Hi, i have a 1991 RRC and would like to have advice about the folloing issue.
I am going to make some trips offroad , in France and Italy in the Alps, and here in the Netherlands.
First question , i heard that it is better to heve steel wheels than alloy wheels if driving Offroad, any experience outthere??
About tyres , here they advice BF Goodrich Allterrain T/A a 50% onroad
50% offroad. The normal tyresize is 205/ 80 R 16 on a RRC, should i go for wider tyres, if yes how wide??
No performance difference between alloy and steel for off-road, only issue is alloys damage more easily. As for tyres, the BFG All Terrains are very good, cheaper option is the General Grabber AT2, I would go for a 225/70/16 or something like.
Is a 225/70R16 made?
I've been using 225/75R16 for years and it is a good replacement for
205/80R16. 235/70R16 is, perhaps, an even closer match to 205/80R16 on diameter. Personally I wouldn't go wider - you just don't get the penetration when you need it.Steel wheels are repairable if dented - alloys not so easily.
Dent a steel and you can take a big hammer to it and undent it. Chip a lump of an alloy and it's specialist repair or scrap time.
Width, I think it depends on how deep the soft terrain you are driving on is and what is under neath it. Narrow tyres are supposed to dig in better and thus cut through the goop to a solid traction providing surface underneath, obviously if the goop is too deep the you'll just dig in and get stuck. Wider are, in theory, less likely to dig in so there is a tendancy to "float" better over the goop and not get stuck. Wide may well be better at climbing over rocks or loose stoney surfaces as you'll have more points of contact across the tyre width, well it's a theory...
On or around Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:12:24 +0100, Dougal enlightened us thusly:
235/70R16 AT2s on the RR and the disco here. They seem good, not tried them in serious mud, mind, but then no AT tyre copes all that well with real mud.
And wider are useless (or should I say more useless) on wet grass.
Almost anything short of 2" spikes are useless on wet grass, may as well be on ice!
Going narrower on wet grass is the digging in thing I should imagine. With a blocky enough tread you can dig the grass out of the way to the soil below. Doesn't do the grass much good though...
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