Toby247

Member
Hi im Toby i have just purchased a freelander 1 face lift im new to all this 4x4 stuff i have good car knowledge mainly from show cars as you would prob call them and looking at getting new tyres for my feelander i know you will all have different ideas etc so currently they are 195 80 r 15 thinking of either 215 75 r15 mud terrain or 225 70 r 15 all terrains (would they fit tho ) i feel the 195 look crap tiny skinny things horrible nice big car on skinny wheels looks crap any help and none of this just sell it etc thanks in advance :)
 
Put on what you want, wider, lower profile isn't always best in mud, plus more rubber on road means more stress on drivetrain components, so it depends on your intended use, 195/80 keeps rims away from kerbs, and they never gave me drivetrain issues in 120,000 miles of ownership
 
and how do they cope with off road etc i just feel the 195 look silly on the freelander they look so narrow also it mite be a lower number 225 by 70 but its still the same rolling radius as the 195 80 the second number is the wall correct so that should be the percentage of the width so it shouldn't put more strain on the drive train as it says my radius on tyre calc is all around the same. major brain meltdown
 
Seems like you have a misconception about what you want it to look like or be totally crap off road.
As you have 15" wheels go for Avon Ranger AT's
They are a superb off road tyre.
http://www.camskill.co.uk/m26b0s243...Eff_:_G_Wet_Grip:_C_NoiseClass:_3_Noise:_72dB

Any of the others are wasting money (size wise) off road is NOT down to width. although your penis perception may be lol :D
'Narrower' tyres as you call them actually give more traction (with an appropriate tread)
Anyone into 'show' cars imho is usually more interested in bling as opposed to functionality.
Sorry mate.- but, I think this may be the wrong forum....................:oops: - perhaps a 'saxo' reverse hat forum ?

Your concern with 'looking silly' is usually more the driver as opposed to the wheels / tyres .....................
 
hence why i said im new to all the 4x4 stuff i have had cars that sit on the floor not the offroad sort so a decent pair of 195 tyres should be best then ? i need it to be good offroad i dont want it to look all bling as u said haha it currently has road tyres i will look into a good pair of at tyres i think then
 
Make it a set of four.

First rule of fight club is matching tyres all round or you'll put increased strain on your IRD and probably kill it.
 
i would be getting 5 i think as i will do the spare as well i did alot of research into the vcu before i went for a freelander to understand it
 
i would be getting 5 i think as i will do the spare as well i did alot of research into the vcu before i went for a freelander to understand it
go for Avon Ranger AT's 195 80 15.. as for VCU - the vcu is the cause for most things, not the causality . vcu is only part of the issue - if it IS an issue - then IRD or rear diff issues can be caused and usually are.
Out of interest ? - regarding your-- ' a lot of ' -- research into the VCU ? - what conclusions or deductions did you come up with ?
 
mainly alot of people saying to avoid getting a freelander due to having a vcu and that they are rubbish as the liquid in them over time will become solid and f up alot of things and ruin the car and alot of peple saying to just make it a 2wd but overall i like the idea of it myself as being a 2wd till the front loses traction then making the liquid become a solid to transfer power to the back wheels and bringing in the full 4 wheel drive. correct me if i am wrong but that was mainly my understanding of what i researched into. i may well be completely wrong and hold my hands up if i am
 
That's the basic gist. However a slight difference in the gearing ratios front and back means that there is always some thickness to the liquid so always some rear drive.
It's a neat system that works really well. It does, however, need some owner care and maintenance.
Eventually the liquid becomes very thick and is effectively always locked. Then the damage starts.
Mismatching tyres or tyre pressures can hasten this death dramatically.
 
A recon VCU is about the price of 2 good tyres - so if you go by LRs 'service schedule' of 70K miles which is probably twice as long as a tyre - the VCU costs about the same a a tyre to maintain. Not a lot really and you get perfect traction running a VCU.

When you push the Go/Noise/Smoke peddle on a 'normal' 2WD car, your traction is limited each tyre's ability to retain grip given 50% of the power delivered by the engine. The Freelander's VCU (unless you run a dodgy workshop recon) will instantaneously give drive to the rear. So your traction is now limited by each tyre's ability to retain grip given 25% of the engine's power. Therefore, you're 195s on a Freelander are effectively giving the grip of 390s on a 2WD. That's plenty of grip on-road.

However, we all have differing views on what the our motors should look like, so your opinions on 195s looking to skinny, are valid, and shared by many.

