20" Tyre Advice - sizing / brand / pressure

Thx @BognorMotors, Is that true regardless of the wheel widths, offset etc? The VW supplied wheels are the supermetal tridents I believe which are 9j and et45. The wheels I'm looking at are Inovit vectors which are 8.5j and et 37 and the tyres supplied by default are 275/40 which gets the thumbs up for fitment from the site. How comes so many go for 40s by default?

I've seen you reply as above on a few threads (I'm surprised at your calm replies, I think I'd be writing it in caps by now ;)) and I certainly appreciate you sharing your professional wisdom on this so please don't think I'm questioning your knowledge, i'm just confused why the nonstandard size is so common, maybe even more common.

Cheers
Chris
 
cgtmiles said:
Thx @BognorMotors, Is that true regardless of the wheel widths, offset etc? The VW supplied wheels are the supermetal tridents I believe which are 9j and et45. The wheels I'm looking at are Inovit vectors which are 8.5j and et 37 and the tyres supplied by default are 275/40 which gets the thumbs up for fitment from the site. How comes so many go for 40s by default?

I've seen you reply as above on a few threads (I'm surprised at your calm replies, I think I'd be writing it in caps by now ;)) and I certainly appreciate you sharing your professional wisdom on this so please don't think I'm questioning your knowledge, i'm just confused why the nonstandard size is so common, maybe even more common.

Cheers
Chris
Click to expand...
There are alot more tyre choices at that size.....more common. Don't think that's the reason though. Just that's what I noticed while I was on the eternal hunt for tyres.
 
Using the tyre size calculator on the same site that packaged the wheels with the tyres does not recommend fitting 275/40 due to greater than 5% circumference difference to standard. But the calculator does recommend 275/35!
I'm gonna go with 275/35 and if it ruins the ride I'll go for some devonports and be done with it!

More common size = cheaper I guess :eek:
 
cgtmiles said:
Using the tyre size calculator on the same site that packaged the wheels with the tyres does not recommend fitting 275/40 due to greater than 5% circumference difference to standard. But the calculator does recommend 275/35!
I'm gonna go with 275/35 and if it ruins the ride I'll go for some devonports and be done with it!

More common size = cheaper I guess :eek:
Click to expand...
I noticed no ride quality difference in mine. I went from 40 to 35 profile and run between 38 and 40psi and all is good.
 
The 275/40 is/was a Range Rover fitment and hence loads more in that size, so cheaper to put wheel and tyre packages out there. The 275 is slightly too wide for an 8.5 but in practise we’ve done loads without a single issue. You could always go 265/40 as a second option to get the width down.
Always happy to share our experience and advise.
 
The extra width helps with the ride though right? I think I will go for the 275/35 and see how it goes. Now just need to bite the bullet and buy the wheels before I change my mind on them!

Thanks again for your help.
 
I’ve been running 245/40/20 on a 8.5j front and 275/35/20 on a 10j for the past 6 years with a T5.1 and 6, with B14s all the way down , get around 19k out of a set

Et35, no rub on lock, just a slight rub on the near side front when going over a big dip, but just the screw holding splash guard
 
cgtmiles said:
The extra width helps with the ride though right? I think I will go for the 275/35 and see how it goes. Now just need to bite the bullet and buy the wheels before I change my mind on them!

Thanks again for your help.
Click to expand...

Wider tyres don't increase ride comfort, in fact it's the opposite. The more tyre that touches the tarmac the more tyre roar there'll be and more that you'll pick up in vibrations from a poor surface. The benefit is greater traction through an increased contact patch.

The profile of the tyre is what really impacts the comfort and sportiness. The larger the profile the more bumps it will soak up. The narrower the profile the less the tyre wall will move under load, when cornering, and the sportier it will feel.
 
I have been running 275/35/20 for years but tyre choices suck many ass IMO. Having tried most of the decent brands models the best I had was Goodyear assymetric 2 but even those only lasted 13k. The rest were worse.

