Land Rover Discovery 2 (2000 mod) Tyres
Submitted: Tuesday, Jun 17, 2003 at 22:46
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Stephen B
My Td5 Discovery has just turned over 100,000 klms on the original Michelin XPC tyres (235/70R16) and will be due for replacement shortly. At about $315 fitted they are an expensive tyre or are they when compared with the limited choices available? Most of my driving has been on the tar and dirt roads and towing my tandem trailers. I mentioned limited choices as it is apparently illegal to fit tyres on my disco with a load rating less than 105 and a speed rating less than T. The XPC is a 105H (H is a higher speed rating than T). I was keen on the BF Goodrich All Terrain but to my absolute surprise their rating is 104S which is lower in both load and speed ratings than my disco's minimum legal requirement. I would have thought that with their strengthened side walls etc that the load rating would be higher than 105.
Michelin Synchrone is a 105H rated tyre but very much for road use and the mileage is uncertain as it is a new tyre. Is there an alternative to the Michelin XPC or is this still the best option for this vehicle? It amazes me that Michelin have not made the BF Goodrich All Terrain as a 105T-H as it would be a good choice for their customers to choose a more capable off road tyre at a lower price (about $220 fitted) than the XPC although I am not sure on the BF Goodrich A/Tmileage.
I wonder how many people are aware of the minimum load and speed ratings of their vehicles?
Would fitting a 245/75R16 instead of the 235/70R16 on the same rims be the answer or would this alter speed readings etc?
Al lengthy question but can anyone Discovery 2 owners or others help? Thanks.
Reply By: Truckster (Vic) - Tuesday, Jun 17, 2003 at 23:04
Tuesday, Jun 17, 2003 at 23:04
If you are happy with the tires you have, dont change simple as that. 100,000klms is a good run out of tires.
You may change and hate what you change to, maybe what someone else wants but not for you.
Also
shop around, and bull$hit to tire
places, say the bloke down the road at discount tire place will do them for $290 and see what he says. Works for me usually!!!
Did it with my MTRs the other week, came down from $310 to $265, shows you the margin.
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Stephen B - Tuesday, Jun 17, 2003 at 23:31
Tuesday, Jun 17, 2003 at 23:31
Thanks Kes and Truckster for your reply.
Firstly Kes, it's not that I want a race tyre as I was all set to put on the BF Goodrich A/T. It is apparently a legal requirement to fit a minimum of 105 load & T speed ratings on the Discovery 2.
Truckster, you may be right with the XPC but I wanted to see if I had other choices and I have shopped around and was given a price of $305 fitted for the XPC but that was out of town and I know the local tyre dealer will punish me when I roll in every 10,000 klm for a rotation and I didn't purchase from him.
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Rollo - Wednesday, Jun 18, 2003 at 17:12
Wednesday, Jun 18, 2003 at 17:12
Stephen, I too am needing new tyres for a Disco 2. I have only managed just over 60,000 ks on the xpc's so have been looking for something different and, like you, I have run into the same problem with the scarcity of off-road tyres with a 105/T load index/speed rating.
This may not help much, but I understand from talking to tyre companies that the load index must equal or better the placarded figure (105) , but all 4wheel drive vehicles in Aus are only required to have a speed rating of "N" (140). I don't know which has precedence, federal requirement or LandRover. If the "N" rating is correct it does give a few more choices. The Cooper sure tracs are one example if you were looking for a more aggresive tyre - 105/S. Cheers
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Graeme - Wednesday, Jun 18, 2003 at 18:34
Wednesday, Jun 18, 2003 at 18:34
Hi Stephen B
Been through a similar exercise looking at Coopers Tyres. My Prado has a 113 load & a S speed rating so was worried about legality of the Coopers I wanted - higher load rating & a N speed rating.
Coopers sent me a copy of sec. 52 Tyres - manufacturer's rating from the Australian Vehicle Standards Rules 1999 which in part says ....
.... for a car with special features for off-road use - 140 kilometres an hour; or (N Rated) ...
So, your four-wheel drive vehicle is LEGAL (that's how I read it anyway) if the tyres are load rated at or above your tyre placard AND have a N speed rating.
Hope this helps.
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Stephen B - Wednesday, Jun 18, 2003 at 22:30
Wednesday, Jun 18, 2003 at 22:30
Thankyou Rollo & Graeme for your replies today which I have just read at 10.05pm.
After looking thru the Explore Oz site I have got a taste to venture off road more often. I feel I should move away from the XPC so this afternoon I rang ARB and spoke at length to them about tyre choice for the Disco 2. They also highly recommend Cooper tyres and I am sure he said they run the Cooper A/T on their Disco 2 which he said was excellent and he referred to write-ups that put them ahead of the BF Goodrich A/T. They run a 245/75R16 on their Disco 2 but I found out that a 245/70R16 in the Cooper A/T is rated at 107 S and is approx 13mm higher than my 235/70R16 which apparently has minimal affect on the speedo. The tyre dealer thought that the Cooper S/T (sure trac) might be unstable on road?
If the 245/70R16 size doesn't affect the speedo etc, then it may be a go. I am a bit concerned if I need to run my 235/70R16 spare and whether running the two different sizes may cause damage? Many thanks.
AnswerID:
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