So I have a 2025 P400 110 Defender S Trim on order with my local dealer. Overall, I'm sure it will be awesome. I had been holding out for a P400 with an 18" rim, and couldn't wait any longer for JLR to fix it, so now I'll have a 19" rim on it instead. If the 19"s are terrible, I'll swap to an 18" rim. But I'm going to give it a good chance to prove my hesitancy was wrong.... It looks like maybe at some point a KO3 will fit, which will solve alot of potential problems. HOWEVER, what I'm wondering is this: who else would RATHER buy the P400 with an 18" rim (instead of the 20" rim or larger). Am I part of a small group of buyers? Or is pretty much everyone looking at the S Trim only because it's the smallest rim size JLR is offering on Defender? I have a LR already and love it, so I'm a LR fan and I knew I'd eventually get a Defender. I held off the first few years, because making a P400 without a standard wheel/rim set up that conforms to the US aftermarket seems rushed. What bugs me most about the 19"s is that every other auto manufacturer has figured a way to fit an 18" rim on an SUV they design for anything off road oriented. Of course Wrangler and Bronco, but also the newly designed LC, GX OT, Grenadier, and 4Runner. Even light trail oriented offerings: Subaru Wildtrack and Honda Pilot Trail Sport. Bigger SUVs too: a Ford Expedition can go with an 18" rim, and a Yukon AT4, although stuck at 20"s, is wide enough to give a good sidewall and lots and lots of tire choices. I've not found one other car - none - on the market today in the US that is advertised for off road use and can't fit an 18" or under rim!? If JLR wants to be committed to making Defender off road capable, it would have been nice if JLR considered the tire market we face as owners. So, if JLR did provide an 18" rim offering for the P400 engine in 110 size, would others buy it (INSTEAD of the 20")? OR, do folks really more prefer the 20"s? I know my answer, but what do other folks looking to buy a P400 think? thanks!

 

Yes please. I want 18" wheels so I can mount narrower winter tires on my P400. 275 wide winter tires don't exactly cut through deep snow. Plus more tire = less chance of pothole wheel damage.

Honda had the same stupid problem. The 2019 Passport we bought for our teen drivers came with 20" wheels and low profile tires. I immediately bought a set of 18" Ridgeline wheels and put 18" tires on them. Finally in 2024 Honda offers 18" wheels as standard on the Passport Trailsport. Maybe it will also take JLR 5 years to figure out we want 18" wheels on the P400.

 

I would have greatly preferred my MY2023 110x had been available with 18" wheels from the factory! It was a heart breaker but I held my nose and we went all in despite the wheel/tire size debacle by JLR. Glad we made the leap none-the-less. Glad we budgeted accordingly to get the brake caliper reduction kit and 18" TuffAnt's from Lucky8 installed next week (happy accident to coincide with only a slightly early change of rubber @-34000mi). It took longer than I wanted but hey - sadly household budgets are a real thing :-(

The 19" Wrangler DuraTrac's have been 'fine' but don't inspire confidence

 

Are 18" wheels even a thing for 2025?

If not, I half suspect that LR killed the 18's because too many people (like me) ordered the P300 just to get the wheels!

 

Assuming that you stick with 19" rims, the BFG KO3 tires are now showing October 2025. I couldn't wait, and went to Falken Wildpeak 255/60/19 tires. Wonderful ride, great handling and lower noise then factory Goodyear AT Adventure tires. These ARE 60 series tires, so if you are primarily offroad, you're losing ˝" sidewall (two times, top & bottom). Being 31.2" instead of 33" isn't really noticeable and I have the extended wheel arches.

Those OG tires are soft, too soft. I lost two tires to tread punctures by rocks on gravel roads. Not much I can do, I live just above the unpaved 4.2 miles heading to Asheville. One of those was the first replacement tire, so 10 ply "with Kevlar" bought me nada (OEM are 6 ply).

