[Malafax_dand]

I just purchased a set of Falken Rocky Mountain ATS tires. The size is 285/50/R20. These tires were apparently, according to my sources, just recently released as an avaliable tire model in the past few months.

The tire is just under the upper limit of what will fit on the vehicle but certainly fills the vehicle better than the original tires. I bet you could go a size bigger, but this specific tires is not avaliable in the 285/55/R20.

So this tire is obviously a very different tread pattern than the standard all season tire. The Falken tire has a larger sidewall and therefore is a bit less performance than the low profile tires but a more comfortable ride. Also, the tread pattern is a bit more agressive so does make a tad bit more noise on the highway, but nothing very intruding. Larger more agressive blocks make more noise but grip better off road. Although this tire is not that agressive, in that the center tread pattern is a continous rubber pattern leaving the only block rubber on the outer edge of the tire. Nothing nearly as bad as the Goodyear wrangler MTRs on my old P38a Range Rover.

The tires are reasonable affordable at 190 USD per tire. Especially on a 20 inch rim. The tires also have balanced very well. No vibrations at 60-80 mph. I will let you all know how the tire does at the Solihull Society Land Rover National Rally. The Rally is in Moab, starting next week.

 

[Malafax_dand]

I think I should have gone with the next larger size. 8~

 

[linuxfreakus]

Those look interesting. What wheels are those? Are they stock, or are they newer/sport ones which have a bit more offset? I've been scouring ebay/craigslist for 18" wheels for months and not having much luck (dealer quoted me $788 *each* to order some). I'm considering just sticking with my 20" stock wheels instead, and have been looking at the cooper zeon ltz, but I'm worried they may not clear the front struts, there isn't a lot of space there, but they are the same size as these Falken tires, so I was wondering how the clearance is. The coopers also come in 275/55/R20, which would make them taller but not as wide...

Also, I've read some positive reports on the Falken ATS, but obviously not many miles yet...

 

[codynt]

Those look interesting. What wheels are those? Are they stock, or are they newer/sport ones which have a bit more offset? I've been scouring ebay/craigslist for 18" wheels for months and not having much luck (dealer quoted me $788 *each* to order some). I'm considering just sticking with my 20" stock wheels instead, and have been looking at the cooper zeon ltz, but I'm worried they may not clear the front struts, there isn't a lot of space there, but they are the same size as these Falken tires, so I was wondering how the clearance is. The coopers also come in 275/55/R20, which would make them taller but not as wide...

Also, I've read some positive reports on the Falken ATS, but obviously not many miles yet...

I have the Cooper LTZs in 275/55R20 and they've been pretty good overall. Actually prefer the look of the slightly narrower tire - on the old Rover also ran 275/65R18 Cooper STTs which definitely looked the part and did a great job. A bit of rubbing against the plastic, but nothing that can't be easily remedied.

 

[Malafax_dand]

I have had some extremely unfortunate experience in the past with some Cooper Zenon tires and balancing problems. I spoke with my good friend who works at a tiscount tire, his response was that some cooper tires are excellent and they never have problems but then again some customers have the absolute worst experience. Bottom line was that in his mind, the Cooper brand had the most mixed results for customer experience. So I looked for another brand.

The 285/50/20 fits without any trouble. The rims are 20 inch and I believe are stock for the Supercharged version. The previous owner had an obession with making the vehicle look like a supercharged version. I went with this size, as I did not want to have to worry about modifing the mud guards or fender plastic. I also did not want to have to be concerned about the EAS going tinot hard fault and having tire rubbing issues. The rangerovers.net website states that 285/55/20 is the upper limit of what would fit but I was concerned that different tires have different block height and the 285/55/20 may have some rubbing issues. The 285/55/20 is about 3/4 inch bigger in outer diameter.

The Falken ATS was only released about 4 months ago. On Wednesday I am going to put a few hundred highway miles on them. And then loads of trail running. So I will report back soon on the overall performance.

 

[ogy]

Im running 285 50 20 cooper ltz s. i think thats the best size as it does not alter the gearing too much and no rubbing. I think the supercharged wheels are available in two different offsets as there are two part numbers for the same wheel. I had to fit 5 mm spacers to stop my supercharged wheels rubbing the struts. ive now gone to 2010 wheels and dont need the spacers any more. I would be interested to see a car with 285 55 20 s fitted and find out clearance issues as i had thought about some bfgoodrich all terrains in that size

 

[linuxfreakus]

Sounds like the 285 may rub on the front struts if I don't use spacers (and I'm rather disinclined to use them because I've heard too many stories of broken bolts on the hubs etc, even with pretty thin spacers of 3 or 4mm). Perhaps I'll look at the 275 options, or look for sport/newer wheels in 20" (they are much easier to locate than 18")

 

[Malafax_dand]

The Falken tires performed reasonably well on the Moab trail, Fins n Things. I did not have to bypass anything.
Although, There was an LR3 out on the trail with Cooper LTZ tires. The LR3 did slightly better. What can that be attributed to;
The Cooper LTZ tires.
18 inch rim instead of 20 inch rim, more sidewall.
Better more updated Ford suspension management.
Better Driver.

My problem was with too much speed on a hill (few hundred RPMs more), the front suspension would start chriping, oscillating and slightly bouncing. I would have to back off the throttle or plain stop to quiet the suspension oscillation and the start crawling again.

 

[vinniman]

Fax.

Did you have any success scoring 18" wheels Stateside for your FFRR ? I noticed General Tyre have recently released their new to market 'Grabber' tyres which should provide some pretty serious off-highway trail riding competition for FFRR owners !

Their available in 275/70QR18, but need to sit on an 8.5" wide rim for possible fitment to any MkIII Rangie and with their inflation range of upto 80 Psi maximum pressures - could be aired down considerably, eliminating your off-road misadventures.

I'd have to agree with your diagnosis from past experiences with Cooper tyres, as their survivability in the Outback down-under is questionable from recent events and I hope you have a trouble free run on the Falken's new product for Range Rovers.

Cheerio,


Vinniman
'88 Highline
Perth, W.A.[attachment=0:251kfgbl]Grabling.jpg[/attachment:251kfgbl]

 

[bsolidgold]

I've got the Toyo Proxes ST 265/50R20's on mine right now. Trying to find someone to build a lift for me (converted to coils a LONG time ago) so I can go with the Good Year Wranglers at 285/60R20's... it'll require at least a 4 inch lift.

 

[cmarshack]

Im running 285 50 20 cooper ltz s. i think thats the best size as it does not alter the gearing too much and no rubbing. I think the supercharged wheels are available in two different offsets as there are two part numbers for the same wheel. I had to fit 5 mm spacers to stop my supercharged wheels rubbing the struts. ive now gone to 2010 wheels and dont need the spacers any more. I would be interested to see a car with 285 55 20 s fitted and find out clearance issues as i had thought about some bfgoodrich all terrains in that size

Do you know what the different offsets are?

I just looked at my 2006 OEM SC wheels and they are:

8 1/2Jx20EH2-58

So it looks like mine have a 58mm offset. What is the other offset? Would I need spacers with 285's? I may just go with 275 55 20 and if I need spacers that may seal the deal for me.

 

[ogy]

I sold my sc wheels so cant check the part no. sorry