I need tyres with better grip, but not sure what to do?

[tram]

Hi. Hope someone can help.

I have a T26 84 van with 215/65 R16 tyres on steel wheels.

Problem is this: The background is that I live on a boat on the canal, and this means that I must frequently go down a rough pot-holed wet loose gravel/stones farm track.

When I turn off the country road to go down the farm track it begins abruptly with a steep downwards incline for about 30 feet. This is never a problem, and neither is the farm track, BUT it is when I have to come back along the track to pull out onto the country road that I have a problem with grip, because of the incline and the loose wet track surface.

To make things worse, the country lane I wish to pull out onto is a rat run; vehicles come from nowhere, fast. Also the junction is blind. This all means that I have always, as a strict policy, to not give way, but actually stop, and then pull out when I can see it is clear. Not having any forward momentum, and so making a standing start, the front wheels spin.

I turn the wheels sideways a bit, etc to give me every chance, and I usually manage it, but it is a struggle. If I can get just one front wheel onto the tarmac road then it will pull me up and out, but sometimes I slide back and almost into a wall.

And what with winter, well, I just have to do something.

I don't do many miles, especially in winter which is just a case of shuffling around locally between here-and-there, with the odd Sunday run in the Yorkshire Dales. I don't drive fast or anything. I am careful.

So, I have decided to buy some winter tyres to get some grip. But looking at the treads of the various makes of winter tyres they just don't seem to be grippy enough. I have looked at images of mud tryes, and some of them seem like they would do the job. Something like this:

So the idea is to buy the tyres fitted onto new steel wheels, so I could just swap them over between summer and winter.

But I know nothing about such specialist tyres. Perhaps they are not road legal? Perhaps they affect driving performance? Perhaps I should have a certain type of rubber compound. I just don't know what to buy.

So can anyone help me with this? Is my idea for these specialist grip tyres for winter not such a good one?

Sometimes I have to go over wet mud to get to the tow path to unload, and could easily loose any traction and so get stuck, I feel the tread needs to be much better than what I have seen of winter tyre treads, so it has to be a bit extreme.

 

[Scruffy]

Don't forget with winter tyres it's not just the grip pattern that gives you the grip, it is also the softer rubber compound that is certainly more applicable in this country. I've run various sets of winters for the 10-15 years on a number of cars/vans and have always found them a revelation in the snow, but what has always impressed me was the grip and traction they give on mud and grass when I've strayed into the wrong places by mistake.

Mytyres, Tyreleader, Oponeo, Blackcircles all offer a decent range, but don't delay, the prices start to creep up as winter nears.

 

[Loz]

My recommendation is to avoid the mud tyre you pictured as they are not legally speed rated for you van. instead consider something like the Michelin Latitude Cross that a more agressive pattern for grip but is very strong and also has the correct weight and speed ratings for our vans.
You can also go for a slightly wider profile like the 235/55/17 which is the same overall diameter but has a wider contact area see: Tyre Michelin Latitude Cross DT 235/55 R17 103H XL - Tyre Leader carries the M+S rating.

 

[Simon Kay]

maybe 4 season tyres would fit the bill, something with the M+S marking (mud&snow) would be better than 'normal' summer tyres but more all-purpose that full all terrain tyres.

 

[chriscroft]

I've had various AT, M&S; All-season, 3pmsf (3 peak mountain snow flake - an american standard for places like Montana - deep snow, mountains, pretty damn cold, etc etc)
on 2wd and 4-motion; T5/T6
You are 2wd correct?
I think you may need something a bit more grippy than standard All-seasons; or even the Michelin Latitude cross.

I would suggest either
https://www.4x4tyres.co.uk/235-60-17-cooper-discoverer-at3-102t_0051743

or

BF Goodrich Tyres / SUV 4x4 / BF Goodrich ATKO2 All Terrain TA BF Goodrich AT KO2 - 225/65 R17 LT 107S TL Fuel Eff.: F Wet Grip: B NoiseClass: 2 Noise: 74dB SUV Tyres - 4x4 Tyres - All Terrain Tyres - Off Road Tyres - 17" R17" - 225/65/17, 225/65R17





With regard to speed rating, my understanding is that specialist tyres such as these or winter tyres can be used with a lower speed rating than the actual vehicle. Infact nearly all winter tyres have a lower speed rating than the cars they are fitted to. Also AT tyres are often fitted to Double cab pick ups which now have 200-250hp .
If you are going to drive on a german autobahn flat out, fully loaded in 40c, then these may not be the right tyre for your needs; but for general driving they would be fine imo.
Just fully understand what you are buying and your needs and demands. Correctly specked tyres are safer than general spec tyres imo.
You can use them all year round (especially the coopers) and they should last for ages maybe 40k miles.

