Has anyone upgraded gen 4 tyres without going bigger?

I have looked and looked online all around the world to see if anyone has upgraded the standard 195/80R15 tyres on a jimny instead of just jumping strait to 215/70R15's?
One thing I've noticed is people either keep the factory tyres or they instantly jump up in size, usually within the 1st week of owning one.
Most people report doing that makes a jimny handle better on the road, but is that because they put slightly wider tyres on, or because they put better tyres on?
It's hard to know because nobody I can find has actually done that, I guess the thought is if im changing tyres then I might as well go bigger because bigger is better, but is it?
When it comes to surface area, under the same conditions, the same pressures both sizes have the same amount of contact area thanks to sir Isaac Newton, they just have a different footprint.
off road there is a difference because all things being equal the surface of the earth rarely is, climbing over rocks or big washouts for instance. But in this case I'm talking about the average user driving more on occasionally maintained tracks or in my case farm tracks and of course on the road.
In that case we look a bit more at the handling quality of a Jimny. It is a vehicle that is very susceptible to changes made to it. Any alterations to the factory specs have an advrse effect on its performance, some situations get better, other things get worse (speed, fuel economy ect)
I love the way it handles from the factory as it makes it fun, wider tyres will always make it a bit more stable as it makes it a bit wider. But what I'm thinking is better tyres in the standard size will also improve its on road  performance, even if not to the same degree. I'm sure we have all noticed a difference when changing tyre brands or design on a car when they are the same size as not all tyres are created equal.
This is a theory that I intend to put to the test.
I will drive the factory tyres for a while then switch to Toyo open country 195/80R15's and see if the handling changes on the road, I'm 100% certain that a better off road tread will be better off road so I plan on focusing more on the day to day driving.
But I'm very interested in hearing from anyone that might have done something similar already and would love to know their thoughts based on their real world experiences.
I'm a big believer in a saying I like to use, a theory is every bit as reliable as practical experience, in theory.
But reality is an often cruel mistress.




 

Interesting post and a delight to read. Public forum questions regarding tyre choice can often reveal attitudes fuelled on a heady cocktail of arrogance mixed with ignorance - so your considered approach is to be commended. I will admit to having stuck with the OEM tyres to date, as there have been more than a few occasions when having wider tyres would not have delivered advantages on the terrain I normally drive upon. I trust other forum members will share their constructive and considered experiences.

That's one thing here in Australia, not changing the Tyres to at least 215's at times feels like you could get you burned at the stake as a heretic.
It's something I'm personally very guilty of, every jimny or Sierra I've owned I've always put bigger tyres on under the assumption that bigger has to be better.
So I have experience with it outside of running stock size tyres on the Suzuki's that we drove on the farm as farm utes. Honestly we never had a problem with them off road, and on road they were Suzuki stockman utes, so performance was never a consideration, he'll they seldom got pushed past 80km an hour so it's really hard to say, empty they were too bouncy and loaded up they didn't have the power.
Put 15 bags of cement and some salt blocks in the back and it was always going to be a slow trip home.

Much like you I don't find myself driving on terrain where the stock tyres won't do the job I need, I could not change them and be happy.
But I would like to know if better tyres then the lowest bidder will improve its performance on and off road to a degree where it's worth the expense, and I'm financially comfortable enough that risking probably $1400 on 5 new tyres isn't going to put any hurt on us.
My POV is its one area where I might be able to make a decent improvement without paying a price for it in fuel economy, wear on the drive train, cutting into its lead capacity or voiding any part of the factory warranty.

I don't expect it to make a massive difference to offroad capability or on road handling, but I strongly suspect it will make a noticeable one.

Over the years I have had different standard 205.70 on my jimny the reason being I am always likely to be doing something with a trailer so both from a maintenance of towbar height and a conservation of torque perspective standard is best for me. I am deeply disappointed with the Bridgestone even the Japanese made ones, they are like the tyre equivalent of 18th century wood clogs, loud, unforgiving and virtually impossible to wear out. Then come the bfgoodrich urban terrain, slightly taller than the Bridgestone for the same size and best described as a modern work boot, doesn't look much but is capable of doing almost anything reasonably well. Then I have the radar renegade at5 which is marginally smaller than the Bridgestone. It's almost an rt pattern rather than an at but I wanted more tread voids. I would call these a walking trainer, really soft and amazingly sure footed with just a hint of roar. They will be my front line tyre when I finally wear out my Bridgestone or heaven forbid I accidentally tear a side wall.

The latest gen 4 cars have Dunlop AT20 tyres, which don't get good reviews for either wet grip or snow, although I saw a YouTube test from South Africa - in dry conditions - where they did very well.  I changed mine for the new Bridgestone AT002, which I'm very happy with.  The Dunlops are M+S marked but not 3PMSF, while the new Bridgestones are 3PMSF.

I have kept to the original size and went for Yokohama Geolanders A/T tyres.  Never had a problem keeping up with overs with 215 BFGs on. Not that we do extreme Greenlanes, but is my daily driver as well. My OEM tyre were the Bridgestone Duellers, I couldn't fault those either to be honest.