I now run the recently released 255/40/20 Goodyear assymetric 5. Comfort is slightly up and it's 5mm thicker in rolling radius. No grip loss but tyres don't sit as nice on the wheels. Yet to see how long they last.
20x9.5 BBS ci-r. T28 chassis.
 
Hi All, I just ordered our T6 camper conversion yesterday, so I’ve joined here to learn. The van will come with optional 20” wheels unless I delete them. I’ve test-driven it and it’s fine, but I only drove on smooth roads. My local area is riddled with potholes. But my big worry is tyres: it’ll come with no-name budget tyres, which I don’t like the idea of. It’ll be summer use only, I’ll drive it gently, but I wouldn’t put 20” alloys with cheap tyres on my car, so why should I on a camper? I’d appreciate the views of those who have bigger rims: ride quality? Cheap tyres ok? What would be a better affordable 245/40 20 tyre? Or should I go for 18” instead? I’m a bit anxious here - it’s a biiiiig purchase - and I’d really appreciate some advice. Thanks!
 
Having had large wheels on my BMW I'd never go over 18" again. Anyone following me must have thought I was drunk with all the swerving potholes.
 
18's are the biggest sensible wheels you should fit. However saying that, I've just bought a set of 19" Amarok wheels.
 
There are loads of threads on here about 20" wheels and tyres.
I live in road wrecked Scotland and run 275/35/20 wheels on my Kombi and they give a good ride and soak up potholes nae bother. IMO theya far comfier that the STD rock hard 106 load rated commercial tyres.
I've hit a few nasty bits of road and suffered no punctures.
If you can, ask one of the members near you who has 20's fitted if they could take you for a ride. That should set you mind at ease either way.
You can also pay to upgrade the tyres from budget to premium.
I run a midrange tyre that is b+ rated for rain. Never had a issue yet...and they were cheap as chips.
 
Yzfr1 said:
There are loads of threads on here about 20" wheels and tyres.
I live in road wrecked Scotland and run 275/35/20 wheels on my Kombi and they give a good ride and soak up potholes nae bother. IMO theya far comfier that the STD rock hard 106 load rated commercial tyres.
I've hit a few nasty bits of road and suffered no punctures.
If you can, ask one of the members near you who has 20's fitted if they could take you for a ride. That should set you mind at ease either way.
You can also pay to upgrade the tyres from budget to premium.
I run a midrange tyre that is b+ rated for rain. Never had a issue yet...and they were cheap as chips.
Click to expand...
That’s interesting. And reassuring. What tyres did you get? I’ve only found car tyres in the size I need, but maybe 4x4 tyres are called car tyres not van tyres.
 
Adrian Lenard said:
That’s interesting. And reassuring. What tyres did you get? I’ve only found car tyres in the size I need, but maybe 4x4 tyres are called car tyres not van tyres.
Click to expand...
To get the right tyres for your vehicle you need to know the following:
You need to know the weight over the heaviest axle.
Divide that by 2 and then you have the minimum load index your tyre can be.
My Van is a T30 Kombi and its rear axle weight is 1600kg
1600 divide by 2 = 8ookg
load-rating-table.png
800kg is a load index of 100 or higher.
The commercial tyres fitted to my std 16" are "C" rated and load indexed at 106.
They make for a very crashy ride compared to mt 275's with a 102 index. ( I'm on -40mm springs at the moment )
I run Event Potentum UHP tyres and they are rain rated B and i am more than happy with them. I have however just purchased new suspension to go lower and get a more comfortable refined ride (Koni H&R setup)
All of the above is just my understanding of tyres and load rating so please don't take it as gospel.......but i don't think its far from the truth.:whistle:
 
Adrian Lenard said:
That’s interesting. And reassuring. What tyres did you get? I’ve only found car tyres in the size I need, but maybe 4x4 tyres are called car tyres not van tyres.
Click to expand...
Van tyres, car tyres, don’t worry, it’s more about load rating. Depending on your T number you’ll need different load rated tyres. For example, T32 needs minimum 103 load rating.

I have run 20s all winter and they’ve been fine, even on the shocking rural roads around me.
 
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