 

[chriscroft]

In fact the 112mph(S) & 118mph(T) ratings of these tyres should be more than enough for you

 

[chriscroft]

Another tyre to consider
Yokohama GEOLANDAR A/T-S G012 225/65 R17 102 H RPB » Oponeo.co.uk
H -speed rating 130mph........ if you dare, but you'll need around 250hp in a T6 to do that, and probably a few cans of Red-Bull

There are 114 reviews in the above thread, and most of them are positive, in-fact 98% of people would recommend these tyres WOW, this could be your ideal tyre????. I think the Cooper tyres may be better in ice having read through it.

Some reviews for the coopers - defiantly better in winter than the other two
cooper Discoverer A-T3 Tire Reviews (105 Reviews)
This is a proper all season tyre, if you feel you need all season (That is my choice), but lots of people(nearly all people) run summer compound tyres all year round in the UK (not the hilly cold parts); and are fine with that.


Geolander "GO12"

All these tyres are slightly over-sized; but that is not uncommon when choosing this kind of tyre.

The "Mud" tyres you show in your post are properly only need in deep mud, and may not offer any advantage for your use over these "A/T" tyres; but the M/T will over lots of disadvantages noise/ride/road grip/dry and wet braking/handling/fuel etc etc.....

 

[tram]

Thanks you all very much for the advice,

I have found all this very difficult to do. So many combinations, so much technical info, has been my research. I seem to be blocked at every avenue. I am tired out with it.

But, fighting back, I have ordered a set of new steel wheels. Not bad at £170 for four, new, delivered. And I will wait until I have them and made sure they fit, and then I will go to a tyre-fitting place with one of them and see what they can do, for a start.

But what I do feel sure about is that it is a good idea to have a set of winter tyres and summer tyres. The only real cost will be the wheels. And winter and summer throws up such very contrastingly different conditions. For the sake of £170 or less it just makes good sense, I think, considering a vehicle is not actually secured to the road. Just from end of November to end of February. In these months I will only do about 200 miles a month.

It is spring and summer when I do my miles, and I want good safe tyres suited tyres for then. But in the deepest darkest winter I just want big grip to potter about with damn good traction.

The all terrain tyre seems a good idea, better than a summer road tyre, but yet not really enough to make the difference I am after, certainly where wet soft grass is concerned. It is a toughy. Anyway, thanks once again. I have taken on board all that you have said, and I'm wiser than I was. Cheers.

 

[chriscroft]

Tyre Cooper Discoverer STT PRO 225/75 R16 115/112Q POR - Tyre Leader




If you are going down the mud-terrain route, we have a Nissan Navara at work, and we have run quite a few different sorts over the year.
These are best we have had, all round. The reviews on the internet are very good. They're not too noisy for a MT tyre as well
The 16" size above will fit your van (if you haven't lowered too much) it will alter the gearing by 7.5%, but thats not too much of a problem.

If these tyres don't meet your needs, you may need something with tracks, or 4 motion

Let us know what you do in the end.

 

[chriscroft]

Cooper Discoverer STT PRO | Cooper Tire

Oh, and they are an all-season tyre, so you could run them all year round, no problems at all, as we do at work

 

[tram]

I have just found these tyres and ordered them: Boss Gripmax

£56 plus vat, delivered. I feel good about this. It feels right for the van, road, and my situation. Thanks. I got the same ratio as I have, 65, so that the speedo will still be correct. So I'm fair chuffed. The compound should be right, and the tread has the serifs or whatever those fine lines in it are called.

The wheels were 174, the tyres 224, and i expect fitting to be 40. So that is a good do. Job done.

