 | Home > Wheels & Tyres > Sawtooth 16" vs 18" and BFG 235 vs 265 |
 
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| Cupboard Member Since: 21 Mar 2014 Location: Suffolk Posts: 2971   
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Tyre size and profiles all depend on what you want out of a tyre.
Traction is a function of the length of the contact patch in relation to the force and the pressure on it. So if you want good forwards traction you need a long contact patch, if you want cornering traction you need a wide contact patch. From that perspective generally you want a narrower tyre on a Defender. Narrower tyres are also less susceptible to throwing mud all of the sides of the car, put less load on wheel bearings, improve steering lock and give a lighter steering feel. Some people like the look of wide tyres, personally I think they look silly. I've seen 2WD vehicles with narrow tyres literally running rings round 4WDs with much more aggressive wide ones on a slippery surface. Narrower tyres also have a lower rolling resistance so are easier to drive off road and use less fuel on road (marginally considering the brick they're supporting). Bit more reading here: http://www.expeditionswest.com/research/wh..._rev1.html As you might guess, of the choice of 235 and 265 I'd go with the 235. 16" or 18" - basically this comes down to what sort of profile you want the sidewalls. Lower profile (i.e. shorter) sidewalls flex less. When you're going round a corner, weight is transferred on to the outside edge of the tyre picking the inside edge up. The less sidewall you have, the less that happens so the better cornering performance you have. For going round corners with good grip, low profile tyres are a good thing. For ride comfort and off road use, they're a bad thing. Defenders suffer from huge unsprung weights and a tall flexible sidewall helps give a little bit of suspension to the unsprung elements. Also, the taller the sidewall is the more you can air down off road so improving traction, flotation and comfort. As you might guess from that, I'd go with the 16" wheels. Personally, I have 7.50R16 tyres on mine and the cornering performance is fine. It starts to squeal when you're pushing it hard but doesn't let go within the range of my confidence and driving ability. From that, I have no reason change to anything wider or lower profile and so that's where my viewpoint comes from. There are other opinions, people liking the look of this or that, but that's how it goes. |
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14th Apr 2016 1:20pm |
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| alfajock Member Since: 12 Jan 2011 Location: Bedfordshire Posts: 227 
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Hello and welcome. Nice truck and Sawtooths will look great on her!
235s are probably more functional as they will will dig in deeper in mud, but I personally prefer the chunkier look of 265s Have you seen this thread? It should give you plenty of pictures of both options http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic9184.html Fully Restored 89 110 CSW V8 CLS 350 CDI for the sensible stuff |
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14th Apr 2016 1:23pm |
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| Cake Member Since: 10 Jun 2015 Location: Essex Posts: 277
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Why change tyres at all if the ones you have have plenty of tread?
Boosts and sawtooths are interchangeable tyre wise, so save some money 
Hope you are enjoying the car and looks great  |
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26th Apr 2016 5:37pm |
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