Tyre upgrades!(?)

[simoncox77]

Just noticed there are a few people selling new Insa tyres on Ebay. None of them are 14″ but it could be worth asking if they can get other sizes.

Having seen them on Ebay I realised my dad has Insa Saharas on his Jeep. They look great and work well off road but they they squirm about on tarmac and are very noisy, they also wear quickly if used too much on the road. Dakars look like more multi use tyres so are probably better on the road.

[Hungry_Horse_1955]

I have replaced my ‘road’ tyres with Vredestein Quatrac 3. I’ve only had them for a week but they have had nothing untowards yet, not that I’m expecting any! I’ll try and get some pictures so you can see what they look like.

I’m off to Tours in France[] soon so will let you know how they fare.

When I return I shall give them a tryout in the mud to see how they behave off the road[}]

I’m still waiting a price for the supply the Insa Turbo Dakars! I’ll keep you all posted.

I also had the car set up on one of these 4-wheel laser alignment rigs. It even has settings built in for the Golf Country[:0] However the rears are slightly out of alignment so will have to buy a set of those wobbly bolts mentioned elsewhere on this site[]

[gruppe_a]

Yes, let’s see those pics!

Is it a camber issue in the back? Maybe it’s gone a bit saggy. Mine seemed a little saggy in the rear, so I drilled the center out of a couple hockey pucks and put those between the springs & their perches. Now she sits just right. []

[Hungry_Horse_1955]

The multi-colour printout from the laser alignment rig gives the rear cambers as -2.033 and -2.233 degrees with a limit of -1 to -2. Whilst one front is +0.5 degrees with a limit of -0.166 to -0.833. Everything else is within tolerances. I can probably get away with the -2.033, but the -2.233 is nearly 25% out and the front is 100% out.

I notice that these are both on what was the ‘nearside’ of the vehicle. Could be something to do with clouting a drain or pothole!!!

I’ll have to investigate how to change the cambers front and rear. Its probably on a thread somewhere so I’ll do some searching.

[simoncox77]

Just found some pictures of a Country with big off road tyres on the VWvortex forum – http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1064653, the pictures have the option to zoom in so if anyone has a big monitor or better eyes than me you could possibly see the tyre make and size.

Tried to put the pics on here but couldn’t get them to show.

Looks like the arches may have been modified and the tyres have been been touching the inner arch, looks good though!

Also found this thread with lots of pictures of Countrys + details of a G60 conversion – http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2862821&page=1

[Hungry_Horse_1955]

I think you’ll find the tyres are Insa Turbo Sahara Mud Terrains. These are available in 195/80R15 and larger. They are remoulds(?) on usually new Michelin carcasses.

I think you’ll find that the arches have not been modified as they are the same as my Country!

[simoncox77]

Compared to mine the edges of the plastic archs are much closer to the bumpers. I think he’s trimmed back the metal at the bottom of the archs then stretched and riveted the plastic arch back on. Its hard to tell on the pictures but the arches are wider at the bottoms.

I tried a 205/65/15 gravel rally tyre next to my Country it was very close to the arch bottoms, if those are 195/80/15 they would definetly need modifications. If its being used off road the tyres will go right up into the arches on bumpy ground and would catch badly.

I love the look of those tyres but I don’t want to suffer the damage from rubbing or start cutting metal to make them fit.

I’ve been looking for some chunky 195/65/15 tyres but as yet mud and snow tyres seem the only option.

[Hungry_Horse_1955]

I’m still not convinced the arches have been modified, although I think the front one has been crunched!!!

[simoncox77]

Just fitted some 205/65/15 gravel rally tyres to my country –

They just about fit but rub very slightly on the back of the rear arch and touch the front inner wing on full lock. The wheels were a lucky find as they look very similar to the standard alloys but are an inch wider and have a lower offset (et25 off a bmw I think)so come out of the arches more. The tyres are a hard rally compound and seem ok on the road.

[Cokkeli]

Debica Navigator 2 at least looks like Off-road tyre.

[gruppe_a]

I’ve always gone the route of 14″ wheels… then you’ve got room for a proper knobby tire:

I don’t know if the BFG AT TA KO is available on your side of the pond, but the 195/75-14 is pretty much a perfect fit. []

[Hungry_Horse_1955]

Hmmm! Looks nice. I’ll have to contact my local tyre man to see what he can do.

I like the alloys as well.

[Hungry_Horse_1955]

A quick update on my Vredstein Quatrac 3 tyres. In conjunction with the Syncro system, these performed brilliantly in Summer (France), rain (UK), Winter (even in the 12″ + of snow we seem to be getting quite regularily in the UK now), the occasional foray onto grass & rutted tracks and almost every other kind of surface you are likely to come across! I was thinking of getting some winter equivalents to make the vehicle even better on the snow and ice, but I’m not convinced the difference will be that much as they are already designed as a winter tyre!

The only down side was really down to me and not the tyres themselves! The middle of the tyres wore out quicker than I thought (teach me for not checking them more often). This was probably due to a couple of things, one being the daily trek at *30kph around the M25 every day (it was early morning) and the other being that I set the pressures to that recommended in the manual! Unfortunately, the manual recommends 30psi (I think) but this is for 195 section tyres. Mine are 205 section tyres, so my new set are now set to 28psi to prevent premature balding (or is that me?)!

All in all, the combination of the Syncro system and the Quatrac 3 is almost unbeatable. The only way you are likely to beat it is to use the equivalent Vredestein Summer set & Winter set of tyres, but that gets really expensive!

[philb115]

I’m running Vredestein Snowtrac 3 winters on my Syncro, and have been very impressed – 6-12″ snow absolutely no problem, and they were definitely worth the odd looks from the BMW drivers as I went past them sideways in deep snow on a motorway slip road []

I’ve also now bought some Vredestein sportrac tyres for the summer, they seem decent so far but I haven’t had a properly long drive on them yet – have spent too much time on my motorbike…

[Hungry_Horse_1955]

What rims do you use with your winters?

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