I'm sure that this subject must have been done to death somewhere, but while I can find the occasional thread in one or other of the sub-forums, I haven't yet found one to help me decide what tyres to go for. My current Pirelli Scorpion Zeroes (on 18" wheels) have shown in this weather that it doesn't matter how clever the 4wd system is, if you're running slicks, you won't get grip. So, what to replace them with ?

I do also have a set of 19" wheels wearing worn-out Zeroes, but prefer the 18" wheels because I frequently have to drive across muddy fields towing a livestock trailer which may be full of either animals or big bales of haylage (probably about 2 tonnes including the trailer in the latter case). I believed that I got better grip from the taller sidewalls of the 18" wheels, though I wasn't comparing like with like in terms of tread depth at the time.

The 19"s had done about 19,000 miles, while the 18"s have done about 25,000.

So ... what's recommended ? My local tyre guy recommends General Grabbers at about £530 for four fitted incl VAT and fitting, but I'm not convinced. They look very rugged and while well-suited to the mud-plugging might wear rather quickly on tarmac at speed. He also reckons I should get nearer 30,000 on a set - is that realistic ?

Cooper Zeon LTZ in 285/60/18. But for muddy fields, Goodyear MTRs (255/55/19) are going to be better. For winter specific tyres, make sure they have a snowflake / mountain symbol. Many say M+S, but that means nothing.

The standard tyres are really useless in deep mud etc.

Check out the tyre section at disco3.co.uk as well.

Last edited by Leo on Tue Dec 22 2009 9:45pm. Edited 1 time in total

Well I have just driven all the way from New Forest to Scotland through the worst driving conditions I have ever driven in any car, not just a Land Rover and I have done it on 20" Pirelli Scorpion Assymetricos that the car came with as standard, no problems at all , they are just over 2 years old, have done 23000 miles and have 4-5mm left all round and performed faultlessly in deep snow ontop of frozen slush. So I have no hesitation to recommend replacing your slicks with what your RRS should have had as standard - a set of M&S tyres! I also have a set of Pirelli winter tyres which of course were sat in my garage gathering cobwebs while I was driving in the snow. 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

Thanks both. I'm not worried about having tyres suitable for snow - a) we don't get much in Somerset and b) if we get so much that I cannot get out of my lane with any tyre that has reasonable tread depth then I'll use my Massey Ferguson instead

How much should I worry about the speed/load rating (the handbook says 109V for 18" or 107Y for 19") ? The Cooper Leon and Goodyear MTR are only S-rated. Found on a website somewhere : "It is important that you do not fit tyres to your vehicle with a lower speed rating or load index than recommended by the manufacturer. Fitting lower speed rated tyres or tyres with a lower load index may invalidate your insurance."

Tim - are you saying that the Scorpion Zeroes will not have been original fit ? When I bought the car (at 9000 miles), the seller had just fitted the 19" wheels for their looks. He was surprised when I said I'd rather he'd left the 18" on, and eventually agreed to include them in the deal. I was sure that they were the original ones off the car.

I cannot find Pirelli Scorpion Assymetricos on the Pirelli website - is it the same as the PZero Rosso, which is asymmetric ?

Fitting S rated tyres could be a problem if you were ever involved in an accident and had to have the car inspected by the insurance company.............................

I'll check my tyres in the morning and let you know what they have in the way of a name! If your SE is one of the "pre satnav" SE's like mine was, then it should have had 18" wheels as standard - mine was shod with Continental Mud and Snow tyres which were OK, but others here didn't rate the large sized tyres very highly. The ride is very nice on the 18's as you have so much sidewall on the tyre to absorb the bumps! 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

gothatway wrote:

How much should I worry about the speed/load rating (the handbook says 109V for 18" or 107Y for 19") ? The Cooper Leon and Goodyear MTR are only S-rated.

It's not a problem - 'S' is well in excess of UK speed limits so is ok for insurance. Land Rover used the MTRs themselves on G4 cars. The load ratings for both those tyres is also more than what you need.

The right tyres make a big difference to the ability of the car. The std tyres struggle on wet grass, they are ok for mild off roading, but once the tread is full of mud, it's game over. The sidewalls etc are also weaker and hence more risk of punctures from rocks, stakes etc.

As mentioned - the tyre section of disco3.co.uk and the 'wiki' section will anser all tyre questions.

I've got Goodyear MT-r's on my G4 and would recommend them to anyone. spent nearly 2 hours rescuing people last night who were stuck in snow up to the top of my wheel arches, RRS never faltered once. They are no problem on the roads or motorways either, only a bit more noise off them than road tyres.

Gothatway - to continue from last night - my Pirellis are Scorpion Asymetrico Zero's mine are 20" but they are available in smaller sizes.

Alicatt and Mrs Alicatt have just left here having driven from Wick and on their way to Newcastle to catch the ferry to Ijmuden. He runs his TDv8 on MTR's at this time of the year and would back up what Graemereeper says. VA also ran his RRS on MTRs for a while 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

Although Tim was confident about his Pirelli in snow-ice conditions, I have the exact opposite opinion with my Wrangler F1 M+S tyres.
Last weekend was very difficult in Dusseldorf area (10-15 cm of snow temps around -10) So my experience wasn't that good especially during braking or cornering with M+S tyres. Having winter tyres on my other cars I have to say that winter tyres +4x4 is the best you can have in snow-ice conditions.

Another option based on my experience with my previous 4x4 is the AT tyres which can cope quite good with mud and snow (not that good on ice though)

And not forget that RRS is a 2.7 tons monster whatever that means in braking on slippery surfaces. 2009 Range Rover Sport 2.7 TDV6 SE, Alaska White, Almond leather, tinted windows, active rear diff, tow pack, HiICE, full spare: gone and already missed

2004 Fiat Panda 1.2 Climbing 4x4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAg4DdXAp7Y

Diamond, I had GY Wranglers on my FFRR and Freelander1 and they were lethal in snow and ice even though they were rated as M&S tyres. Would never ever have them again on a 4x4. I would normally run on winter pattern tyres here but haven't got round to chnaging and in view of my experience last night I wonder if there is any point in changing to them other than to protect the rims with the higher profile tyre...................... 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

Tim,

I didn't know that your 20" Pirellis were M&S tyres The Contis certainly aren't. TDV6 - gone
TDV8 - gone
Audi Q5 3.0 Tdi Sline wef 6/11/10

Oops Josh, just been out and had a check at the tyres and there is no mention of M or S on any of the 20" Pirellis that are still on the car - their performance is even more impressive then! 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

Tim in Scotland wrote:

Oops Josh, just been out and had a check at the tyres and there is no mention of M or S on any of the 20" Pirellis that are still on the car - their performance is even more impressive then!

and that also makes the GY wrangler look even worse.!!!  2009 Range Rover Sport 2.7 TDV6 SE, Alaska White, Almond leather, tinted windows, active rear diff, tow pack, HiICE, full spare: gone and already missed

2004 Fiat Panda 1.2 Climbing 4x4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAg4DdXAp7Y

GY MTR's were fine but a little noisy - they will also last ages and ages, probably 40,000 before you need to replace. 2005 Zambezi TDV6 - Gone but not forgotten
2009 Alaska TDV8 - Gone and much missed.



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Thanks all - decided to stick with the Scorpion Zeroes after all - £560 for all four seemed a good deal.

I didn't buy an RRS to get road noise, so that put the MTR out of the running for me