Good rally/mud tires?

[James614]

Looking to do some mudding in my TW at a local mud pit, see if I can't embarass a few trucks (they sink down and need to power through nearly 2ft of it, I ride on top and get stuck simply because my all-season tires get clogged and go slick real quick).

Taller tires are bad, because I can't afford to loose torque to taller gearing. So it looks like rally tires are my way to go. Anyone know what I should look for? Hankook Ventus R201s look cool, but who's a reputable and fair reseller?

Even if the mud thing doesn't work out, I'll have some awesome tires for the local forest



Edit after lots of google: Are rally tires even sold in the US at all?

[GClark]

I love my General Grabbers A/T2 . They handle great on and offroad. I would stay away from rally tires; they wear really fast if you drive them on tarmac.

[James614]

Do they make Grabbers in sizes smaller than 27"?

These tires would be mounted on dedicated 15" Outback rims, and changed out exclusively for weekend fun.

[gijonas]

Swampers work.

27x9.50

[James614]

Must be nice having 4x4 low range :p

Big tires will just sink me down further(more wieght), and I really need as much torque at the wheels as possible. That's why I'm looking at rally tires in close to stock size instead of truck MT or AT tires.

Also, I have no plans to lift this car, so anything over 26" won't really fit (unless someone can show me a BJ with 27" swampers and no lift).

[skid542]

I don't have any good suggestions on tires. If you're looking for just a mud tire and minimal tarmac use I would look towards a non-studded snow tires. Large tread and fairly open. They're also readily available for 15" rims.

Be careful going the route of an actually rally tire. True rally tires are designed to sweep away gravel and actually dig down to the harder surface underneath. I'd be nervous that in mud they may just dig you a nice hole....

My .02 on the matter atleast.

[Binford]

I like Winterforce tires, made by Firestone. They are cheap, do really well off road/mud, and of coarse AWESOME in snow! They are a dedicated snow tire and are pretty soft, so they do not last more than two years if you run 'em year round(half tread is damn near useless in snow). I'd bet I've done more mud (not just muddy puddles) in Legacies than anyone else here. I'd love to try some Swampers though!

On the other hand, gravel eats 'em up pretty fast too. I really like me some rallying! I guess I'm pretty damn hard on tires!

[James614]

Thanks for the suggestions. I never seriously thought about snow tires. That'd be A LOT cheaper than the Yokohama Advan A031 mud stage rally tires I was looking at (nearly $1000 shipped for 4.... OUCH!!!).

Those Yokohama's aren't a gravel tire and look like they'd grab the mud pretty well. But snow tires are cheaper enough that I can ninja a set without setting off the wife alarm. So I'll give those a try in the meantime.

[QueensNYgtsu]

Those Yokohama's aren't a gravel tire and look like they'd grab the mud pretty well. But snow tires are cheaper enough that I can ninja a set without setting off the wife alarm. So I'll give those a try in the meantime.

several of my friend's have become very skilled ninjas, they occasionally have items shipped to my house.

[evolutionmovement]

Whoa! Dude just joins the site and throws out some great advice. Props to you, sir. How many wives would even notice a different set of tires once they're on the car? In a bind, you could even say you were driving, got a puncture, and had to replace them all because it's AWD.

[QueensNYgtsu]

Whoa! Dude just joins the site and throws out some great advice. Props to you, sir. How many wives would even notice a different set of tires once they're on the car? In a bind, you could even say you were driving, got a puncture, and had to replace them all because it's AWD.

My buddy is a mechanic, and a good subbie mechanic,at that so he knows and works on cars for subbie fanatics, (like myself). Anyways one of the guys he knows sent his wife and kids to Lithuania to visit the family. While they were gone he ordered and had delivered a JDM STI Version 8 swap. Ninjas prefer to take delivery of pallets of performance parts to the home, while wife is away.

[Legacy777]

Ninjas prefer to take delivery of pallets of performance parts to the home, while wife is away.

[beatersubi]

My buddy is a mechanic, and a good subbie mechanic,at that so he knows and works on cars for subbie fanatics, (like myself). Anyways one of the guys he knows sent his wife and kids to Lithuania to visit the family. While they were gone he ordered and had delivered a JDM STI Version 8 swap. Ninjas prefer to take delivery of pallets of performance parts to the home, while wife is away.

[biggreen96]

James. Used rally tires are cheap, and will hold up to abuse much better than thin side wall snows, but rally tires are bad in snow because they are actually really soft, so you need to keep that in mind. Check out the regional forum at specialstage.com and see if anybody around you has some used rally tires, or even used mud rally tires, which have big spaces between the blocks. I recently scored some used rally tires for 10 a piece.

[James614]

10$/each?!?!?!?!?!

I have yet to see a deal like that pop-up recently, but thanks a bunch, I'll hold off on the snows and watch it like a hawk. It's worth the wait if I can get actual rally tires for cheaper than snow tires.

And about them not being good in snow, I've heard it's because the compound gets really hard in freezing temps. I'd think being really soft would help out a bunch in the snow (snow tires are much softer than all-seasons).