 

[chriscroft]

"sipes" are the little zig-zag cuts, that help ice and wet traction

Good luck with them, and let us know how you get on with them

 

[freburns09]

I would recommend Goodyear's Duratrac, Bridgestone's Blizzak, or Nitto tyres.

 

[chriscroft]

I would recommend Goodyear's Duratrac, Bridgestone's Blizzak, or Nitto tyres.

The biggest problem for T6's is sizings & loadings, many tyres are just not suitable

 

[tram]

I have had the tyres on for a couple of weeks now. I could certainly feel a difference, and hear it. I realize from this that it really is a good idea to have a set of summer tyes and winter tyres. It has cured my problem of pulling from a dead start onto the country lane.

I only run about, so this is fine for me, but i think it might be different if I was doing some long journeys as then you would want something a bit more hard rolling, like it feels right to have in summer.

But, seriously, i think this is a safety thing. If you don't change your tyres for winter then I would be extra extra careful to compensate for winter re. braking distance and cornering speed.

These tyres I have got will no doubt need to be changed eventually, and I will then try to get even more technically suited tyres as a sort of learning curve on this technology. I'm very glad I have done what i have done, and it has only cost £235 than i would have spent on tyres anyway. I'm intending to keep the van for many years, so i can easily justify this expense.

Another thing is that I stacked the summer wheels in my workshop for the winter, and in this way I could see them better than on the van. The front tyres have worn a lot more than the rear tyres, and you can see a marked difference in tyre tread. Almost a bit scary to think I would have been tackling winter conditions even though they still had enough tread to be legal because some of the finer parts of the tread are not so deep as the main tread, so you are kind of on slicks with only grooves through and around them. Ok in summer, but slush?

 

[former member]

It’s easy to confuse Winter tyres and off road tyres.
I’ve had several 4x4s with all round M&S tyres and found them all good.

I put high end Winter tyres on my old BMW 335d and they pretty much ruined the car and made it dangerous; why? Hard tread and soft sidewalks ONLY work in really cold conditions. Get a mild patch and you are driving on awful tyres.

So I’m well sold on the latest All Weather tyres which have really improved; Michelin CrossClimates on my Subaru, Goodyear Vectors on my 4motion California; really please with both; I’ve not pushed the Cali really hard off road but it’s coped well with mountain mud, steep grassy slopes and more. I use the Subaru for Coastguard shouts and as long as you don’t ground it, it goes almost anywhere. We’ve had a few shouts where people have left their vehicles behind and jumped into the Subaru; a balanced chassis, really good 4wd (way better than any Haldex set up) and a bit of clearance and it’s amazed me several times and its only worth a few grand.

So Summers are good in Summer but go proper off road (like yours) or All Weather for Winter.

 

[tram]

Cheers, Polzeylad, for the reassurance that I'm on the right track.

Coastguard activity..........I did my VHF and Day Skipper last year. It is a plan I have to take my 22ft river cabin cruiser either down the Humber and then head south down the Linconshire coast, and then back in at The Wash, and back up the canal. Or, out from Glasson and up and down the Lune, then across Morecambe Bay to Piel and Barrow, then to Ulverston, Askham, Millom, just pottering about.

I don't know anyone who goes out to sea, and I have never been to sea other than Channel ferries and tourist trips in the Med. I've learnt a lot about sea states and tides, and weather, but they mean little to me because I haven't experienced them, so it is difficult to assess my boat's capability. I you are ever going out to sea and need a crew hand I would be grateful for the opportunity to come along at some point in the future.

 

[former member]

Sounds awesome!
UK Coastguards (funded by the Dept of Transport) don't have boats BTW - we rescue/search for people on the coast. Often people who are cut off by the tide, have fallen from a cliff and very often, dogs who have gone off an edge. There is also an almost separate Coastguard department that has helicopters.
The RNLI (a charity) has the boats.

However... I do know a fair bit about the sea and boats just from general experience. I'd probably get yourself up to speed on the basics with an RYA course - this will give you essential navigation skills and deals with tides, sea states etc. While your trip isn't an epic tour, it's still long enough to require caution; that stretch of sea isn't too bad - doesn't get much swell but an Easterly can whip up quickly causing problems and the tides are a bit weird around that area. Your boat is probably fine but an RYA instructor can advise better than me. Certainly sounds doable though and fun!