Anyone else disappointed that JLR won't sell the 3.0L with 18" rims? IMO dropping the 18" rim size on Defender is a rather sharp poke in the eyeball to tire companies that would have liked to sell their off road tires to a Defender owner, and to Defender shoppers looking to buy with 18"s. The 19"s are good but have few choices, and the 20"s lack sidewall, so choices are not their primary issue. For a few years JLR supported industry standard. JLR is dropping 18"s from the lineup while new entrants like LC, GX, Grenadier, and Bronco all came out with new production models that use that standard rim size; obviously they are hoping to compete with their new SUVs. What do others think is likely for Defender going in the opposite direction?

 

I don't think it was a good idea to drop the 18" wheels from the Defender. Sure, they didn't sell in huge numbers, but the demand and market is there. I foresee the 18" wheels making a comeback soon The 20" wheels still have plenty of sidewall. I'm running 20" wheels with Falken Wildpeaks, and I've done some fairly hardcore trails and the "lack of sidewall" has NEVER been an issue. Now, would I do the same trails in a Defender with 22" wheels? Absolutely not.

 

For model year 25 you can't get the 18s on the p300 either. Sad day.

 

Disappointed they've chosen this path. I spec'd my P300 with 18's solely for the ability to choose good offroad tires. Feels like they've lost the plot for the vision of this vehicle. I understand that the majority of owners are barely even off the shoulder of the road let alone really off roading, but the image of this brand is off road. Not offering the 18's from the factory is a bummer.

In reality there is only one final tire size that fits without modification (32" or 33" I can't recall but regardless). With that outer diameter being fixed it's the users choice to fill that gap with the right ratio of metal to rubber. I prefer more rubber in that ratio so the 18's are my choice. And it helps that the number of choices for tires with 18s is exponential to other sizes. They should have scutttled the 19's first. Those are useless. I would have had more respect that they understood the market if they would have ditched those and kept the 18,20,22 options.

 

Yea it's sad, I don't really get it. Having the steel wheels was one reason why I got my D90, could have afforded much more car - but wanted the more basic trim for my daily driving. I get lots of compliments with this vehicle, much more than my other more expensive vehicles.

Went all in and have a winter set of wheels also for my snow tires.

 

what tire from Wildpeak do you have on a 20" rim? Are you using the standard Defender 20" rim: 255/60/20?

 

What really struck me is the timing. There are some significant new SUVs are coming out, all fighting in the same adventure based SUV race. A few years back Bronco started it, but now both the GX and LC are hitting the market with 18"s as an option. Ineos Automotive is looking insanely super smart to have adopted the industry standard, no questions asked, as now their Grenadiers get after market support. Why is it that JLR is picking now - when so many new entrants accept the standard rim to get some traction - that JLR gives up entirely and scuttles off? It's like JLR agreed to cede the market entirely to focus instead on LX and G Wagon shoppers. Can't they do both? Sell the Octa against a G, and sell a P400 on 18"s against a GX OT+? Sell a V8 Defender on 22" against the Luxury trim GX. A high trim Bronco can reach $90k, and a new Land Cruiser can be over $70k. A GX is likely going over $85k. These are price points Defender should be configured to challenge. I fault JLR big time for lacking a competitive spirit and slinking off without a fight. Put a P400 out there on 18"s and let the shoppers decide...

 

In the Jeep and INeos world, 18s are for mall cruisers; the Jeep Sahara, for instance. 17s are where the hardcore boys play. But if you really want sidewall, you want 37s on 16s! I can run these at 8 pounds all day long.



The 18" wheels on the Defender look pretty huge in comparison.

 

The 255/60HR19 Wildpeak AT Trail works fine on my MY23.5 D90S P300.

I could not wait to swap out the OG tires, which are truly ****. Originally waiting for the KO2 tires, now KO3 expected late next year instead of August. I chewed through a set in under. 20,000 miles, so the darned things are soft as H* which works if want strictly offroad but these tires are road tires trying their best to be (look?) offroad. They just aren't, full stop.

Better traction, handling, less road noise and curiously less wind noise at highway speed.

(not to mention that they are roughly $100 each less expensive)

Now, these are 60 series tires, so you're losing ½" and the actual overall size is 31.4" vice 32.1" high. I also run the light load setting, with 36# front and 40# rear.

"Works for me!" and "Your mileage will vary"...
​​​​​

 

It has nothing to do with JLR not wanting to compete in the standard trim (off-road) market.
JLR is currently manufacturing Defenders at full capacity. They even added a third shift at the Nitra plant last year. There is more demand than supply at the moment. So naturally, JLR decided to produce the vehicles with the highest margins and those are the fully loaded trims.
JLR has been struggling financially in recent years and thanks to the high margin Defenders, RRS and RR, they are slowly recovering. 3 years ago, it wasn’t even sure if the company would survive.