285's?

[wanderer3]

Thanks! I based my final decision on advice given to me by Johann from 1st Wheel Alignment after telling him my first trip was to Namibia so dry is def on the agenda, he could not commend the tyres enough as a good all rounder. By the way, great service and highly recommend Johan for anyone in/near Cape Town.

Another 2 local guys I know with patrols are both intending on changing from Maxxis to KM2's which I suppose also says something. As I work offshore Cabinda I understand your "road" conditions (ouch!) but reckon it may come down to how much real 4X4 you are intending on doing besides Luanda.

[Mammoth]

Hi PMC

I had a set of Bridgestone's 275/70/16 on my 4.5 when I bought it and they also seemed like they were too small for the Patrol. Recently had to replace them and after days of speculation decided on the Kumho 285/75/16 AT's. Had to replace all 5 and price was a huge decider.

I was very impressed with the additional height, not to mention that it looks much better, and my speedo is now only about 4km out(used to be 20km + on 120km/h). I did almost X$@&# my pants when I filled up the first time after fitment due to the consumption, but was told that the distance will under-read somewat. I still need to compare with GPS.

Must say that I had Kumho's on my Sani and Jeep and never had any problems with them before. I use the vehicles daily in the concrete jungle around Johannesburg but they are just as good off-road. The Bridgestones were nice but boy oh boy I had to avoid mud at all cost as it was totally useless as soon as they clogged a bit. Do not have a picture yet but will still post one!

[PMCunha]

Cool! A picture would be nice.

I've been roaming most of the offroad forums on the internet and as expected, opinions do vary. Nonetheless, no one actually said that I was a dumb@ss that just had a brain fart for fitting the 285 MT's. Some people complained about the noise, others about the consumption and some of their performance on sand but I also had a lot of different replies saying that the 285 MT's was the best thing that ever happened to them and some even gloat about their MT's overall performance far exceeded the AT's.

I was kind of expecting all this commotion when I published the post and I was secretely also expecting to get some good feedback on the 285 BFG MT's as an allrounder tyre.

Bottom line is that I'm probably fitting them cause they look so cool and cause this new tread supposedly isn't so noisy on tar but~, apart from that, I've read pretty much every available review on the KM2 as well as personal opinions and I now feel more comfortable to fit them as I'm not looking for the ultimate competition tyre nor the city slick.

Another valuable information I didn't share with you is that these 5 MT's will be USD350 cheaper than the AT's and in Angola , where you buy 1 liter of diesel for 42 cents, this can make a big difference. This means I'll be able to do some extra 6.000kms with the price difference, hence reducing one of the arguments for the AT's (fuel consumption).

PMCunha

[Stefan]

Good call. Now we're just waiting for the pics.

[PMCunha]

Suprisingly silent. Trol's definitely taller. Wife's complaining about the need to actually "climb" into the car.

I've also felt the need to step further on the throtle. Trol's definitely cooler! My kids say the weels look like the ones they play from Lego.

Pretty happy so far. Need to take it to the bush and get some dirt on them.




Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[PMCunha]

My previous pic was a bit strange, so...



Uploaded with ImageShack.us



Uploaded with ImageShack.us



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

I don't know if you ever had this feeling but yesterday when I was just getting to my Trol, I just couldn't wipe that big smile off my face.

[Peter Connan]

Hi PMC

Now that looks COOL

I had the opportunity to drive in front of and behind my Troll on saturday, while driving my birkin 7. You should have seen the smile on my face! If I didn't have ears I think the top of my head would have fallen off. A Troll just looks so much better on bigger wheels.

[Mrowka]

Let me know how they go off-road and how they do on pavement, in the wet, etc..

I am considering KMs on my 'Troll, so any information will be very useful.

[Russ Kellermann]

Guys, i really dont want to take anything away from the comments made here in regard to this topic, but i feel i must mention that there is a distinct difference here that is not being entirely appreciated.

Changing to a bigger tyre is less noticeable on a petrol engined vehicle. So the chaps who own the 4.5's and 4.8's, and even the 4.2TB, who commented that there was not much change in drive and feel, i must point out that this will not be the case for the TD42 or even the TD42T and (i).

For the information of the Author, yes, you will feel the difference on a TD42 motor, mostly on hills and overtaking, but it will be there, much less then it would on a large displacement 6 cylinder petrol motor.

(I run 285's on my N/A TD42 - original tyres i ran, Nissan Spec - 235x85x16)

[Stefan]

Except for the consumption, one doesn't really notice the 285 on the 3.0 either.