Has anyone upgraded gen 4 tyres without going bigger?

Did any of you find the new tyres improved the handling and off road much over the Dunlop ones?
I've read a lot of indifferent to negative reviews on them.
But I've also seen plenty of YouTube videos of them in India in some pretty wer muddy conditions and they seemed to do surprisingly well.
The Indian ones are of particular interest to me as they only have the 5 door "Maruti Jimny" as it's called there.

I originally wanted the Geolandar G015 tyres on mine but Yokohama have recently stopped making them in 195/80R15.  There was run-off stock available until a couple of months ago.  The Bridgestone AT002 has a similar specification - it looks more gnarly, though.

Bob9863 wrote:

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.





 

Not 100% sure what you are really asking here.

Handling --- this is generally very subjective. But most would agree it is about feel, not grip. Smaller lighter tyres generally "handle" better. But may not provide the most grip or traction.

That said, I'd guess that 90% of the people, for 90% of the time, 90% of all tyres are more than good enough from either handling or grip point of view on road. This is because most people do not drive on the limit for much of the time, if at all. Therefore the potential on limit handling and grip levels are meaningless to most people most of the time for normal driving. There will always be a few exceptions... but a very tiny percentage.

Not sure what tyres you have on your Jimny now. Mine came on Bridgestone Dualers iirc. I was quite impressed overall, good on fuel, quiet, never felt lacking on road, dry or wet or even in some mild winter weather and they performed off road above expectations.

Tailoring tyre performance in any direction will normally result in a reduced capability elsewhere. So it come down to what you want from the vehicle. If it is on road only, then a more road biased tyre has the potential to offer more grip, but this is only going to be at the limit. If you aren't driving near the limit at any point, you are unlikely to see this benefit.

From a handling point of view, different tyres will turn in better or worse, be more prone to over or understeer and feel different around centre on the steering and/or on the limit. But to be brutally honest, unless you are a tyre tester or a very very good driver, the vast majority of people are unlikely to notice these differences. And certainly not without being able to drive them back to back on the same surface.

For a 'normal' person, who just drives normally. Almost any suitable tyre will be perfectly fine.

If you do want to tailor it to one direction, be it noise, fuel, feel or grip or a combo of one or more traits. Then that is fine, although such things are unlikely to transform a vehicle. Changes are likely to be minor.

Off road however makes this a much more complicated area. As almost anything that makes a tyre better off road will make it potentially worse on road.

As for tyre size, ultimately a 215/75R15 is not hugely different from the standard 195/80R15. So I doubt many people would truly be able to tell the difference from the drivers seat that wasn't more fundamental about the tread and compound, rather than its size. I did find a slight reduction in performance, but I think this was more due to mass and being an aggressive AT instead of a road biased tyre.

Other things to consider, in the UK at least tyre choice is limited in the 195/80 size while offering greater variety in 215/75.

I am not sure that a bigger tyre will improve on-road handling, neither will moving from a Highway tread to an All Terrain tread, they all weigh more and more un-sprung weight is never good for on-road performance.

A highway tread will always give more grip on dry clean roads and possible on wet roads, but if you have dust, sand or mud to contend with (you probably do) then a good (do I mean mild) AT tyre would be better overall.

The Yokohama Geolandar is a good all round tyre, better on the road than stock tyres, with a bit more grip for for off-road. Roger is correct, Yokohama have stopped making it in 195/80R15 but it is still available in the UK, Blackcircles, for example are still showing at least 4 in stock so you might be lucky to find these in Aus.

I had Geolandar on my Gen 3 and was very pleased with them. I went from them to Hancook Dynapro ATm (you should get these where you are and are available in 195/80R15). They have a more aggressive tread than oth AT tyres, but were very good on road and off.

I kept two sets of wheels, one with Dynapro and the others with Maxxis 215s. Before I sold my Gen 3 I went back to the Dynapros, they felt fine after having Maxxis 215s and fuel economy went up a bit.

Like you I don't do much off-road however, in my opinion the 195/80R15s look a little lost in the wheel arches of a Gen 4 (even without a lift) and 215s just look a lot more the part, this is probably the main reason most people fit them.

Also 215/70R15 is a more popular tyre (For example BFG KO2 and Maxxis worm-drives are not available in 195/80R15, but are in 215s) and if you do go for a bit more chunk AT tread at least you will know you will never get stuck.

I think you are doing the right thing, try the stock tyres for a few weeks/months, see how they go, then have a look to see what you can get or what you might need, or even just what you like the look of.

Robin

Mine arrives next week so it will have the stock standard Dunlop tyres on it, but after some long test drives I found it was a little tail happy when pushed, I always push a test drive just to get a good feel for it, the steering was a tad slow which is good for off road but fun on road.
But I was looking at changing to Toyo open road 195/80R15. Better off road and should make it a bitcmorecplanted on road.
Most people that put on 215's say it makes the handling better, but I think that the Toyo might be similar just by having a bit more grip so give similar performance without using more fuel and stealing that bit of power that makes it feel nimble.
Every time I put bigger then stock tyres on any car, I definitely feel the vehicle becomes a bit sluggish.

Actually I think the simple way to ask the question is like this.
When people put 215's on, they all say it improves the ride and handling.
What I want to know is if you just replace the stock dunlop tyres with another brand in the same 195/80R15 size, does it have a similar effect?