Goodyear wrangler 255/60/20


Bfgoodrich KO2 275/55/20

Cooper at3 275/55/20

I literally tried all of these tires, spent a good amount of time with each and tested them on road and off-road (sand, dirt, gravel and a bit of rock crawling)

wheels used are the 20inch redbourne alstons, why 20 inch? Will answer that later, but first..

My defender SE P400 came with the 19 inch wheels, and let me tell you that these are the most difficult wheels to get a tire for, you are basically stuck with the goodyear all terrain or the duratrac version and not a single tireshop has them in stock as they are not readily available and that sucks to be honest, so I either downsize or go up a size.

To downsize to 18inch wheels I had two options, either go with the $1000 caliper conversion kit (which really costs 250-300$ and managed to figure out the parts) or grind the calipers, at this stage I didn’t know if I would grind the front or the rear or both, and after extensive research currently the 18inch wheels that are confirmed would fit the P400 variant are:

1. Evo corse dakar zero 18inch
   1. front wheel will fit
   2. rear caliper needs grinding
2. Tuffant alloys
   1. front wheel will fit
   2. rear caliper needs grinding
3. tuffant steelies
   1. front needs 30mm spacers
   2. rear needs 30mm spacers
   3. rear caliper needs grinding
4. redbournes
   1. front wheel will fit
   2. rear caliper needs grinding

And the CONFIRMED perfect tire sizes that would fit an 18inch wheel on the P400 without any lift are the 265/65/18 and 275/65/18.


Goodyear All terrain 255/60/20 (34/37psi)

• Very quite on the road
• More steering correction and input on the highway to drive straight due to the narrow 255 size on high speeds
• overlanding with these are great
• On sand (low psi) surprisingly they were not bad
• With dirt, gravel and rocks they just dont grib as much as you expect them to
• very difficult to get a tire if you got a puncture, as they are exclusively made for land rover defender

Bfgoodrich KO2 275/55/20 (34/38 psi)

• Noisy on the road
• Stiffer/harsh ride, air suspension and these tires are in a love hate relationship, I see down the road that there is a pothole or some damage on the road and I know its not a pre-runner but in my mind I expect it to go over them with a bit of smoothness and expect just a small jolt BUT no, it was very stiff and harsh as if the air suspension didn't soak up anything.
• looks badass!
• Steering is heavier with these tires, and on the highway it drives dead straight with no steering correction due to the 275 width
• Engine will rev more, you need a bit more throttle to move as you will feel the heaviness
• On sand without lowering the psi it was ok but kept digging and getting stuck a bit, with low psi it was a dune buggy but it was revving like crazy, you can feel the defender was working harder to move these tires.
• on dirt, gravel and rocks it was amazing, the amount of grip and traction is unbelievable, but again the suspension wasn't working in harmony with these tires.
• The tire is available everywhere

Cooper At3 4s 275/55/20 (34/38 psi)

• surprisingly quite on the road
• The air suspension was working very well with the tire, potholes, pavement cracks and holes were literally ironed out with a slight jolt
• You don't feel heavy like the KO2 tires experience, you can feel the lightness as if it was the oem 19 inch tire but with better traction, cornering and better highway/road handling
• on sand it was a beast due to its less aggressive tread than the KO2, but once you lower your psi, it was floating on sand
• on dirt, gravel and rocks I was totally shocked how excellent they were and grippy, and the suspension was more compliant with the coopers at3 and it was soaking and smoothing everything.
• tire is available everywhere
• cheaper than the KO2

So the final verdict is you will be fine with the 20 inch wheels and you will be shocked at how capable they are if you choose the right tire and a better tire than the oems, the maximum tire size you can fit on the 20inch wheels with out any spacers or lift rods is 275/55/20.

I'm not here to debate or wrestle, I am just writing about my experiences with these tires with the conditions I drive on, I'm not sponsored by any or work for any or brand bias.

 

What PSI were you running the tires at? Was it the same PSI for all 3 sets?

 

around the 34-35 for the front tires and 37-38 for the rears

 

Great, thorough post!! Thanks for the insight and contribution. Im currently working on the front of my Defender (winch/eta al) and will do wheels/tires in the late fall/winter. Great write up of more to consider. I too am on the 18 v 20 fence ringgit now, so this helps.

 

Just for clarity, is that the Cooper AT3 “XLT”, “LT”, or “4S”?

 

Any rubbing and were you using lift rods?

 

They look like 4S, with the proper XL load range. Good choice.

 

these are the 4s

 

No rubbing no lift rods with 20inch wheels and 275/55/20 tires

 

I’m leaning towards the Mickey Thompson 20’s now and am abandoning the caliper swap thing as well. Too much $$ and I don’t think I really need it. Would love to hear if anyone can compare the Thompson to these tires. For all the vaunted reputation of the KO2’s, I’ve seen enough negative reviews now to pass on those. I’d consider the Coopers but can’t get past their market positioning as a cheapo discount brand in my area.