Hello. I've gone through just about ever post so far on the subject and consensus seems to only be reached on a few discontinued or unavailable options.

I need a quiet ride, mostly on road, can handle mild weather/snow admirably and with caution, looks decent, and will last at least 40k.

I am on a second set of of the Wranglers, I can barely hear the radio and the cupping is a major concern.

Would anyone be willing make a current recommendation based on that criteria that I could find in the next couple of weeks? Just hit 75k, new brakes new rotors, ran the 75k service.

So far this is the front runner:

Latitude Tour HP is Michelin's Crossover/SUV Touring All-Season

Thanks,
Vincent

 

It would probably be best for you to switch to 18" rims. With 18"'s you will have a much greater and better selection of tires.

Land Rover LR3 Rims, Land Rover LR3 Wheels at OriginalWheels.com

 

My 3 is a daily driver.

I have winter tyres on my 18" rims and summer tyres on my 19" rims.

As such, for summer, I purchase Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza, (the first jpg below), in the stock size of 255 55 R19 XL.

I regard the XL rating as important to have and staying with the stock size eliminates a bunch of other problems. The 3 has enough without me adding more variables.

I regard the Michelin Latitude Tour HP, (the third jpg), in the stock size as an excellent choice but you pay for it. I saw the Bridgestone's as an acceptable alternative, but the Michelin's are probably the best you can buy.

If you regard the Bridgestone H/L tread as too summer or too smooth, then Bridgestone has a nice AT that is not too aggressive and hence not too noisy. If it was not that I had 18" ten spoke rims, and hence could purchase true snow tyres, then I would have purchased the Bridgestone AT's for year round use. As to if it is still available in 19", I am not certain of that.

For winter on my 18" rims, I installed Pirelli Ice & Snow, (the middle jpg), also in a stock size per the door sticker. For winter I prefer narrow tall rubber, hence the 235 65 R18 XL with the SnowFlake symbol.

As to two sets of rims, my recommendation is only purchase LR stock rims but the problem there is they will cost used, (if you can find a set), at least a thousand dollars and then there is the cost of the second set of rims.

I assume you have the stock 19" rims on your 3 now, so just stay with them and get a good tyre, either the Michelin's or the Bridgestone's. Both have the advantage of being fairly available when you need to purchase just one as a replacement - that is when you will be glad you originally purchased a relatively non exotic tyre - when you are desperate and need just one that you will then have to pay to get shaved down - that hurts.

Also I regard the tread pattern of the Tour HP and the Alenza HL as about similar in both looks and traction etc.

And I had the Goodyear Wrangler HP's on the 3, the worst tyre I have ever owned and I regard myself as a Goodyear fan - well maybe it was an OK summer tyre in California, but near dangerous in a bit of snow - just not a fun tyre.

If Goodyear made a Silent Armour with the Kevlar in the stock size, then that would no doubt be a good tyre, but they do not - hence either the Bridgestone or the Michelin - as you concluded.

 

I really like my Copper LTZ's so far. I too have 19" rims and wanted AT tires. Small amount of noise but l can live with it.

Also, if you don't like the tire noise you can always remove the exhaust resonator so you can actually hear the V8 you are paying for every time you fill the tank.

 

Word on the street is that 17" wheels will also fit an LR3. There is a cardboard one that looks very affordable.

 

I suppose the price is right on the new miracle mix cardboard rims referenced above but it may be true that there are 17" LR3's running about safely.

The rim size is set by the diameter of the disc brakes.

There are D3's with small diesel engines in the UK and Australia that run 17" rims; it may also be that the V6 Ford petrol engine LR3's can run 17" as well but I do not know for certain is that is true.

The door sticker below shows 235/70R 17 tyres on 7.0J x 17" rims - not what one normally sees in North America on an SUV. The odds are these are steel wheels rather than some new exotic far east sourced material as referenced above.

For what it is worth, the Steel Space Saver Spare is a 5.5J x 19" rim running a 175/80R 19 tyre.

 

Yup! The V6 came with smaller brake calipers(?) and they can be retro-fitted. Once done, the 17" rim can be fit. A buddy of mine (not sure if he posts here) has done this and is now running 31" (maybe 31.5") BFG Mud Terrain KM2s.

Pretty sweet...

 

Actually the calipers on the V-6 and the TDV6 are the same as the V-8. it is the diameter of the rotor that is smaller and the bracket that holds the caliper that is shorter.

The part number for the calipers and pads is the same on the TDV6, V-6 and V-8.

So if one wanted to put 17" wheels on a V-8 he could just order the V-6 rotors and the shorter bracket that hold the caliper to allow for the clearance.


I am not sure why the V-8 came with a larger Rotor. I assumed since the V-8 is heavier at least than the V-6 that it required the larger rotor.

 

I think the LR people consider the petrol V8 powered 3 to be an autobahn race truck in addition to being a sand and rock climber.

More correctly, I think it was the BMW guys during the initial design stages of the 3 that decided Beamers needed something new to chase other than Mercedes or Audi products. The performance and handling of the 3 at speed is impressive - that is why that "self lowers at speed" feature is there - not on any other 4x4's that I know of.

 

That would make sense if the V-8 actually had a lot more power then the other 2 engines. Over the V-6 there is only about a net 50 HP gain from once you account for the extra weight of the V-8.

So to me I am leaning towards either there was a weight or HP threshold that was crossed that required a larger rotor.