Off road or All Terrain tyres?

19286 Views 14 Replies 10 Participants Last post by Kristoffer Batto, Aug 31, 2016

Bradders2175

Discussion Starter · Jan 10, 2016

Hi All,
First posting. Not new to VW. Had three Mk1 Golfs including two 1.8 GTi's in the past (best car I have ever had for fun and driving!) and a Sharan. Great family car but sold it as it was the 90bhp Tdi engine and not powerful enough to tow a horse trailer.
Anyway, my wife was given before Christmas (I know, very lucky!) her Dad's 2014 3.0 V6 Diesel R-Line Auto as he bought a new car. We didn't need it. Our 2007 Hyundai Terracan did everything that we wanted it to. However, my wife couldn't sell a gift, so the Terracan sadly had to go. It went last week.
We have just tried to get the horse trailer from our field to load. It has been raining here for a few days and the Touareg just slid about. We reversed back (slight downward incline) to a non driven on spot and tried again. No luck, so decided to forget it. Unhitched and I even had to push to get the Touareg to move off.
Now, we have never had this problem before. The Terracan stuck once in very deep mud towing several tons of hardcore. After I changed to Toyo All Terrain tyres, with Hankook Winter tyres when required, it has never happened. Could it be that it had more choice when in 4 wheel drive, low ratio etc?
Due to the low profile of the tyres (275/45/20), I'm assuming that no off road tyre is made for that size.
Can anyone advise what size wheel I should downsize to with the appropriate size off road tyre?
I had a spare set of wheels for the Terracan and am happy to do it for the Touareg, if appropriate.
The final point would be whether this is a suitable car for our needs? If not, we could change it for that reason.
Cheers. Looking forward to your replies.
Paul

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J0face

· #2 · Jan 10, 2016

I really don't know a lot on this subject but check out the Cooper Zeon LTZ. They also make a 275/45/20 and it seems like a great tire.

20x10.5 et45 275/45/20 Cooper Zeon LTZ H&R springs - Club Touareg Forums

Reactions: 1

noobytoogy

· #3 · Jan 10, 2016

Wide, low profile, road biased tyres will get you stuck on a flat, wet, grass field as you have discovered! When the wheels spin, the tread breaks the grass cells and the juices come out to make both the surface - and the tyre - as slick as wet ice.

Like winter tyres, it's the tread that can count so a set of ATs on your 20 inch wheels should do well if you don't go off road that often, otherwise a set of 18s will be a better bet.

I and others have recently used Tyreleaders - they are a German company I think but their prices and delivery are excellent, so I have used their website for the first couple of choices.

Here are the Cooper Zeon:

https://www.tyreleader.co.uk/car-tyres/cooper/zeon-ltz/275-45-r20-110s-183252

These Grabber ATs were fitted to the recovery Touareg used by VW's UK demonstration team a few years ago [the rest of the Touaregs were on Grabber UHPs]:

https://www.tyreleader.co.uk/car-tyres/general-tire/grabber-at-htp/275-45-r20-110h-435123

I had a set of the Grabber AT and they were good until 50% worn when they got a bit noisy at 50-55 mph on certain smooth stretches of tarmac.

Since I am off road every day and like to keep a decent tread depth for obvious reasons, I changed the tyres at 4mm [50%] so it wasn't a real issue.

Don't confuse the Grabber AT with the even older Grabber AT2 - a much chunkier and noisier off road tyre that several neighbours had on their Touaregs, but they, like me, then fitted the Michelins below.

The Michelin Latitude Cross is a relatively new design that is quiet, comfortable and wears far better, offers better grip on and off road under all conditions and brakes better too than other ATs I have used.

MICHELIN Latitude Cross | 4x4 & SUV Tyres | MICHELIN

I don't think they offer it in 20 inches, but an 18 inch wheel with these would be my choice for your kind of use.

Several UK owners have used these people for sets of winter wheels in 18 inch. I'd suggest you call them:

https://www.tyremen.co.uk/

Alternatively, there are some good deals to be had on line for original 18 inch VW Touareg wheels.

