Tyres - what's best?

[tforturton]

Days away from ordering my Mefros in15 inch, and was going to buy grabbers in 205/75/15, as that is as near as dammit the same rolling diameter as my current 205/80/14s. But it that the best set-up? Would 215/75/15 be better? If so, why? What are the pros an cons?

[Aidan]

tyres for what ?
mud, all terrain, road, winter, summer, looks, value ?

[tforturton]

Ah yes, sorry. Road miles mainly, very little off road. But what I meant was -if I get slightly taller tyres, is that better for speed, fuel, cv wear, or worse, or exactly the same. Am I better off sticking to the original rolling radius, or not?

[toomanytoys]

How do you think it performs now??
What final drive ratio do you have??
Std engine or more power???

[tforturton]

Bog standard 2.1 DJ. It's good enough for me, though we all know they could do with a bit more power.
No idea on my final drive ratio - whatever it came with from VW, I guess.
I've read a lot of threads about what you get with bigger tyres - higher gearing, better top speed, but less low down grunt, more wear on the CVs.
But to quote Harry Hill, "Which is best?"
My head says get 205/75/15 and stick to as close to standard as you can. I just wondered what others thought.

[hugomonkey]

i´ve got 215 75 15 grabbers and a standard jx engine and i have never had a problem even though my doka is lifted and with standard CV´s, thats to say that they are at their maximum limits, you have at least 35 hp more than me so don´t worry so much about the size, the 215 75 15 tyres are still less than 5% larger and you will hardly notice the difference

[syncropaddy]

You wont notice the difference between 205/14 and 215/75/15 as its only 3% higher gearing. BFG do a tyre called Long Trail and we use them on our Toyota 4x4's for the service crews. They are good enough off road and last for what seems like forever!!

[silverbullet]

Depends on the final drive though...going from 185C14 80 profile up to 215/75/15 on 4.86 diffs was quite dramatic with only a DG to push it along. It would be another matter on 5.43 commercial diffs.

Basically that was from a nominal 650mm dia tyre up to around 680mm dia (both measured, not theoretical) resulting in 60mph arriving at 3200 rpm against the original 3600.

Singing along at 3600 or slogging at 3200? You choose.

Petrol engined vans can easily be spoiled with over-gearing, diesels will shrug it off, but both will be slower and less "zippy" in my experience.

[syncropaddy]

Depends on the final drive though...going from 185C14 80 profile up to 215/75/15 on 4.86 diffs was quite dramatic with only a DG to push it along. It would be another matter on 5.43 commercial diffs.

Basically that was from a nominal 650mm dia tyre up to around 680mm dia (both measured, not theoretical) resulting in 60mph arriving at 3200 rpm against the original 3600.

Singing along at 3600 or slogging at 3200? You choose.

Petrol engined vans can easily be spoiled with over-gearing, diesels will shrug it off, but both will be slower and less "zippy" in my experience.

But he isnt! He is going from 205R14 to 215/75/15 and it doesnt matter what diffs he has !!

[Allanw]

If you like it now, get the same diameter!

As above - you can over-tyre. If the overall gearing ends up too tall, you'll have a realy dog on your hands. 3% is about the max I would go up, 5% is quite noticable.

The difference in fuel economy is minimal, if any. If you end up too tall, the economy will be WORSE

[MickeTJ]

Im also choosing between these two tires. General Grabber AT2 205/75 r15 or the 215/75 r15
I have an MV engine (hitop) with 215/65 r15 but they are like slicks so I need to buy new ones.
I cruise at 3000 rpm at 60 mph on highway

I also got the "jeep-sickness" as is I always want to go bigger.. but that cost me 5K in regearing and lockers
on my old wrangler. So i really dont want to go down that road again with my syncro... but I do like big tires...

So what are your opinion? do the power loss suck? is the load rating that important?
Is the G gear useless if i go 215?? I really use it when offroading for precision so dont want to loose it.

these are the pros and cons on each.

215 =

pros:"
Load rate 100, looks cooler in my opinion.

cons:
Not "snow-flake" rated, So I cant use them in the winter, at least not legally in Sweden.
I belive I will not like the power loss??

205

pros: Snow-flake rated so I can use my bus all year,
closer to what I got at the moment.

Cons:
Load rate 97, I guess I will be unhappy, knowing I could probably go 215..


Gaaaaahhhh It drives me crazy!!! and I need to choose this week..

[axeman]

i think that you need to find out what your final drive is (your gear box code). as a general rule for uk vans commercial vans would have a 5.43 and busses would have a 4.86,

from my experience with the mv wbx in the doka and a 5.43 the 215 75 15 are a good all round tyre size, with minimal inpact on the driving caraterisics of the van.

one day soon i will fit these wheels and tyres on the the camper again it has the 5.43 diff but it's a jx so it will be interesting to see what effect it has on the van.

neil

[syncropaddy]

225/70/15

Not as tall as a 215/75/15 and more snow flake tyres available. Try Maxxis or Continental

[Tinium]

I've just fitted a set of BFGoodrich All Terrain 215/75R15, they're load rated 100 and snow-flake rated if that helps, but a bit more expensive than the General Grabbers. Not noticed much difference in performance, but only did a hundred miles or so on the original 14"s as they were shot when I bought the van!

[MickeTJ]

Tintum, do you have an MV engine?

Axeman, It looks like I need to find out what gearbox code I have. That could be decisive.
My bus is imported from Holland by me but It may be an SA van from the begging?
As it got SA brakes, ABS and some other weird things to it. Did the SA syncros have a different gearbox than the European?

SyncroPaddy, I really like the General Grabbers and the narrow tires. In Sweden we have a list made up by the STRO (Scandinavian tire and rim organisation) that shows approved tires. this is the list.
http://www.stro.se/winter/vinter121001_new.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The MOT staff only looks to see if they have a M+S marking or a snowflake. The only problem is if you get in an accident, then the insurance company will look at the tires and if they are not on that list then you get no coverage.