Koleos tires recommendations?

schlitzaugen said:
I know.

There was a factory I know of that turned everything around it black. A beautiful valley where everything was black including trees, grass, birds. A westerner took a picture published in National Geographic and won a prize with it. You might have seen it, it was a woman hanging out her sparkling white bedspreads in a sea of black. That factory was closed down a long time ago. Amazingly, nature has recovered spectacularly though I am sure trace elements might still hang around in plants, soil, water, people's and lungs/skin, etc.

Eastern Europe has the same legislation as the EU so no advantage there.

I am aware they wear down quicker than "normal" tyres but still worried they'll have some life left in them when too old to keep.

And yeah, I was thinking about rotating them, not that it seems to matter these days, but I am curious how much it can extend their life (against wear). I haven't rotated tyres for a while now. Anyone here still doing it? How do you do it (I know there's a lot of options)? Does it make a difference?
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On the Koleos, to get 65-68k out of a complete set of tyres I swap them every 15k diagonally, i.e: front left to back right, front right to back left and vice versa for the rears. The 15k coincides with a service so I ask my service centre to do it at the same time and has resulted in even tread wear all round as I get a wheel alignment done at every service too. The downside is they all need replacing at about the same time, but with Jax doing 4 for the price of 3 it's not that much of a downside. I get about 5 years of good use out of each set.
 
That's the idea.

However, being cheap I was wondering if there was a way to work the spare wheel in the shuffle as well, so you stretch it even further. If possible. I suspect the spare would go first somewhere in the back otherwise you'd have a fresher tyre on one side of the front.
 
schlitzaugen said:
That's the idea.

However, being cheap I was wondering if there was a way to work the spare wheel in the shuffle as well, so you stretch it even further. If possible. I suspect the spare would go first somewhere in the back otherwise you'd have a fresher tyre on one side of the front.
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Remember the conversation about things in the drive train going bang??
I just keep the spare as a spare, and rotate like Kim does.
Jo
 
On spares:
With a brand new car with a full size spare on a regular road wheel, I'd recommend rotating all 5 tyres & then, when replacement time comes up, keeping the least chopped about as the spare & replacing 4 tyres. Then, when the next replacement set is due, keep the best of the replaced 4 as the new spare & junk the old spare. This minimises the danger of having an age-expired spare which would be a dubious proposition to fit if one has a puncture.

On rotation:
There are two candidate 4 wheel patterns: H & X.
H rotates tyres front/rear on the same side & preserves direction of rotation. Tread blocks wear more on the leading face than the trailing & this rotation preserves that. Some argue that this is a good thing as it maximises contact area. It used to also be argued that rotation direction ought to be preserved as a structure takes a "set" & reversing rotation causes stresses that increase the chance of structural failure like belt separation. Not really a problem with modern tyres, especially if they have a nylon/aramid cap ply over the steel belts.
X rotates left front to right rear & RF to LR. Obviously this reverses direction of rotation. It thus makes the trailing edge of the tread block the new leading edge. The disadvantage of this is that each block becomes slightly domed as the new, elevated, leading edge is ground down & new trailing edge is not engaged. The advantage is that the new, sharper, leading edge has, for a while, better water film breaking capacity.
So far, I suggest that the noted differences between the two patterns are minor & either might be well chosen. But, there is one further consideration. Generally speaking, the most stressed tyre is the LF, followed by RF, LR & RR. This is a combination of fronts working harder & left side of road being more damaged. An X pattern rotation best responds to this. The most & least stressed are swapped & the in-betweens are swapped. Thus one has one's best chance of having all 4 wear out at the same time.

On tyre replacements:
Very much the best arrangement for most purposes is to have all 4 tyres of the same type & age. Same type for avoidance of structural mismatch (& thus handling oddities) reasons. Same age for avoidance of compound performance differences (& thus handling oddities, especially in the wet) reasons.

On alignment & rotation frequency:
Much depends on the vehicle type & conditions of use. Some will best aligned more frequently than others. Best guide is monitoring front-rear wear. Easiest arrangement is to rotate every time the car is aligned.

cheers! Peter
 
jo proffi said:
Remember the conversation about things in the drive train going bang??
I just keep the spare as a spare, and rotate like Kim does.
Jo
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Yeah, but then when you have a flat you are back at using a new tyre with 3 worn ones. At least i the spare is worn almost to the same point as all other tyres you have less of a difference.

Taking into account what Peter said I would do this:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2017/04/373.jpg

I remember my father used to do something like that. It's a combination between the X and H pattern. Not sure if these tyres are directional but if they are I will probably rethink the strategy. I am not comfortable with using tyres the wrong way around.
 
