Has anyone upgraded gen 4 tyres without going bigger?

Bob9863 wrote:

Having trouble working out how to quote right, but to answer your question i did do it right.
215's only give you 6mm in extra height and 20mm in width.
but when deflated to the same pressure they have the same sized footprint.
the only difference is the 195's have an elongated footprint where as the 215's have a round one.
Longer elongated footprints are better in most off road situations.
so to my point of view why put a tire on that's going to be heavier, have more rolling resistance and be no better off road.
so I definitely think I did do it properly, rather then just doing what everyone else does

Exactly this, off road you ideally want your tyre to almost behave like a track on an excavator as first it will do less damage to the terrain and second it improves your tractive effort as more rubber is on the ground in the direction of thrust. Obviously there comes a time when you have to consider ground clearance as well and that is where a taller tyre comes in. This was much easier with the gen3 as a 195. 80r15 is a nice step up in height over the 205.70r15 with a little less width. On the gen4 it's not as easy as the next step in height is also much wider being the 235.75r15 it's a shame that there isn't a proper 195.100r15 available.

Bob9863 wrote:

Having trouble working out how to quote right, but to answer your question i did do it right.
215's only give you 6mm in extra height and 20mm in width.

I'm not certain I would agree with you, and I'm pretty sure my wife will disagree.

She's not a car person, and doesn't care whether the tyres look chunky or not, what does matter to her is her Jimny is a heck of a lot more stable on the 215/75s than it was on the 195/80s - to put it her words - "it dances less".

Of course, that could be because it's a different compound, or even a different tread pattern, but I'd say, it's that extra 20mm width, primarily because it was "lateral" movement that bothered her, the back "stepping sideways" with the application of right boot.  I should also mention at this point, that she is no stranger to rear wheel drive vehicles, having learned to drive on a 3500 V8 Rover.

Having driven a few gen3 with 215's on I can see that you could think them more stable but to me they just felt heavy, almost dead, they certainly took the edge off changing direction on back roads.

I've never driven a gen3 (I guess I was just never really interested enough, my nephew has one, and he lives right next door), but I can assure you, my wife's Gen4 on 215s is an absolute blast to drive, light, nimble and on a twisty back road, more fun that the proverbial "barrel full of monkeys", almost like an overgrown go cart, if you've carted.

This might be a matter of "relativity" or "reference", up to last December my daily drive was a 98, 5dr Grand Vitara, which I still have and also think is a great vehicle, it's definitely heavier than the Jimny, but no less maneuverable

As @fordem says "Gen4 on 215s is an absolute blast to drive, light, nimble and on a twisty back road, more fun that the proverbial "barrel full of monkeys"

I absolutely undersign that!

(and my other "Avant" has permanent 4WD and 450PS...)

I can tell yiu that changing from the factory rubbish tires to a better quality in the same size has made a big difference to how it handles on the road. You do need to bear in mind I've got the 5 door which is more stable on the riad to begin with, but the better tires have greatly improved its stability on the road.
I think it's a trap people fall into, bigger isn't necessarily always better, quite often better quality or better build is more then enough.
I just wish when they do tire tests on YouTube ect they didn't always use stock 195's, as the the better tread 195's massively increase the handling and performance.
That's why I don't really like the 215's or 225's, the 1st gives you no lift, the 2nd only half an inch.
So you might as well stay stock or go up to 235's that give you an extra inch.

I just think if your going to make a change it should give you the maximum benefit for your situation, 235's are without going too extreme the best off road hard 4x4 tire, and the 195's in a proper quality tire are the best all round size for on road and standard off road driving.
that's based on my experiences but others experiences can vary, but thats whats great about a jimny, it can be pretty much anything you want it to be based on your preferences.