In my quest for decent offroad tires for my Sport, I found these quite attractive, and available, soon, in the 265/60/R18 size I want. Anyone here have experience with them?

 

Don't have any experiance with that tire but Good Year tire usally are pretty good. Although a tire size with that low of a profile, It's gonna dramaticly decrease the benifit of an off road tire in my opinion.

 

Thanks, Mike. The world of the Sport (and the LR3) is quite different that that of the preceeding models, regarding tires. Assuming that you drive a Disco I (as I also do) or II or a Defender, imagine that you can't use wheels that are 16" any more. For a Sport , the size I mentioned is considered a tall sidewall! We can all thank LR for designing a land rover that won't accept 16" wheels. I would gladly sacrifice an inch or so of my brake rotor diameter to get 16" wheels over them. What's the world coming to?

 

Are you kidding me? Goodyear makes the WORST tires for your Land Rover.Most WoodYears are scalloped within 10-15,000 km's.They came on two of my Cherokees and my Discovery,all had to be replaced with low km's on them due to scalloping.Have been running Michelin Cross Terrains on all my trucks ever since.Great Tire,very quiet as well.

 

I have posted about this in other areas but will gladly do it again here. I have the same problem with my LR3 in my search for the perfect A/T tire. Jeffrey is of course correct. The smallest size you can fit on the LR3 is 18". So with that in mind, by going to the 265/60/18 adds a little more width and a little more sidewall than factory tires without greatly afecting spedometer readings or the way the truck looks.

I started with Nitto Terra Grapplers 285/60/18's in my quest but found them to be simply too big for the truck. Not that they rub anywhere, they simply look funny on the LR3.

After long and hard research, I have the same 265/60/18 Silent Armor tires on order, since the strike goodyear is currently recovering from put them behind and they won't be available in my area until May. I took the time to read through 100's ofrattings given to this tire by consumers and simply could not find a downright negative statement anywhere. It was scored by the users as excellent traction on all terrain types including ice, snow, highway, rain and off road. And it did this while getting the highest rating for comfort and quietness of any A/T tire rated on the samesite. Add to this a 50,000 mile warranty, the Kevlar layer put in it to resist cuts and punctures and the fact that it is one of only a VERY few true A/T tires that is actualy available in that size and it sudenly becomes VERY hard to beat.

Note that Nitto Terra Grapplers also come in that size but in my opinion they look a little too agressive for the new LR3. The corner stability is non-existantand the constant humm they make on the highway is currently driving me CRAZY!!!!!

Michelin Cross Terrains are not A/T tires. They are AllSeason tires with a veryinocent threads design. And even then, if you go to Tire Rack and use their comparison chart, you will see that actual consumers have rated the Silent Armor as better than the Cross Terrains in every category, to include the same numbers or better on ride comfort, niose comfort and thread wear, while blowing it completely out of the water on ice and snow traction and in general off road use. Heck, even their highway traction and cornering stability is much better than the Michelins.
Do yourself a favor before buying any new tires and go here http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey....jsp?type=ORAT

The Goodyear Silent Armors are fairly new. Do the research. I think you'll be hard pressed to beat those ratings!!

 

Yah I'd seen it. It looks pretty good. Goodyear really makes great ones. I may need it for my jeep wheels...

 

UPDATE:

I just received the Silent Armor tires I've had on back order for some time and had them put on my LR3. I can now report from a user perspective rather than from what I have read.

I put on 265/60/18's. For starters, as the name implies, I can not hear the tires at all. They might as well not be there at all. Now please remember we're talking about TRUE All Terrain tires here with a beautiful off road tread design and snow/ice rated. My LR3 feels once againsure footedin corners as it did with the factory 19's and factorylow profiles but it also feels as if someone put a stack of pillows on my seat. To say those tires give unsurpassed confort would fall short of the truth. I did not know my LR3 could ride THAT smooth. There is no vibration either comming from the steering wheel like I had with the previous Terra Graplers. They also look just the perfect sizewith the perfect look of "off road aggresiveness" on a new Land Rover without stepping over to the " I think I over did it" side. You know the look, the one best left to the defenders and the seroius rock crawling rigs. Owners of new Rovers don't want to loose the plush, stylish look of their vehicles which is why so many are going with 20's and 22's for the low profile look. I would never compromise my off roading ability and ride qualityto that extreme but each has their taste.

What I am saying here folks is that I may have just stumbled into what may very well be, though arguably, the best real A/T tire in the market so far. With a layer of Kevlar to resist punctures and a special material for side walls to resist slicing and a rim protector, this tire means business of the beaten path as well. I hope to get a chance to take the LR3 on some trails this weekend to see the off road capacity of these tires at work first hand. Until then, I hope this tread helps someone out there looking for the right tire to replace the useless factory choice. TTFN

ps.
Mike, give these a shot when you are up for some new shoes. I think you wont be disapointed and I would love to hear how they handle your part of the woods.

 

Well, I just got back from a day out at Hollister SVRA. It was a perfect sunny day with mild temps and it was my first trip off roading with the new Silent Armors. I can't report on the capabilities of the new tires in mud since the rainy season is over for California's bay area but I will tell you how they did after a day in the trails. I am impressed to say the least. There are no missing chunks or cuts after the many blue and Black Diamond trails full of sharp loose rock I put the LR3 through today. The traction on the loose, steep trails was perfect.

I watched many vehicles conquer Five Finger Hill after I did and I noticed a certain degree of wheel spin involved in the ones who made it where I did not feel or hear any comming from my LR3. Add to that if you would, some air head who was climbing Five Finger Hill before me decided when he crested the top to turn in the wrong direction and reverse, thus blocking my ascent as I hit the steepest part of theascent with the loose stuff under me for traction. After he noticed the predicament he had put me in and decided to move out of the way, I was able to continue the ascent from a dead stop on the worst possible place to have made that stop with ZERO tire spin that I could detect from behind the wheel. I am quite aware that the awesome Terrain Response our Rovers are equiped with made a big difference in the way it behaved, but I am sure the tires helped a great deal in how my LR3 smoked the trails today.

I know there are other tires out there that would perform brillaintly off road, but consider that the Silent Armors got me there in perfect comfort, with no vibration or noise at all and with perfect highway and high speed corner stability and you got yourself a winner in my humble opinion.

 

Janitz,

You have me sold. I have to get my wifes 03 disco a new set of shoes and its been hard finding something worth while in the 255/55/18 size.

Discount Tire here in chicago has them but only in a:


Goodyear Fortera Silent Armor

P285/60R-18 114H VSB

is this the tire you are talking about? and will it fit a Disco ?

 

The tires I'm refering to are the Good Year Wrangler Silent Armor. The Forteras are not the same.They come in 265/60/18 (M+S 109T) and also in 285/60/18. Both sizes will fit the LR3 fine so I asume they should fit the Disco as well, however, my humble opinion is that the 285'ssimply looks too large for the vehicle. Some guys swear by that size because you get more sidewall that way which translates into a better off road tirebut they make the truck look like a modified rock crawling rig and thats just not acceptable in my book. The 265's also add a little more sidewall making the ride more confortable than stock tires but look even better than stock without exagerations.

Keep in mind that the Goodyear factory had a strike not long ago and the supply of the Silent Armors has been depleated in most states. You may find yourself waiting a couple of weeks for tires on back order but believe me when I tell you, it's well worth the wait! I plan to use nothing else on my vehicles, ever!