Having reflected on things above for a while, I have contemplated the science behind differentials. It seems to me that driving through the suburbs turning left and right willy-nilly makes the differential work in a similar fashion to using odd sized wheels and tyres, and therefore the suburbs should be littered with bits of broken differentials from the owners of vehicles who so badly used the facilities of such a device. I can remember having been on the GMH speed track for half an hour or so and I can honestly say I never once thought of the differential in the 4X4 I was driving being worked to death to the point that it was about to expire because the track was one long left hand continuous corner, constantly using the differential in it's designed fashion, particularly when cars were driven at speed for hundreds of thousands of kilometres in testing. No, I think the odd sized tyres bit might be somewhat of an old wive's tale, but that's just my experience.
 
Yeah, I am puzzled by that too.

It may be however that the (rear) diff is not designed for permanent use and may overheat if used for a long time.

Also, the car doesn't have (to my knowledge) a centre diff like AWD cars, so you might induce some axle wind on a grippy surface in 4WD and eventually something will snap to release the accumulated torque. Wonder if anyone has driven in 4WD permanently to tell us.
 
schlitzaugen said:
Yeah, I am puzzled by that too.

It may be however that the (rear) diff is not designed for permanent use and may overheat if used for a long time.

Also, the car doesn't have (to my knowledge) a centre diff like AWD cars, so you might induce some axle wind on a grippy surface in 4WD and eventually something will snap to release the accumulated torque. Wonder if anyone has driven in 4WD permanently to tell us.
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I've driven extended distances on slippery surfaces (snow and mud) locked in 4WD in the Koleos. If you exceed 40 km/h, the 4WD system unlocks automatically and you must re-engage it. In normal circumstances the system automatically selects 4WD (instantly) if the front wheels slip as long as the 2WD feature is not specifically selected. 4WD for long distances produces a fair bit of heat under the centre console but I think I read that again, like the 40km/h thing, the 4WD will unlock if the temperature gets too hot. The 4WD system works together with traction control to produce surprising amounts of grip and has allowed me to surprise many "real" 4x4 owners in strange places. The Koleos 4WD has a viscous coupling which is electronically controlled to connect the rear drive wheels and incorporates enough slip to stop wind-up. The Scenic RX4 viscous coupling was fixed, connected full time so constant 4WD.
 
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schlitzaugen said:
Yeah, I am puzzled by that too.

It may be however that the (rear) diff is not designed for permanent use and may overheat if used for a long time.

Also, the car doesn't have (to my knowledge) a centre diff like AWD cars, so you might induce some axle wind on a grippy surface in 4WD and eventually something will snap to release the accumulated torque. Wonder if anyone has driven in 4WD permanently to tell us.
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Dad forgot to take the 1956 Series 1 LandRover out of 4WD when we got back on the bitumen once, and it had the spare on which a bit smaller than the other 3 tyres. This wasnt an issue on the bush tracks we'd been on, but about 15kms on the bitumen was how it took to find the weakest link int he drivetrain - which turned out to be a uni joint on the front propshaft. Went with a massive BANG! and then a lot of banging as the propshaft flung itself around. Not fun.
 
Haakon said:
Dad forgot to take the 1956 Series 1 LandRover out of 4WD when we got back on the bitumen once, and it had the spare on which a bit smaller than the other 3 tyres. This wasnt an issue on the bush tracks we'd been on, but about 15kms on the bitumen was how it took to find the weakest link int he drivetrain - which turned out to be a uni joint on the front propshaft. Went with a massive BANG! and then a lot of banging as the propshaft flung itself around. Not fun.
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Lucky it didn't drop down and pole vault you over the telephone wires!
 
Thank you Kim. I knew I had to read the manual so I didn't touch that button yet.

In other news, the tyres are on and they do feel a bit grippier. I might be imagining things, but the steering feels a bit heavier at very low speeds. Not as in you have to tug at it, but as in you feel you're in a car and turning the steering wheel. Before it was like a game console, no nada.

Manufacturing date is 37/19 on four tyres and 22/19 on the fifth. Made in Romania, so EU spec.

The tyre shop found I was missing a wheel nut and some of the others were loose. This may be the last shop that did the brakes (they noticed the brakes were new) and my own indolence for not checking such elementary things. In my defense I never imagined nor have I ever had to deal with missing or loose nuts.

They also found the top tabs on the front brake pads have a clip that extends close to the rim. They are identical on both sides and look like they are int he right place but a bit strange to have something like that sticking out. Are yours the same? I will take a picture to show what I'm talking about.
 
