Sorry to derail the thread a bit, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with the 19" Duratracs, Freemey. Can't air them down as much as beefier 18s (and in my experience you really don't need to on a new Defender, unless you are driving on soft sand), but other than that they are excellent tires off-road - more than enough sidewall and bite - and perfectly adequate on road (not so sure about snow and ice, but that's not an issue where I live.) A tad noisier than all-seasons or the milder Adventures A/T, but barely so. I've had them for months and am happy with them - at least until my factory warranty is up, then I may do the brake switcheroo (I have a P400) and go with 18s eventually.

 

I doubt we’ll see much offered in 19’s ever. Land Rover has used that size for a while and very few have jumped on the wagon. The Defender is selling well, but it’s still a drop in the bucket compared to Jeeps and other mass market brands.

 

And don’t forget that even though the vast majority of Jeeps sold come on 17” wheels and have since 2007, the Sahara model has always been on 18s, and it makes up a sizeable market for tires, even if it’s a minority of the Wranglers sold. In the mid-2010s they were selling 225,000+ Wranglers in the US per year. Don’t know what the numbers have been since 2016, but I doubt they’ve fallen much.

Anyway, there’s serious incentive for tire makers to offer sizes in 18”, and much less so in 19. But 17 remains the gold standard for serious off-road wheel size. 16s are getting harder to find too, since the TJ Wrangler (1997-2006) is getting so old. I guess by this point most serious off-road TJs have had the wheels replaced.

 

When my 19 Pirelli’s wear out I will look into Duratrac - really like my current performance and ride but realize they might not be great off-road.

 

@aao4473 thanks for that thread - I'm finalizing my order of a Defender and started already to look around for proper tires to choose the right wheels on ordering - so your comparison helps me a lot.

BTW: I like your rim - looks that LR didn't offer them at the German market. Did you got them directly from LR or these are aftermarket rims ?

 

these are not the oem wheels they are after market, these are Redbourne Alston 20 inch wheels and used the center caps of the oem wheels on them

 

Glad I found this thread. I'm going to try the new BFG Trail-Terrain soon on my new 22'' wheel. Initially I was set for the Cooper AT3 4S but the new BFG Trail-Terrain seems to be an awesome alternative. I'll focus on yours review on the KO2 and update the difference between them when I try the new tire.

 

Hi aao4473,

Really great post, thank you. I just bought a 2022 Defender 90 X-Dynamic SE P400 with air suspension that came with the Pirelli Scorpions on the 20" wheels (see pic).

I want to put a more aggressive, wider off road tire on the stock rims without modifying, altering or messing up any geometry. I want a quiet comfortable tire (I'm old LOL), What is the general consensus here?

Thanks very much....Heres my D90.......

 

Low Country- I have a P300 2020 Defender with All Season Pirelli Scorpions. Like you I wondered and have posted on this thread about getting something a bit more aggressive. WHY? Because I wanted a more aggressive look-however the reality is I am older and like quiet and comfort. I don’t go aggressively off-road which would certainly challenge this tire. What I can offer is this- I am on an extended around the country road trip. First across the Northern tier to the Dakotas for Pheasants and now down to my origins in Georgia. Next to the Southwest and then home to the Pacific NW. I have had rain and an early season mountain mini-blizzard in Montana and the tires have been great. Yes I can feel a pile of slush at 60 mph when I hit it but partly because of the full time 4wheel drive and all weather performance they have been fine, quiet on the extensive highway segments and good on mileage. The mild off-road fields and dirt roads are no issue as they would be on almost any vehicle so no test on serious off roading.

Mileage rough thumbnail for the 4 cylinder is 80+Mph on the northern highways 20ish, 70+ Mph 21-22ish, between 60 and 66 mph I get 23ish. This is loaded with gear and tires at “normal” inflation. 47/50 psi front back. I also have 19 inch wheels which I specified to avoid old guy curb rash and give me some room to air down if needed and a bit softer ride. All in all they have been good tires for the Defender for what I do. I think that is the message- the Defender can be many vehicles depending on use case. Will I change to more aggressive looking tire when it’s time? Maybe -do I need it? No

 

Great write up and pics!! Thanks for sharing.