Changing from HT road tires to AT

[Ale Vallecchi]

So I finally have changed my tires. Went from my old stock Michelin road tires to Mastercraft  265/70R17 115T HSX. I have driven with them Friday and yesterday. My impressions.

They seem to dig in more (to be expected I guess 😊) and "float" less them my old road Michelin.

The question would be, to get used to them (other than just driving) should I:

1) deflate differently (I used to go to 11/12 psi, and still have used this during the weekend on the new tires), to make the tites float more/better?

2) use gears differently (on terrain like Badayer I used to drive in 4H 3rd gear (especially going in and out of bowls and dune formation, where I was looking for more power), but maybe with the AT tires 4H 4th is better, as on a couple of steep inclines I felt the car less agile and responsive)? Keep in mind I have an FJ where in 4H the gears go from the highest D to 4, 3, 2 and L

3) Also consumption on sand seems quite higher: on the same drive in Badayer I used to consume around 1/5 of the full tank, but with the new AT tires I used almost half a tank.

Any advice/opinions?

[syed salman raza]

I also changed my Tires from HT to AT but didnt get a chance to try them as the car in worksop under repair for last 18 days 🥵some software issue  cranking not starting

[Gaurav]

Seems like you have got some real heavy weight tires to increase so much fuel consumption?

Have you done the weight check/research before buying?

Is it also super noisy on road?

With given your explanation, I also doubt that now your long hill climb would be limited too. I had a same issue with a big beafy, meaty BFG and then Cooper ATR on my Patrol.

[siddharth maheshwari]

Hi @Gaurav how was your experience with cooper AT? 

[Gaurav]

3 minutes ago, siddharth maheshwari said:

Hi @Gaurav how was your experience with cooper AT? 

Won't say fully bad, but not as great as Geolander.

Cooper ATR are again heavy (more fuel consumption), beefy tires that looks nice but makes lot of highway noise due to aggressive tread pattern. They are good in self recoveries due to such pattern but limit the climb unless you have serious power mods.

Worst thing of ATR and BFG I hated the most was loosing chunks after 6-12 months of use and make tire looking bald from different angles and shoulders.

[Frederic]

49 minutes ago, Ale Vallecchi said:

So I finally have changed my tires. Went from my old stock Michelin road tires to Mastercraft  265/70R17 115T HSX. I have driven with them Friday and yesterday. My impressions.

They seem to dig in more (to be expected I guess 😊) and "float" less them my old road Michelin.

The question would be, to get used to them (other than just driving) should I:

1) deflate differently (I used to go to 11/12 psi, and still have used this during the weekend on the new tires), to make the tites float more/better?

2) use gears differently (on terrain like Badayer I used to drive in 4H 3rd gear (especially going in and out of bowls and dune formation, where I was looking for more power), but maybe with the AT tires 4H 4th is better, as on a couple of steep inclines I felt the car less agile and responsive)? Keep in mind I have an FJ where in 4H the gears go from the highest D to 4, 3, 2 and L

3) Also consumption on sand seems quite higher: on the same drive in Badayer I used to consume around 1/5 of the full tank, but with the new AT tires I used almost half a tank.

Any advice/opinions?

Please do check if you have the Courser AXT (All Terrain) or the Courser HSX (Highway Tyre). @Xaf has the AXT and has good results, but apparently needs a bit more momentum.

It would make sense to experience a bit with different psi settings to see what works best. I've also heard (but not sure if this is fact) that AT tyres need to settle in and will need to be deflated - inflated a few times until they really perform best. Probably a myth..

 

[Gaurav]

I thought my experience was ancient, so they must have changed/improved now.

But after reading these it reminds me vaguely too claiming the cooper warranty once with renaissance trading in Deira over some problem (cant recall the problem).

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/tires/cooper.html?page=6

[siddharth maheshwari]

23 minutes ago, Frederic said:

Please do check if you have the Courser AXT (All Terrain) or the Courser HSX (Highway Tyre). @Xaf has the AXT and has good results, but apparently needs a bit more momentum.

It would make sense to experience a bit with different psi settings to see what works best. I've also heard (but not sure if this is fact) that AT tyres need to settle in and will need to be deflated - inflated a few times until they really perform best. Probably a myth..

 

Hi @Frederic i was about to go for these . Dont know if @Ale Vallecchi has installed the same . Your suggestions will be helpful 

[Frederic]

1 minute ago, siddharth maheshwari said:

Hi @Frederic i was about to go for these . Dont know if @Ale Vallecchi has installed the same . Your suggestions will be helpful 

 

Review from @Xaf after using the Mastercraft Courser AXT:

 

My review after 10.000km usage:

- Compared to H/T tires more noise on the road, acceptable.

- Can go easily to 10 psi, didn’t try lower. No issues, hard core off-roading, sliding, wadis, till now no pop-outs/ cracks.

- I found them quite heavy compared to my H/T, but my H/T were 285/60 18, the Mastercrafts 285/70 17. I feel difference in performance, need a bit more momentum on dunes.

- Same company as coopers, same quality control. Price difference is probably to cover marketing costs for Cooper.

- Looks cool

 

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[Srikumar]

@Ale Vallecchi when I went from HT (235/75R15) to AT (268/75R15), I could instantly feel the heaviness in the tyre. My hill climb ability definitely took a hit. To compensate that I have had to go lower on the PSI. Earlier on HT I would drive around 12 psi, and now I drive it about 9-10 psi depending on the terrain and in some very rare cases (just for fun) tried at 6 psi as well. The advantage of the AT was that I never had a pop-out in the past 2 years of usage, and this is even after taking a few nasty blows to the tyres from time to time.

I would suggest that you first reduce the PSI to about 10 and then see if you are having a better flotation.