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Wow! 91 replies to a question about what tyres to use! I hope your question is resolved Herr Schlitzaugen.
Sorry, I don't have the time to read all the replies but only want to add this: tyre rotation was mentioned, including the spare. Well, I only have a 'dummy' spare and would not be able to do that unless I want to ride around with three shiny alloy wheels and one black steel wheel.
Not a good look I would think. Besides, the 'dummy' spare has a large "80km" sticker on it, although the actual tyre is exactly the same as the others. Why is that?
 
Breitie said:
Wow! 91 replies to a question about what tyres to use! I hope your question is resolved Herr Schlitzaugen.
Sorry, I don't have the time to read all the replies but only want to add this: tyre rotation was mentioned, including the spare. Well, I only have a 'dummy' spare and would not be able to do that unless I want to ride around with three shiny alloy wheels and one black steel wheel.
Not a good look I would think. Besides, the 'dummy' spare has a large "80km" sticker on it, although the actual tyre is exactly the same as the others. Why is that?
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A question that remains unanswered. I and many others have exceeded 80 km/h on steel rims over many years......
 
Breitie said:
Wow! 91 replies to a question about what tyres to use! I hope your question is resolved Herr Schlitzaugen.
Sorry, I don't have the time to read all the replies but only want to add this: tyre rotation was mentioned, including the spare. Well, I only have a 'dummy' spare and would not be able to do that unless I want to ride around with three shiny alloy wheels and one black steel wheel.
Not a good look I would think. Besides, the 'dummy' spare has a large "80km" sticker on it, although the actual tyre is exactly the same as the others. Why is that?
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What do you mean by "dummy"?

I know some cars don't have a full size spare and most of the time it is recommended you but that on a non-driven wheel (though I have seen cars with it on a driven wheel).

That said, have you checked the load and speed ratings on the spare? It may have to do with that.

I think I have had my answer, thank you everyone who posted. Now it's my turn to post a long term use report in about 5-10k km?

Personally I don't think tyre rotation is absolutely necessary but I am very curious if it does anything because my opinion at the moment is based on nothing. Well, it's based on the fact that I have never done it and have no idea if I lost anything or not. Just didn't care. I noticed no adverse effects but I did notice that the fronts wore down quicker than the rears and usually swapped them around. So I guess that can be considered a rotation of sorts. Only once in the life of the tyres though.
 
I can assure you you will want to rotate tyres on the Koleos if budget is a concern.
I do mine every 10k km. Failing to do so wil see you replac e your front tyres rather sooner than later.
Jo
 
schlitzaugen said:
What do you mean by "dummy"?

I know some cars don't have a full size spare and most of the time it is recommended you but that on a non-driven wheel (though I have seen cars with it on a driven wheel).

That said, have you checked the load and speed ratings on the spare? It may have to do with that.

I think I have had my answer, thank you everyone who posted. Now it's my turn to post a long term use report in about 5-10k km?

Personally I don't think tyre rotation is absolutely necessary but I am very curious if it does anything because my opinion at the moment is based on nothing. Well, it's based on the fact that I have never done it and have no idea if I lost anything or not. Just didn't care. I noticed no adverse effects but I did notice that the fronts wore down quicker than the rears and usually swapped them around. So I guess that can be considered a rotation of sorts. Only once in the life of the tyres though.
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If you don't rotate (the old fashioned way including the spare) or swap lf to rr etc, you will end up buying new front tyres at half the interval you would under a rotation scheme. You could probably leave the rear tyres in place for the life of the car but they tend to look a bit shitty after ten or eleven years................
 
1. The PC5 is not directional. It is asymmetric but that doesn't stop left to right swaps. I think that you'll continue to be impressed by them, especially in the wet.
2. The X-trail system in the Koleos is front drive by default & if across axle circumference differences of newish & oldish tyres was deemed an issue, put the mismatched pair at the back (more wheel shuffling but . . . ). Personally, I wouldn't fuss as the distance won't be immense.
3. Note that whatever sort of spare (unused or worn) one uses, at some point in the life of the road tyres, a mismatch with the spare's circumference will occur.
4. Front/rear tyre mismatches might well not show any symptoms pootling around (nor might crap tyres) but that says nothing about the behaviour one would get when demanding more (the emergency swerve in the wet).
5. The emergency "dummy" spare is speed limited owing to its structure.
 
Yeah, I found all of that out today.

And yes, I am aware of the circumference difference. I plan to rotate tyres every 5k km or so, not more.

Yeap, I intend to do that as per the diagram linked above.

Any input regarding the caliper question anyone?
 
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