Cooper tyre question
Submitted: Thursday, Aug 20, 2009 at 10:39
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Gossy
Whew here we go :)
to keep this short I am a fan of Cooper so easier for the
forum to know this now. To be honest it's simply "why change a good thing". I'm a firm believer that all tyres will perform the same if treated correctly with pressures and the correct tyre bought for the conditions it was meant for etc.
I have had ST (which did chip and replaced in warranty). I have now had ST-C's which have performed very
well but have now seen better days after years of abuse (dedicated bush tyre for trips away) and now retired to my city rims.
Usual signs of cracking and chips which would be fine for smaller trips away but not for the Canning so i want a completely new tyre on every corner and spares for this trip.
Not really tyre specific rather than a tread question.
the STT is a stronger tyre with it's top and sides increased in strength; though a 10 ply ST-C is no slouch either. Having a mud terrain tread which has larger gaps between the lugs actually increase the chance of puncture though because more of the tyre is actually exposed??
My thinking is that having a stronger tyre is balanced out because more of the tyre is exposed to be punctured in the first place; so why pay the extra $ ?
Thanks in advance.
Reply By: Member - Wim (Qld) - Thursday, Aug 20, 2009 at 10:53
Thursday, Aug 20, 2009 at 10:53
Gossy.
My SST's are in the same situation as your ST's. After this next trip they will be retired (excuse the pun).
They have done all their work (five years) off the black top with a lot of cross country.
They do not seem to have suffered than any other tyre on my trips.
Last trip (lots of cross country), we had a few punctures but my STT's escaped unscathed.
regards
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Reply By: Dave(NSW) - Thursday, Aug 20, 2009 at 11:15
Thursday, Aug 20, 2009 at 11:15
Image Could Not Be Found
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Follow Up By: Gossy - Thursday, Aug 20, 2009 at 11:40
Thursday, Aug 20, 2009 at 11:40
maybe, but so far so good. Just not sure if the open tread of a MT is suitable for 'touring'.
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Follow Up By: Dave(NSW) - Thursday, Aug 20, 2009 at 14:46
Thursday, Aug 20, 2009 at 14:46
Gossy, I think you will find most profeshinol tour guides use MT's if that's any help.
Cheers Dave...
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Reply By: Anthony (Vic) - Thursday, Aug 20, 2009 at 13:38
Thursday, Aug 20, 2009 at 13:38
We put on STT’s for our central oz trip, 3,000kms on tracks (incl.
Oodnadatta trk,
Menindee Loop, East,
Ross River to Gemtree & Plenty Hwy), the remaining 7,000kms on tar. Got no punctures while off road, but could see many a sharp rock cut through the lugs and also between the lugs that were stopped by the belted layers under the tread.
At the end of the trip we left the STT’s on the Prado because they stop better then most LT tyres on wet tar, I guess because they are a silica not rubber compound tyre. So the additional cost of STT’s, for me at least, is justified as I only spend the dollars on one set of tyres, and not having an on-road and an off-road set of tyres.
For our next trip, I’II replace all the worn STT’s with new and not risk using the old (now less then half the tread left) tyres. But the old STT’s are still fine in the mean time, for local trips up the bush (around Vic) and doing all the around town stuff.
Cheers and see ya around ... my
membership due to expire later this month and am reallocating the dollars to other sporting interests that need some expenditure ....
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Reply By: Wombat - Thursday, Aug 20, 2009 at 15:07
Thursday, Aug 20, 2009 at 15:07
iMusty used to rub Coopers on his bus and swears by them.
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Reply By: Member - Tony V (NSW) - Thursday, Aug 20, 2009 at 15:22
Thursday, Aug 20, 2009 at 15:22
Gossy,
Love my STT's, I do have a set of Bridgestone AT's on rims that I should change back to when I finish trips, the truth is that the STT's wear little on the road and grip as good if not better than the AT's.
The only thing is noise. I have now got 166,000kms on the car and at least 100,000 on 7 x STT's without a puncture. (1 punctured in an road accident).
Image Could Not Be Found
I did wreck 2 STT's ( chipped and damaged lugs) due to a
suspension (one side rear airbag blew) Image Could Not Be Found failure half way through Butcher Country in Victoria, the lack of
suspension put a heap of pressure on the rear tyres.
So effectively I had a new spare 2 replaced due to
suspension and 1 due to accident and stil have a reasonable spare and about 40-50,000 kms left on the set.
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Reply By: CJ - Thursday, Aug 20, 2009 at 19:18
Thursday, Aug 20, 2009 at 19:18
Gossy,
Done the CSR. Had ST on. No problems, few chips (did the old gunbarrell on the way over) but all good.
Back to your question on tread, I think the ST tread is better overall for soft sand. I never thought about your argument on puncture resistance, but it does make sense. However I would not choose the tread based on that IMO - the only punctures in our whole group was on the sidewall
Hope you enjoy the trip - I am envious
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Reply By: Holden4th - Thursday, Aug 20, 2009 at 20:12
Thursday, Aug 20, 2009 at 20:12
silica vs rubber? Surely the silica will harden up after time and become a liability on wet bitumen.
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Reply By: Gossy - Friday, Aug 21, 2009 at 09:09
Friday, Aug 21, 2009 at 09:09
thanks all for the feedback. I have decided to go with the ST-C's again. Just had it confirmed that the STT has the same rubber compound as the ST.
The softer compound is important to me because of the particular driving that we do in S.A. (fast rocky roads, flinders etc). I have seen what the roads here did to my ST's and there is only $6 difference between the STT and ST-C so I might as
well stick with what I know.
also found out that the ST-C is only rated to 140km/h (STT is 160km/h). Not very fast but if my GQ 2.8td ever gets that fast it's probably because my brakes have failed coming down the
Adelaide hills freeway!!
it will be interesting to see how my old ST-C's last on the bitumen around town though. I'm not expecting many km's out of them but beats putting them in the bin!
thanks all
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