All Terrain Tyres

[Van Rouge]

Hi all

Does anyone have experience of any of the following tyres

BFG K02
General Grabber AT3
Cooper Tire AT3

Your impressions on them would be much appreciated

I will be running the Brickworks lift kit on the van could any suggest the most suitable tyre size the wheels they will be going on are Projekt Zwo 16 by 7.5

Many thanks in advance

Kind regards
Nick

[Jim San]

I've had the top two.

In short, BFG's better of the two off road. GG better of the two on road

[Van Rouge]

Many thanks for that The van a country mile will be on road Cheers

[Aidan]

I recently fitted Falken AT3WA; very nice road manners, not noisy, full M&S rating and snowflake, so all year round use - 1/2 the price of BFG and readily available online
I am running 215/75/15 on Mefro rims on a Syncro fyi

[Van Rouge]

Cheers Aiden

[SyncroMatt]

I recently fitted Falken AT3WA; very nice road manners, not noisy, full M&S rating and snowflake, so all year round use - 1/2 the price of BFG and readily available online
I am running 215/75/15 on Mefro rims on a Syncro fyi

Remind me of your engine, gearbox combo if you would. Power steering? How do you find the slightly wider width and height over the stock 205/r14

I know a lot of folk run that size due to availability...

Matt

[Aidan]

2.1 DJ, original 112k miles, uses a little oil
Power steering from factory
Stock suspension, running a bit more than stock caster at present (so front uprights pulled slightly forward on radius rods compared to stock)
5.43 final drive currently with a 0.82 4th gear instead of the stock 0.85 and a taller 1.18 3rd gear - I'll be rebuilding the box before it goes in with the Ian Holman 2.5. this was just put together to experiment with the gearing
I live rural and hilly so spend a lot of time in 3rd running 3000+ rpm around 40mph
Tyres rub on the front SA aftermarket mudflaps on 30%+ lock
New springs being fitted next week as it's a little bit down at front due to HD front wheel carrier and bullbar that was fitted, now removed, will be keeping the wheel carrier and putting the spare in there once I've worked out the necessary modification, probably adaptor blocks to lower hinge point slightly and replacing the wires with a ratchet strap or 2 to hold tyre in place.
I find the 215 width fine doesn't make the steering as noticeably heavy as say a 235, I've run 215/75/15 for 20 years, mostly MTs but then I ran 205R14C as road tyres. The Falkens aren't a wide bulgy 215
108mm rear driveshafts so no lift kit fitted

[Oren Kipnis]

Had the Cooper, and they were totally rubbish.

Currently with the BFG for 11000 miles. They are excellent and worth the higher price.

I use Toyo Open Country on a 2016 Suzuki Jimny, and they are great. Be aware that some dimensions are produced in load range variants and you will need the heavier one.

[cobblers]

I have had BFG K02s on several vehicles, used daily. They're fairly inoffensive but you are definitely aware you're running all terrain tyres.
They make a little bit of noise. Absolutely unstoppable in the snow. Reasonable road manners, not too sketchy in the rain but they do have an impact on MPG.

General grabbers are a little bit more tame. If you only occasionally go off road, I'd choose those, they'll be quieter and less draggy but will still perform many many times better than a road tyre. A friend of mine has them on his Discovery and they're great

[pierce]

Had the Cooper, and they were totally rubbish.

What did you find bad about the Coopers, I am after some AT tyres for my 2wd.
I had this on my shortlist because they come in 205 70 r15.

On paper they look good for me because they have rain grooves running around them, so presumably a bit more road focused, did you have the at3 sport 2's?

Not sure how the jx engine would handle the 215 75s, otherwise the falkens were my first choice. I do wonder if it would make 4th gear more usable.

I am thinking of heading over to Morocco this year, nothing serious off road, but just don't want to worry about the tyres if it a gravel road, also and probably more importantly like the look of the AT tyres

 

[Aidan]

Had the Cooper, and they were totally rubbish.

What did you find bad about the Coopers, I am after some AT tyres for my 2wd.
I had this on my shortlist because they come in 205 70 r15.

On paper they look good for me because they have rain grooves running around them, so presumably a bit more road focused, did you have the at3 sport 2's?

Not sure how the jx engine would handle the 215 75s, otherwise the falkens were my first choice. I do wonder if it would make 4th gear more usable.

I am thinking of heading over to Morocco this year, nothing serious off road, but just don't want to worry about the tyres if it a gravel road, also and probably more importantly like the look of the AT tyres

 

are you 4 or 5 speed ? Which code gearbox ?
If 5 speed then you'll be spending more time in 4th in the happy rev range but will enjoy cruising in 5th a little easier where you can use it
Normal 4 speed TD box is same gearing as a Syncro TD, which could come with 205R14C as standard, great in 4th but you will need to use 3rd a bit more, don't lug it, use the revs, not the torque for the gearbox's sake

[pierce]

are you 4 or 5 speed ? Which code gearbox ?
If 5 speed then you'll be spending more time in 4th in the happy rev range but will enjoy cruising in 5th a little easier where you can use it
Normal 4 speed TD box is same gearing as a Syncro TD, which could come with 205R14C as standard, great in 4th but you will need to use 3rd a bit more, don't lug it, use the revs, not the torque for the gearbox's sake

I have a 5 speed box code 3H.
On motorways I tend to avoid 4th unless its a very steep hill. I find that unless the speed dips below 48mph it just chugs up his at slow revs in 5th. If I change down to 4th I tend to get puffs of black smoke and although there is more acceleration to play with it doesn't seem to go much faster, sounds like I should have been using 4th a bit more from what you said  I wonder if anyone has had a jx that didn't smoke in that circumstance.
Mountain passes and other steeper hills its fine because of the slower speeds, it's just those motorway speed long hills that the gearing (and power) is not really right for.

I have 205/70/16s on the back at the mo which is 2% bigger, 215/75/15 would be near 8%

[Oren Kipnis]

Had the Cooper, and they were totally rubbish.

What did you find bad about the Coopers, I am after some AT tyres for my 2wd.
I had this on my shortlist because they come in 205 70 r15.

On paper they look good for me because they have rain grooves running around them, so presumably a bit more road focused, did you have the at3 sport 2's?

Not sure how the jx engine would handle the 215 75s, otherwise the falkens were my first choice. I do wonder if it would make 4th gear more usable.

I am thinking of heading over to Morocco this year, nothing serious off road, but just don't want to worry about the tyres if it a gravel road, also and probably more importantly like the look of the AT tyres

The tyres were A/T3 sport. It felt unsafe when driving on wet tarmac. The current BFG A/T K02 are great, but cost much more.
 

[pierce]

Thanks that's very interesting   

[pierce]

Aidan, I was just reading about the gear ratios in the 3H, do you think that it is a less suitable for bigger tyres?