Hope all this helps.

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seafarer28

· #4 · Jan 10, 2016

Did you try switching the traction control off?

TonyB

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FSJ Guy

· #5 · Jan 10, 2016

Wet grass and mud is not easy with any tire.

An all terrain tire would definitely help. Airing down and a tire with large lugs will often do the trick, but be careful about digging ruts that even the horses can't pull you out of.

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miggeritis

· #6 · Jan 11, 2016

Yes airing down will help, but the tire you have are like a Jamacian bobsled at the winter Olympics. Wide tires are bad in snow and some offroad situations like what you have described.

A skinny tire will sink more and bite, most reason why Canadian's get winter tires at least one size narrower to cut into the snow instead of sliding on it.

Now, this goes away if you have more aggressive mud or all-terrain tread. The largest tire you can fit (with very minor rubbing ;-) ) is 265/75/17 or 31.61" (802.8 mm because you're not American). That is the OEM size of a late model Dodge Ram and it's ~10% larger than stock.

I'm not sure what that equates to in a 20" wheel, but I have Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure with Kevlar And fit perfect (well almost) in diameter and width.

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Bradders2175

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jun 17, 2016

Thank you all for your replies. I found out that I cannot go smaller than the current 20" wheels due to the size of the calipers. 21" were apparently also an option on this model.

Spiegelglatt

· #8 · Jun 17, 2016

That is a big wheel to have to work with. Most good AT tires that work are for smaller wheel diameters. If you can't get a real AT tire, your only option is the chain up (even if it scoffs up the 20s). That would be a pain, but it would work, heck chains go ANYPLACE.

As someone indicated, I assume ESP was turned off as this kills throttle and will get you stuck.

My personal opinion on what to do is to swap out those restrictive calipers, rotors, and wheels with some owner that wants the eye candy they provide and get the standard brakes that give you more wheel options. I feel the standard brakes stop fantastic, no idea why larger would be needed unless someone drives the Autobahn daily and really pushes it even there or races.

seafarer28

· #9 · Jun 17, 2016

Bradders2175 said:
Thank you all for your replies. I found out that I cannot go smaller than the current 20" wheels due to the size of the calipers.

I think you have been misinformed, I have not heard of any model Touareg that requires 20" rims due to caliper size.

TonyB

noobytoogy

· #10 · Jun 17, 2016

As above: 17 inches will fit all Touaregs except the V10 which needs 18 inches minimum.

Reactions: 2

skyfree

· #11 · Jun 18, 2016

17" Canyon rims fit on a T3 TDI for sure because I'm running them with BFG AT KO2's, but beware that because of the 1mm or so of clearance between the brake calipers and the wheel, the flat weights they normally use to get a really good balance don't work, so the balance will never be perfectly centered across the wheel. Most of the computerized balance machines calculate the balance based on using the flat weights on the outboard side of the rim and that's not going to work.

A better option is actually the 17" rims that Tire Rack sells called the Sport Edition TK5. I've got winter rubber mounted on those and there is plenty of clearance to get the flat weights and a great balance.

Reactions: 2

Bradders2175

Discussion Starter · #12 · Jun 18, 2016

Thank you. I have used this tyre company several times over the years and trusted their advice. So, that is interesting. That should make the idea of getting a second set of wheels much cheaper!

Paul

Smoking Joe

· #13 · Jun 19, 2016

I have a 2010 3.0 TDI which came with 20 inch wheels. For going off road I purchased a set of 17 inch Touareg rims and fitted Hankook Dynapro MT's. Size LT265/70 R17. Had no issues, great tyres. Neville.

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Bradders2175

Discussion Starter · #14 · Jun 19, 2016

Thank you Joe. Paul

Kristoffer Batto

· #15 · Aug 31, 2016

i tried AT & MT. if you're 50% more off the road i suggest for MT tires, it's more cheaper and gives you more traction.

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