 wheels rather than the 8J in 16 or 18 that are normally fitted to the P38, so mine runs on 235/70x16 tyres, so the options for me may well be different.
I have been running General Grabber AT2's for a while now. They are a good compromise for off road driving without going too overboard.
I find them a little noisier than the previous road tyres but not excessively so. If you want to seriously go off road I would switch to 16" wheels.
A major consideration is also whether the tyre fits in the wheel well.
Gilbertd wrote:
Morat wrote:
What flavour of Grabbers are they? The AT2 on the Jeep might well be noisy but you wouldn't notice over the engine and wind noise :) I can't hear the (newer) tyres on the P38 which is, of course, pretty quiet.
It's got a matched pair of ATs on the front and an AT2 and a Landsail on the back. All have a good 8mm of tread but it's the fronts that are the noisy ones. I've been looking for a secondhand AT2 so I can at least have matched tyres on each axle. Report is that it grips well in the snow though. As Dina was working an overtime early shift today she left home at 5am as the snow was starting and got back at 2pm just before it turned the sleet she went to work in it rather than a rear wheel drive Merc on summer tyres.
well, with a mixed bag all bets are off. You could be getting all sorts of weird harmonics going on. The AT replaced the AT2 (confusingly) when the EU decided to limit tyre noise which meant that AT2 became NLA (although there seemed to be a surprising number lurking in the supply chain). AT has a swirly tread pattern which didn't look as macho but seems to work pretty well alongside the traction control on a P38. I can't hear any tyre noise from the cabin in the P38 - but it was driveby noise that the EU were getting arsey about so there might not have been much change audible from the driver's seat.
AT3 is an attempt to keep the qualities of the AT and combine it with the chunkier looks of the AT2 - whether it has worked or not I'll tell you in 10k time (on my Jeep) when I reach 50k total which is the promised mileage on the AT2. The Duchess has done 10k on her ATs and they've kept us on the road. Maybe next time we meet up somewhere we could do a Top Gear style brake test from 40-0? Best not use the track behind Marty's workshop though :)
Always used BFG A/T on 16's on my old UK one. Couldn't get them here, so fitted Yokohama Geolander A/T. Had them on for around two years, maybe a tad more, quiet, happy with mud 'n' stuff and seem to grip well in the wet. Again they're on 16's but at 165/70, I had to up standard height a smidgen, as they rubbed on full lock..
Re the Klieber tyres you bought a few years ago - were they satisfactory ?