Also once you get off the tarmac, different rules apply! If you're going to drive loose surfaces, such as gravel, you need to distribute the weight of the car over tyres as wide as possible. There are beaches around here where you just don't take 'full size' trucks because they'll just sink, they are the playground for little Suzukis with over sized and under inflated tyres. So the wider your tyre, the looser the surface can be that you can drive.

Similary, once you shift from HT tyres, you lessen the amount of rubber in contact with tarmac, so in effect the tyres become skinnier when considering traction.

So lots of reasons to go wider.

I would not entertain MT tyres. There are a few instances where they will offer more grip than ATs. However, there are also instances where they offer less grip as there's less rubber touching the surface and they are horrendously noisy and uncomfortable. The biggest reason for not using them though is that they destroy the environment you're driving - this may be fine for pay and play - but over here 'off road' means just that - going where there's no roads and over there it probably means you'll be cutting up 'green lanes'.

So AT and wider is probably the way.

In the same way you should not entertain MTs, you should also not entertain taller tyres. Freelander is great, but it has no low range - you are limited in gearing to the 5+R provided by the standard gearbox. There's some interesting chat on the forum at the moment about raising (lowering) the gearing on the PG1(2), but that's only useful if you've got the holy grail L Series or K Series. An auto box may help, but ultimately you haven't got a Low Range option. Therefore if you are serious about off roading, you want to keep the diameter of your tyres down - if you need more clearance, install a lift kit and fork out for shorter lifespan driveshafts.
 
that is a great reply thanks so do you think tyres 225 70 r 15 would fit then or should i go for the 215 75 r 15 i will get all terrain tyres either way just thinking 225 mite be to wide for a standard freelander
 
that is a great reply thanks so do you think tyres 225 70 r 15 would fit then or should i go for the 215 75 r 15 i will get all terrain tyres either way just thinking 225 mite be to wide for a standard freelander
The best thing to do is search "225/70" and "215/75" in the Freelander forum and check out the results. The posts will say if they fit or need spacers etc.
 
hi Toby , welcome to the forum lol

personally I put a set of bridgestones m and s on mine and found they worked really well.

was impressed when I done greenlaning last year at the landyzone meet

if I remember mine are 215/65/16 , nice and quiet on the road , but is preference in what kind of driving and frequency between on and off road which would dictate ur tyre choice , style etc

do a quick search there's an extensive amount of knowledge and feedback on many different makes , sizes of tyres , where freelander owners here have tested them , then reported back

have u managed to read about the engine mods yet, as they are well worth doing , egr, crankcase breather etc

have fun and welcome to the madhouse, lol
 
My penny-worth:
My FL is a '98 K series 1.8. Originally is was fitted with 195 80 15 Wrangler ATs. I currently run Bridgestone Dueller AT 697 - 205 70 15. They still look skinny. There is a FL identical to mine here running the same Bridgestones but are 225 70 15 - seems all good no spacers needed. I have a second set of wheels and tyres, Maxis Bravo MT which I'll fit for 'outings!' - they are 215 75 15. Yes the MT are a bit noisier, they don't handle as well as the Bridgestone 697s, need to corner slower . However the Bridgestone 697 are smaller in rolling distance and height compared to the original Wranglers so my FL is slightly lower geared as a result - useful on 'outings' but I pay a penalty in ground clearance. The Maxxis Mts are taller and not the much different in height/rolling distance that the original 190 80 15 Wranglers.


With regard to ground clearance: taller tyres will lift the diff and front end up - a lift kit only lifts the body and allows increased wheel articulation but the diff and lower front sus' arms are at an unaltered height. To help my FL I've fitted HD springs and gained 10mm extra height over st'd. Add to that the taller MT and I'm up another 10 to 15mm. I'm now planning to add a lift kit but I haven't decided what height yet. 40mm is common and doesn’t seem to make to many problems. I may well go for a lesser height - possibly 30mm.
 
a lift kit only lifts the body and allows increased wheel articulation but the diff and lower front sus' arms are at an unaltered height.
The Freelander has independent suspension and both front & rear diffs are attached to the body - therefore a 50mm lift will raise the the diffs 50mm. Sure the lower suspension arms are at the same height at the hub, but once again, the point where they are attached to the body will be lifted 50mm - they'll angle down.

So a (say) 50mm lift does lift virtually everything 50mm on Freelander. The wishbones will angle down to the original height, but even they will get better clearance for ruts etc.
 

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