 

A LR Corporate employee (a high-up exec I'd assume, given all the knowledge he/she shared) directly addressed the topic of 'why does LR not offer an 18" wheel on the P400' on these very forums in 2022. Username: The Insider

Direct quote and link to The Insider's post from Feb-2022:
"Ahh if only we had considered that during our multi-year development program

Let's get serious for a moment. It's not like we are looking to increase our costs and complexity- we put the larger calipers on the P400 for a reason. It's a very heavy vehicle (even more so than the P300) and it's going to see some serious towing usage from people. Wrangler & Bronco owners can only dream of towing 8,000lb/3600kg. It's also notably more powerful and needs to be brought down from high speeds (repeatedly) in a hurry because some folks treat a powerful SUV like a sports car.

You can handle just about any encounter with the 19" wheels and the appropriate tire (at the correct pressure). The P300 is the truer off-roader for a number of reasons and more likely to see that duty around the world- so it has 18" wheel options. Additionally, the crowd in the US that typically pays P400 money doesn't want the 18" wheels. We know because we interview hundreds (actually thousands on Defender) of people before these vehicles go on sale. Many of them existing Land Rover owners. I can count on my hand how many times we've met someone willing to pay $80,000+ for a Defender who would like to option 18" wheels.

People across the pond in the US need to understand that your idea of off-roading and overlanding isn't always the same as the rest of the world (or desired). I would not like to be in South America or remote parts of the African continent trying to find a 35" tire.

Ultimately, if everyone makes a big enough fuss to the retailers we'll go back to the drawing board- we're always willing to spend the money and make the customers happy. However, thus far, the demand hasn't been there.

Hope this helps provide some insight into the situation."
https://landroverforums.com/forum/20...e2/#post813224


Fast forward to 2025MY Defender and the 18" wheel option has been dropped for North American market P300. Why? Either a cost-cutting effort to reduce number of SKUs given little demand for the 18" option and/or LR felt there is sufficient tire choices out there in 19" wheel size for the hardcore off-roaders. I'm going with a combination of both.

 

LR's multi year development program. LOL

Seems like time well spent. LR apparently never bothered to look at their own parts bin. They already had a caliper that fit the larger rotors allowing an 18" wheel and all the stopping power on the V8

LR now no longer offer said 18" rim in the states. There used to be two and at launch the steelies were heralded. Great way to make the consumer happy.

I would guess the numbers of new Defenders in remote Africa and South America is infinitesimally small. Try finding a tire for a 19" rim there. No one with even half a brain would design an off-roader on such large odd-ball rims and low profile tires.

Every other heavy truck/SUV with a beefy 3.5t towing capacity and more, that also likes to stop on demand runs 17" or 18" rims. Very much the norm. No problem whatsoever.

Defender comes on 3 different brake rotors and caliper combos. Maybe designing 1 for all trims would have been wise. No surprise their reliability and cost of repairs are what they are given this elective complexity. Probably some LOTR fan in corporate got their elvish way.

LR make luxury SUVs and have long since ditched the off-road market. Just take a look at all the V8 dick waving nonsense from them. Racetrack Defenders and Bond-villians in blacked out Defenders unsuccessfully chasing Toyotas. Salesbros and advertising know what keeps the lights on.

The off-road stuff is more of a side gig for them just to retain some sort of brand credibility.

Their customer base wants big, dumba$$, Escalade-like urban alloys, so they designed rotors and calipers to fill the space. Purely an esthetic design choice that neuters the vehicle.

This well flogged horse is just about ready for the glue factory. Maybe three or four more similarly titled threads will be enough.

 

Most Defender buyers prefer the larger wheel and will never test the capabilities of the truck. I blew out the stock Goodyear Wrangler tires shortly after taking delivery of ours back in 2020. I immediately bought the Lucky8 package that included the rear caliper swap with TuffAnt 18" Alloys. I put a set of LT265/70R18 K02s on them and have been extremely happy.

 

FWIW I dropped to the 18s with the the lucky 8 package on my p400… and now I have the v8 on 20s.

the 18s made zero capability difference in the heaviest terrain.

the thing that makes a real difference is better sidewalls!

My advice: if you’re worried about this go with a load range E KO2 which fits on the 20s and then go to town.

the main benefit of the 18s was the looks. They sure looked cool with a lot of meaty tire and smaller rim. But that’s about it.

Of course if you do want the cool 18s look, lucky 8 has your back! Just go for it because as far as I could tell they didn’t harm the braking performance at all.